I'm using only dumbbells and it's going to kill me soon....

[enwar3]

I've been doing a dumbbells-only modification of SS, and was doing fine at lower weights. But I've been adding weight as quickly as possible (which is what you're supposed to do, right?) and now I'm starting to run into problems with the dumbbells.

First of all, the dumbbells only go to 70 lbs. But at this rate, I'm not even going to get there.

I was doing squats today at 65 and holding the dumbbells at my sides in the lowered position kills my shoulders and ruins my form. It drags my shoulders down and I feel like I'm doing an shoulder/traps exercise instead of a squat. At this point, it's harder for my hands and forearms and shoulders to hold the dumbbells than it is for my legs/butt to actually do the squat. So I'm not doing the exercise to my ability.

Also, on the bench press the dumbbells are getting heavy to the point where it's hard for me to jerk them into bench press position..

Don't even get me started on the deadlift.

Is there any way around this? Am I going to need barbells?

 

[RagingBITCH]

Get some barbells. Done deal.

And for "jerking" dumbbells into the bench press position - just put them on your knees, knee up the weight to an arnold press position, lie down on the bench.

 

[Deeko]

Sounds like your grip is failing on the squats. You could use straps to help mitigate that. For the bench, you can try what RB said, or just start the first rep from the down position.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Deeko
Sounds like your grip is failing on the squats. You could use straps to help mitigate that. For the bench, you can try what RB said, or just start the first rep from the down position.

I think straps are unnecessary and that he should try either switching to barbells or strengthen his traps/grip through some shrugs. This is one reason why I feel DB squats are awkward - they are a balance between deadlifts and squats.

 

[gramboh]

You seem serious about training, rather than be frustrated by trying to work with only DB's, why not purchase a BB and some plates or a gym membership, assuming you have the means to do so? The amount of money versus the benefits to your training/body are worth it.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: Deeko
Sounds like your grip is failing on the squats. You could use straps to help mitigate that. For the bench, you can try what RB said, or just start the first rep from the down position.

I think straps are unnecessary and that he should try either switching to barbells or strengthen his traps/grip through some shrugs. This is one reason why I feel DB squats are awkward - they are a balance between deadlifts and squats.

It's not that easy. Some people have proportionally weak grips - I'm one of them. I realize you can strengthen your grip, and I do - but there's no reason for me to limit myself in other exercises because my grip isn't there yet.

For example, deadlift - with straps, I can do roughly 35% higher weight with straps then without - and that number increases as I move up the higher weight/lower reps scale. I do train my grip, more often than most people I imagine, but it is very slow to improve.

In the end I fully agree that dumbbell squats are awkward and I'd never do them - but in general, I do not see straps as the big evil other people do.

 

[brikis98]

Dumbbells are excellent tools, but yes, they can be very limiting once the weight gets heavy. Not only are they often inconvenient to work with, once you get stronger, you just won't be able to find dumbbells nearly heavy enough. Remember, Starting Strength is all about going heavy, and the book is subtitled "basic barbell training", so get some barbells! Join a gym, or go out and buy a power rack, bench, barbell, and plates. If you look around craigslist, you'd be surprised just how cheap some of this stuff is.

However, if you insist on sticking with dumbbells the only advice I can give is:

1. Work on your grip. It's an essential part of the deadlift, even with the barbell. It's also just damn useful in the real world - any time you have to open a jar, carry heavy suit cases, work on an engine, etc. It takes time, but is well worth it. Do more deadlifts, shrugs, (weighted) pull-ups, and various grip exercises. Yes, that may mean temporarily doing less weight on your squat/deadlift, but don't worry, your grip will catch up soon.
2. With dumbbell bench press, you need to first sit on the end of the bench with a dumbbells resting on each thigh. You then roll back and kick with both your knees to get the dumbbells into position. It takes a little practice, but it works very well for even extremely heavy (120lbs+) dumbbells.

 

[skace]

Well, it sounds like you've also gone beyond your limits by very quickly raising the weight. I don't personally know the SS drill but I think it's poor advice to simply raise weights for the sake of raising weights. You need to be able to handle the exercise somewhat at the current weight before increasing. With dumbbells this is doubly important because every dumbbell exercise requires a lot of stabilizer muscles.

Also, I think that's a poor way of doing dumbbell squats, just my opinion, I'd rather do them on my shoulders. It keeps the weight stable and puts the focus on your leg routine.

I haven't gone beyond 30-35 lb dumbbells yet and I've been working out for awhile now. Shrug. Depending on your exercise 70lb dumbbells are extremely fucking heavy.

 

[enwar3]

Originally posted by: skace
Well, it sounds like you've also gone beyond your limits by very quickly raising the weight. I don't personally know the SS drill but I think it's poor advice to simply raise weights for the sake of raising weights. You need to be able to handle the exercise somewhat at the current weight before increasing. With dumbbells this is doubly important because every dumbbell exercise requires a lot of stabilizer muscles.

Also, I think that's a poor way of doing dumbbell squats, just my opinion, I'd rather do them on my shoulders. It keeps the weight stable and puts the focus on your leg routine.

I haven't gone beyond 30-35 lb dumbbells yet and I've been working out for awhile now. Shrug. Depending on your exercise 70lb dumbbells are extremely fucking heavy.

Well I'm not raising weights to raise weights. I work at the current weight until I have my form down and can do the requisite three sets, then I move up. I'm pretty sure it's bad to move up at the cost of good form.

I'm also not strong enough to hold 65lb dumbbells on my shoulders. Should I be able to? Because it seems like any amount of weight that pushes my lower body will overwhelm my upper body (since legs are so much stronger).

Originally posted by: gramboh
You seem serious about training, rather than be frustrated by trying to work with only DB's, why not purchase a BB and some plates or a gym membership, assuming you have the means to do so? The amount of money versus the benefits to your training/body are worth it.

It seems ilke I'm just going to have to get a gym membership. It sucks because I was hoping I could work with the dumbbells until I got back to college in September and could use the gym there. But I'm not going to sit around til September and do nothing.

 

[enwar3]

Originally posted by: Deeko
Sounds like your grip is failing on the squats. You could use straps to help mitigate that. For the bench, you can try what RB said, or just start the first rep from the down position.

It could be that my grip is failing, but I can hold the dumbbells just fine standing up. It's when I squat down and
1. have to keep my shoulders tight (not let them get pulled down by the weights)
2. have to push my arms out laterally a bit to keep the dumbbells from bumping against my knees
that I run into trouble. The dumbbells aren't falling out of my hand; rather I think they're dragging my upper body form out of shape.

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: enwar3
I'm also not strong enough to hold 65lb dumbbells on my shoulders. Should I be able to? Because it seems like any amount of weight that pushes my lower body will overwhelm my upper body (since legs are so much stronger).

Put a towel on your shoulders and then rest the dumbbells on it. I don't know how well this will work at 65lbs so test a lower weight first.

Your hands remain on the weights on your shoulders, but not underneath the weight holding it up, more on top of it to keep it from sliding back and forth... just as a precautionary measure. Your arms should not be carrying any of the load.

Originally posted by: enwar3
It seems ilke I'm just going to have to get a gym membership. It sucks because I was hoping I could work with the dumbbells until I got back to college in September and could use the gym there. But I'm not going to sit around til September and do nothing.

You could also change your focus and increase reps and speed in place of increasing weight. There is absolutely no reason to do nothing.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: enwar3

Originally posted by: Deeko
Sounds like your grip is failing on the squats. You could use straps to help mitigate that. For the bench, you can try what RB said, or just start the first rep from the down position.

It could be that my grip is failing, but I can hold the dumbbells just fine standing up. It's when I squat down and
1. have to keep my shoulders tight (not let them get pulled down by the weights)
2. have to push my arms out laterally a bit to keep the dumbbells from bumping against my knees
that I run into trouble. The dumbbells aren't falling out of my hand; rather I think they're dragging my upper body form out of shape.

I find with dumbbell exercises, it doesn't always feel like it's the grip failing, when it is. For example, in dumbbell rows, when I do them without straps it doesn't really feel like it's my grip that's failing - but then I can still do considerably more with straps.

That said, you could always do shrugs/upright rows to build your shoulder muscles for these exercises.

 

[enwar3]

Originally posted by: skace

Originally posted by: enwar3
I'm also not strong enough to hold 65lb dumbbells on my shoulders. Should I be able to? Because it seems like any amount of weight that pushes my lower body will overwhelm my upper body (since legs are so much stronger).

Put a towel on your shoulders and then rest the dumbbells on it. I don't know how well this will work at 65lbs so test a lower weight first.

Your hands remain on the weights on your shoulders, but not underneath the weight holding it up, more on top of it to keep it from sliding back and forth... just as a precautionary measure. Your arms should not be carrying any of the load.

Originally posted by: enwar3
It seems ilke I'm just going to have to get a gym membership. It sucks because I was hoping I could work with the dumbbells until I got back to college in September and could use the gym there. But I'm not going to sit around til September and do nothing.

You could also change your focus and increase reps and speed in place of increasing weight. There is absolutely no reason to do nothing.

I forgot to mention that I'm trying to gain weight right now (heavy lifting). I will try the towel + dumbbell technique, though.

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: enwar3

Originally posted by: Deeko
Sounds like your grip is failing on the squats. You could use straps to help mitigate that. For the bench, you can try what RB said, or just start the first rep from the down position.

It could be that my grip is failing, but I can hold the dumbbells just fine standing up. It's when I squat down and
1. have to keep my shoulders tight (not let them get pulled down by the weights)
2. have to push my arms out laterally a bit to keep the dumbbells from bumping against my knees
that I run into trouble. The dumbbells aren't falling out of my hand; rather I think they're dragging my upper body form out of shape.

I find with dumbbell exercises, it doesn't always feel like it's the grip failing, when it is. For example, in dumbbell rows, when I do them without straps it doesn't really feel like it's my grip that's failing - but then I can still do considerably more with straps.

That said, you could always do shrugs/upright rows to build your shoulder muscles for these exercises.

I guess I will have to find out what these "straps" are. Is it worth building up my shoulder muscles for this? I feel like using my shoulders that much for squats isn't exactly what the focus of the exercise is?

 

[Deeko]

It isn't - which is why you should work them separately, so that they aren't a limiting factor in your squats. Same reason you might want to use straps - so your grip isn't limiting your leg workout.

You can get a set of straps for $5 at your local sporting goods store, so it isn't like it's a big investment even if you decide not to use them.

 

[enwar3]

I'm already using gloves. Would straps be redundant?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: enwar3
I'm already using gloves. Would straps be redundant?

No, straps add a large amount of support. I don't think either should be used though since if you let your grip trail, it won't get any better (or only minimally better). People have differing views on this so you will ultimately have to decide. Having a great grip strength is very beneficial when lifting so I would focus on strengthening that.

 

[Deeko]

No - gloves actually hurt your grip more than help it.

And I'm also certainly not advocating against training your grip. However, I am firmly against the notion that compound lifts are the cure-all solution, and that if you just keep doing it, soon enough the support areas will improve, too. While that is true, it is much slower than if you also work to improve your weak points as well.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: Deeko
No - gloves actually hurt your grip more than help it.

And I'm also certainly not advocating against training your grip. However, I am firmly against the notion that compound lifts are the cure-all solution, and that if you just keep doing it, soon enough the support areas will improve, too. While that is true, it is much slower than if you also work to improve your weak points as well.

I agree with Deeko about avoiding gloves. They actually add to the diameter of the bar or handle which in reality makes it harder to hold on. Moreover, most gloves do very little in preventing blisters and sometimes make it harder to get a good grip. So, overall, avoid gloves.

As for straps, I have to disagree with Deeko. Everyone has their own opinion on this, but from personal experience (I used them for a while), I'd say that in most cases - especially with beginners - straps should be avoided. Here are a few reasons:

1. In my experience, grip strength develops MUCH faster when it is used as part of other exercises, such as the deadlift, shrugs, pull-ups, etc. Isolation exercises for the grip - such as wrist curls - can help, but they never transfer as well to the real world as, well, the real thing. My grip strength improved much more from one month of strap-free deadlifts (with less weight) than it did from a year of deadlifting with straps (with more weight) and doing wrist curls. Check your ego, lower the weight, and let your grip catch up. In the end, you'll be much stronger because of it.

2. Unfortunately, most people with weak grip (such as myself back then) tend to use straps on all the heavy compound motions (e.g. deadlift), and therefore, their grip just never catches up. Many lifters (including myself) use the excuse that grip strength was "holding us back" in some exercise, such as the deadlift. But because we started using straps, we never gave our grip strength a chance to catch up, and as long as we use straps, it almost certainly never will. Let me repeat that again: if your grip strength is disproportionally weak to begin with, using straps virtually guarantees that you will never correct this problem.

3. From personal experience, I've also found that using any kind of "cheat" and allowing any sort of imbalance to persist in weightlifting leads to injury. If your grip can't handle the weight you're doing, it's a sign from your body you shouldn't be doing that weight. After all, it's quite likely that if your hands can't handle it, neither can other parts of your body, such as ligaments and tendons.

4. Grip strength is one of the more useful abilities you can bring out of the gym as it applies all the time, everywhere: carrying heavy objects (ever help someone move?), opening jars, using a wrench or any tool, climbing, etc. Being able to bench 300lbs will rarely come in handy, but being able to hold 400lbs while you deadlift it will help you enormously in everyday tasks. If you use straps, your grip will ultimately be weaker than if you had done all your workouts without them.

5. From a purist perspective, if you deadlift 500lbs with straps but only 400lbs without straps, then your deadlift is 400lbs. You may not care about any kind of competition or whatnot, but you need to realize that grip strength is an important and inseparable component of exercises like the deadlift. It's like doing a half or quarter squat instead of the full thing. Sure, you can do a lot more weight, but it's not the same exercise. I mean, if your triceps were proportionally weaker compared to your chest, would you accept a rep of bench press that only went half way up and didn't straighten the arms out?

 

[Deeko]

You misinterpet me when I talk about training grip strength. Wrist curls are essentially useless in building strength - they might give you bigger forearms, but they aren't going to help your grip. I train grip strength by doing the excerise that is failing - only with the goal being the grip, not the lift. For example - if I can do 275x10 with straps, but without straps, i can only do 225x3....well, I'm not really exercising my back/hamstrings any noticable amount by doing strapless deadlifts. So I do both - with the latter being considered a grip exercise. Also, things like free/weighted hangs, farmer's walks, and shrugs all make a big difference, too.

Grip strength isn't just about muscle. If you have smaller hands, your grip is going to be weaker. It's just the nature of the game, and it makes developing grip strength much more difficult for some pople.

Another thing to note - the small muscles in your wrist have faster recovery times than big muscles in your back/legs. This doesn't mean you can do grip training every day, but you certainly can do it more often than deadlifts without overtraining. Thus, by isolating your grip training, it will 'catch up' faster than if you just let it go and assume it will improve from your regular deadlift sets.

I'm not denying that you need to work to improve your grip if that is your weak point - you do - I just feel that straps allow you to continue working your other muscles uninhibited while you're doing that.

 

[skace]

Personally, I like Brikis' approach, especially when you are talking about someone who uses dumbbells. Dumbbells create a greater necessity on stabilizer muscles and like grip, you can either pamper these or you can sculpt your entire workout around keeping everything 'where it needs to be' to progress forward properly.

In this respect, I think Enwar is going to need to drop weight but he also fears this will stop his gains, which I don't personally believe is true. I don't think moving from barbell to dumbbell translates perfectly and I don't think that is a negative thing. As long as the workout remains the same you are getting just as much if not more benefit.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: Deeko
You misinterpet me when I talk about training grip strength. Wrist curls are essentially useless in building strength - they might give you bigger forearms, but they aren't going to help your grip. I train grip strength by doing the excerise that is failing - only with the goal being the grip, not the lift. For example - if I can do 275x10 with straps, but without straps, i can only do 225x3....well, I'm not really exercising my back/hamstrings any noticable amount by doing strapless deadlifts. So I do both - with the latter being considered a grip exercise. Also, things like free/weighted hangs, farmer's walks, and shrugs all make a big difference, too.

See, we have two different goals in mind:

Yours: increase grip strength
Mine: even out the strength in my whole body (which involves increasing grip strength) and do all exercises as intended (w/o artificial aids and cheats like straps)

The latter, IMO, is a far more practical goal and a superset of the former. For most people in your situation, I think you'll find it FAR more beneficial to do strap-free deadlifts for 1-2 months. Yes, you'll have to do less weight on your deadlift - 225x3 at first - but your grip will catch up very quickly and you'll be up to 275x10, without straps, in no time. However, if you keep doing heavy deadlifts with straps and lighter without, your grip will never catch up to your deadlift.

Originally posted by: Deeko
Grip strength isn't just about muscle. If you have smaller hands, your grip is going to be weaker. It's just the nature of the game, and it makes developing grip strength much more difficult for some pople.

True, genetics and mechanical advantage can never be discounted. However, no one is "perfect" and we all have to work with whatever advantages/disadvantages given to us by nature. Someone with gorilla arms, for example, has a natural advantage in the deadlift (smaller distance to move the weight). However, those same long arms may be a disadvantage in the bench press. That doesn't mean that they should start cheating at bench press by doing only half reps... It just means they need to work harder to do the same weight as a guy with shorter arms. Unless you're a competitive lifter, that should never really be a concern. You should instead only focus on doing exercises properly and competing against yourself.

Originally posted by: Deeko
Another thing to note - the small muscles in your wrist have faster recovery times than big muscles in your back/legs. This doesn't mean you can do grip training every day, but you certainly can do it more often than deadlifts without overtraining. Thus, by isolating your grip training, it will 'catch up' faster than if you just let it go and assume it will improve from your regular deadlift sets.

I doubt (although I have no research to back it up) that the muscles in your wrists are any different than muscles anywhere else. If grip strength develops faster then strength elsewhere, it's more of a factor of the type of work your hands are doing. Grip strength is static strength (unlike, say, the leg strength needed for a deadlift where you move) and also has a certain factor of pain threshold and callus formation that cannot be ignored. In short, I don't think you need to train it more than anything else - in general, it'll improve on it's own as part of other exercises (deadlift, pull-ups, shrugs, etc) so long as you don't interfere by using straps.

Originally posted by: Deeko
I'm not denying that you need to work to improve your grip if that is your weak point - you do - I just feel that straps allow you to continue working your other muscles uninhibited while you're doing that.

I once again must reference our differing goals above. Moreover, I just don't understand why you treat the deadlift (or any other exercise where you use straps) differently than other exercises?

I again bring up the example of the bench press. Many people have proportionally weak triceps. Does that mean that they should cheat on the bench press by not straightening their arms out all the way at the end of a rep? According to your logic, that would be acceptable to prevent the triceps from "inhibiting" their chest and shoulder muscles... What if your glutes and hamstrings are really weak? Should you only do half squats so that you don't "inhibit" your quad development?

 

[Deeko]

Doing half squats/bench isn't really a fair comparison because you aren't completing the range of motion. Your chest is still involved at the top portion of the bench press, even if the focus is on the triceps there. There are other chest exercises that don't use the tris, such as flies (although the focus is different), and I don't see a problem with someone adding flies to their routine if their bench isn't up to par. The real question is - if it is your triceps that hold back your bench, should you do additional things like close grip bench and tricep extensions to help your triceps 'catch up'? my answer to that is also yes.

And to be blunt, people who have had their grip improve dramatically just sort of assume that it will happen to everyone else, and they're wrong. The first three or four years that I lifted, I didn't use straps at all. I will, on occasion, go a few months where I don't use the straps in any exercises. I see only marginal increases in my grip during those periods, and it still is far from catching up to the rest of my lifts.

On the issue of recovery time, I've read in several books that smaller muscles recover faster than larger muscles. Again, that doesn't mean train your grip every day, but you could pull off 3-4x a week without too much trouble.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: Deeko
Doing half squats/bench isn't really a fair comparison because you aren't completing the range of motion. Your chest is still involved at the top portion of the bench press, even if the focus is on the triceps there. There are other chest exercises that don't use the tris, such as flies (although the focus is different), and I don't see a problem with someone adding flies to their routine if their bench isn't up to par.

I think you're missing - or trying to avoid - the point. Using straps is exactly like a half squat or half bench press rep in that you are cheating in some way to compensate for a weaker muscle.

It's hard to come up with a 100% analogous example, but here is another try: what if the person with weak triceps did the full range of motion for bench press, but a spotter helped him out with every rep as soon as the weight was halfway up (where the triceps are the primary movers). Do you consider that acceptable? I mean, this way the person isn't "inhibiting" his chest development, and using the spotter, just like you use straps, as an aid to compensate for disproportionally weak triceps.

Or, what if my stabilizer muscles and balance sucked, and I used machines instead of free weights? I'd be doing full range of motion, but do you really think a squat or bench press on the smith machine is the same as with free weights?

Originally posted by: Deeko
The real question is - if it is your triceps that hold back your bench, should you do additional things like close grip bench and tricep extensions to help your triceps 'catch up'? my answer to that is also yes.

If the normal compound exercises weren't doing enough to help the weaker muscle, then obviously assistance exercises are a good idea. I never disputed that. What I did dispute, however, is the person continuing to increase the weight on the compound exercise and just using an aid (like straps or a spotter) to overcome the weak areas. I argue that when you do this, you (1) are not doing the actual exercise, (2) are likely to injure yourself and (3) are very likely to insure that your weaker muscle will never catch up.

Originally posted by: Deeko
And to be blunt, people who have had their grip improve dramatically just sort of assume that it will happen to everyone else, and they're wrong. The first three or four years that I lifted, I didn't use straps at all. I will, on occasion, go a few months where I don't use the straps in any exercises. I see only marginal increases in my grip during those periods, and it still is far from catching up to the rest of my lifts.

Well, it's possible that you have some kind of genetic inability to increase your grip enough, but I really doubt it. Most lifters I know who had this kind of issue have used straps long enough that the gap between their grip strength and other muscles has actually grown over time. When they honestly sit down to think about it, they discover:

(1) They may have started weight lifting in an inappropriate manner - ie, using machines or similar - and built up a lot of strength in their back but not their grip. So the first time they do deadlift, they already have strength imbalances.

(2) During their training, they made this situation worse by using straps. Their back strength increased even more while their grip made little progress.

The result is that you may need to take an even longer time to fix the situation. This is yet another reason I wouldn't recommend beginners using straps, as it sets them up for difficulties in the future. Do it right in the beginning, and you'll never have to worry about it in the future.

By the way, one very important thing I forgot to mention is chalk. If your gym allows it, invest in it and use it. One of the problems people have with grip is not just a strength limitation, but a pain threshold. Your hands get sweaty and slip on the bar, you get nasty blisters that tear, and it all hurts. With enough adrenaline going through your system during a deadlift, you might not realize that your grip is failing due to pain rather than due to arm fatigue. One of the best solutions is chalk: it dries out your hands and makes it much easier to get a very firm grip. It helps prevent blisters and will give your hands a better chance of forming the calluses you need to handle heavy weights.

Originally posted by: Deeko
On the issue of recovery time, I've read in several books that smaller muscles recover faster than larger muscles. Again, that doesn't mean train your grip every day, but you could pull off 3-4x a week without too much trouble.

I'd be interested in reading that myself. Do you have a link handy by any chance?

 

[Deeko]

The problem with those examples is all of them do inhibit the target muscles somewhat. The counter example is, why do you lift? Unless you're a competitive powerlifter and you NEED to be able to perform every rep 100% unassisted, how is it hurting you? In what I described above, you're still doing the strapless deadlifts - you're just also doing strapped deadlifts. By doing this, you're maximizing your leg and lower back development, which aids you in other exercises like squat, also the lower back is a stabilizer in many other things, such as overhead press, so by being stronger there, you're helping in your other exercises. Also, most people here are lifting to build mass - and it accomplishes that.

As I said above, I never used straps early in my lifting days, and my grip has never improved at a rate even with the rest of my body. Keep in mind I'm pretty strong for my size, so my grip is more "normal" I guess. I've done a lot of different things to try to improve my grip over the years, and none of them worked. While I still work on it, and still try new things as I see them, it's really just something I've learned to accept.

I'll have to dig around to find a link about recovery time. I know I read it somewhere online in the past. Most recently I read it in Arnold's book, which isn't about how he got strong - it's a guide for others who want to get strong, he is quick to point out in the first chapter the differences in genetics and that this book isn't about his training regimen and you can't expect to get like him.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: Deeko
The problem with those examples is all of them do inhibit the target muscles somewhat.

You may not want to accept it, but your grip/arms are just as much of a "target muscle" in the deadlift as your back, legs, etc. Using straps inhibits that completely.

Originally posted by: Deeko
Unless you're a competitive powerlifter and you NEED to be able to perform every rep 100% unassisted, how is it hurting you?

Unassisted is preferred to assisted in the same way that free weights are typically preferred over machines, compound exercises over isolation exercises and full range of motion to partial range of motion. It makes the exercise more effective, safer and more transferable to the real world. As I've pointed out to you in previous examples, straps are the ONLY place where you seem to make this exception. You wouldn't accept a partial squat, a rep of bench press where a spotter helps out, or any exercise on a smith machine precisely because they aren't 100% unassisted. Why make exceptions for deadlifts?

Originally posted by: Deeko
In what I described above, you're still doing the strapless deadlifts - you're just also doing strapped deadlifts. By doing this, you're maximizing your leg and lower back development, which aids you in other exercises like squat, also the lower back is a stabilizer in many other things, such as overhead press, so by being stronger there, you're helping in your other exercises. Also, most people here are lifting to build mass - and it accomplishes that.

I've already gone over this, but once more:

1. Strength imbalances in your body are a bad thing and I can give you plenty of examples of how they lead to injury. In most cases, especially with beginners, if your grip isn't strong enough to handle the exercise, other parts of your body may not be ready either. "Maximizing your leg and lower back development" will only increase this imbalance and often increase the likelihood of injury.

2. Muscle mass is NOT the only goal or benefit of weight lifting. Many people train to improve their performance in sports or at applying strength in the real world. A good grip is essential for this. Strength training can also improve injury resistance and overall health and a balanced body is essential for this. And even if increased muscle mass is the goal, I still argue that for the average person, slowing down a bit to let the grip catch up will have very minor negative impact and in exchange, will ultimately be safer and more functional.

Originally posted by: Deeko
As I said above, I never used straps early in my lifting days, and my grip has never improved at a rate even with the rest of my body. Keep in mind I'm pretty strong for my size, so my grip is more "normal" I guess. I've done a lot of different things to try to improve my grip over the years, and none of them worked. While I still work on it, and still try new things as I see them, it's really just something I've learned to accept.

I'm not trying to change your mind about straps and I'm not saying that it's impossible for someone to genetically have issues strengthening their grip. However, I'd argue that in the VAST majority of cases, grip strength will develop just fine and a beginner will be far better off avoiding straps. In other words, straps and other assistance should only be used as an absolute last resort when no other options are available.