If you’re intent on lifting heavy, then lifting straps can help you to increase your load – especially if you struggle with grip strength. They loop around your wrist and around the barbell so your hand and the barbell are hooked together. Sometimes, you might have the muscular strength – for example, in your legs while deadlifting – to lift a certain weight but you’re unable to grip it due to a lack of forearm strength. It’s then that these types of wrist straps can be useful.

It’s worth flagging that these really are only worth using if you’re going heavy. Using straps for weight that you can shift easily isn’t a great idea because there’s always a risk that you’ll become over-reliant on them and lose the grip strength you already have. “When you use lifting straps, you’re not testing your grip strength at all,” Ashby says, stressing that it’s important not to use them unless you’re lifting much heavier than usual.

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