you should be strapped

the strap might be one of the most important things

Author

Fletcher Poole
December 12, 2024

Fletcher Poole Banner

You’re dangling off of the empire state building.

man dangling off of a fake empire state building

definitely the right building

It’s a long way down. Your strength is giving out. Your grip starts to slip…

Splat 🍳

Your grip is something interesting.

  • It serves as a stable hook, not a dynamic movement

  • It’s been built to have great endurance for prolonged use

  • It’s heavily influenced by environmental conditions

Here’s another interesting side note.

When there’s extreme demand on your body and you enter fight or flight your body actually takes away blood/nutrients from your forearms to go to bigger, more important muscles.

This also decreases grip strength.

But you won’t be entering fight or flight in the gym…

All of this has lead to grip being more of an endurance based thing than a strength based thing.

Look it’s not that you can’t get a stronger grip, your time in the gym has proved that’s possible.

It’s just that your grip is never going to be strong enough where it doesn’t limit your back work unless you’ve been doing rock climbing for the past few decades.

When you’re in the gym doing intense sets for your back, I take it you’re doing that to get a big back.

photoshopped man with back

this man wears straps btw

If you’re trying to get as much back out of your back movements start using straps.

Even if you think your grip isn’t limiting you, it is.

Okay, okay, okay fine.

I’ll let you have a little battle with me.

Here’s what we’ll do. Buy some straps on Amazon (so you can refund) and we’ll do this science experiment.

  1. Take a set of a back movement to failure without straps.

  2. Rest 3m

  3. Take a set of a back movement (same weight and reps) to failure with straps

If it changes nothing, fine return them…

If you see more reps than you usually would, or even match/increase reps 😁

All that being said I’d recommend using these straps.

talking about the style, brand doesn’t matter

Only last piece of advice I have for you (something I messed up for years) is please please please use them correctly.

  • Straps are TIGHT on the wrist

  • The loose bit goes between the thumb and index finger staying on the palm side

  • The strap gets wrapped UNDER the thing you’re pulling, not over

I did the last bit wrong for years… using straps wrong makes the grip harder than without.

Oh and fun fact

Your Hypertrophy Hero,
Fletcher

P.S. When you buy these straps if you’d like to give me some kickbacks use my referral links so I get like 10 cents. UK US

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