Alternated Hook Grip?

Gareth Rees · 05-13-2011, 02:12 PM

Right guys, so I've finally taken the plunge and commited to learning and practicing the hook grip (mainly for olympic lift work).

I've always had problems with my gripping strength (particularly in the deadlift), even with an alternated grip my grip has always given out way before my body. I know the theory behind the hook grip, and the alternated grip, and why they both work. But as there are no conclusive studies, at least that I'm aware of, the hook grip may not necessarily be stronger than the alternated grip, and so I will theoretically still struggle.

So an idea popped into my head, and my question is this; If the hook grip is equally as effective as the alternate grip, would an alternated hook grip be more effective than both styles? Has anybody ever come across this concept, or if they have, have you tried it? Any thoughts?

Derek Simonds · 05-14-2011, 03:36 PM

I have tried it and it doesn't feel comfortable to me. I think Dave Van Skike uses it with success. maybe he will pop in and respond.

Arien Malec · 05-14-2011, 05:25 PM

I can pull a bit more with the alternated hook. If you use the hook grip regularly, it's going to be a good option. If not, it's going to be painful.

Dave Van Skike · 05-18-2011, 11:27 AM

I used it for a time but when I widened my stance and grip last year I found it placed too much torque on the underhand so I switched to a traditional mixed grip.

Now I take all warm ups overhand with no hook and depending on the load and how my shoulder feels I might hook grip the working sets or use straps. Ii have not had any issue when it comes time to mix the grip for a real max or in a contest.

My personal rant. on grip and straps.

If you have a weak grip you know it already and you should be working on it..taking heavy pulls with a mixed grip is not fixing grip problems it's potentially creating shoulder or elbow problems.

Work on your grip with rows, OH deadlifts in the warm up and down-sets, farmers walk etc...soon you will have no grip problems. There is no reason not to use straps to preserve your shoulders and biceps on heavy repetition pulls.

Brian Stone · 06-09-2011, 07:01 AM

Any reason that mixed grip is preferable to straps? I have success on heaviest sets w/ the mixed grip, but yesterday I noticed a lot of discomfort in the bicep of the alternate arm that I wasn't crazy about.

It seems like mixed grip would translate to actual grip strength better, but I don't want to risk an injury for a handful of my heaviest reps.

Dave Van Skike · 06-09-2011, 02:33 PM

I don't think mixed grip in the DL translates to anything but mixed grip in the DL.

if you have a generally weak grip and lose the bar..whether that's out of a mixed of overhand grip I'd still say do more overhand pulling for grip and work on your bicep/shoulder mobility in the underhand.

Brian Stone · 06-09-2011, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Van Skike

I don't think mixed grip in the DL translates to anything but mixed grip in the DL.

if you have a generally weak grip and lose the bar..whether that's out of a mixed of overhand grip I'd still say do more overhand pulling for grip and work on your bicep/shoulder mobility in the underhand.

I'm generally pretty happy with my grip strength. It lags my DL by 60-70# but I suspect that's fairly normal. When my DL goes up my double overhand weight tends to increase as well. My concern was that this would stop happening if I began using straps for my heaviest pulls. You don't think that will be a problem?

FWIW, I still do farmer's walks, back-off and warm-up DL sets, as well as DB rows, all of which seem to contribute to grip, so my assumption is that I'm not going to find straps are going to compromise anything.

Dave Van Skike · 06-11-2011, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Stone

I'm generally pretty happy with my grip strength. It lags my DL by 60-70# but I suspect that's fairly normal. When my DL goes up my double overhand weight tends to increase as well. My concern was that this would stop happening if I began using straps for my heaviest pulls. You don't think that will be a problem?

FWIW, I still do farmer's walks, back-off and warm-up DL sets, as well as DB rows, all of which seem to contribute to grip, so my assumption is that I'm not going to find straps are going to compromise anything.

My overhand with no hook lags my mixed grip by at least 150 pounds. (450 as opposed to 600+)

that said, i don't feel straps have hurt me. my grip waxes and wanes depending on how often i do farmers with substantial weight (200 plus each hand) grip always seems to comes back quickly, so it's an easy experiment.