Lifting Straps 101: Types, Benefits & Proper Use

Lifting straps can let experienced lifters pull 10% more on a one-rep max deadlift and make high-rep sets feel easier.

A pair of weightlifting straps are one of the most useful things you can have in your gym bag.

They offer a number of benefits, the top one being the ability to lift more weight, but they also come with a few downsides.

In this article, you’ll learn how straps can help you in the gym, their science-backed benefits, how to put them on, and more.

What Are Lifting Straps?

Lifting straps, also called wrist straps, are pieces of material that you wrap around your wrists and then around a weight (like a barbell, dumbbell, or kettlebell) or a handle.

Their main job is to reinforce your grip and help you hold onto heavy things when your grip is about to give out.

They come in different materials (the most common being cotton, leather, and nylon) and lengths.

How Do Lifting Straps Work?

The mechanisms behind lifting straps are simple but very effective.

When you pull a strap tight, the wrap cinches, so the weight is carried more by the strap-to-wrist loop and less by your hands and forearms.

Each wrap around the bar increases the angle of contact, and when the load on the bar tries to unwind the strap, it tightens it instead.

The higher the load, the harder the strap bites.

Once the strap is tight, the bar pulls mostly on the loop around your wrist. That means your grip muscles can focus on keeping the bar seated while the strap carries much of the load.

The results: your grip limit increases, and you can lift heavier weights before your hand strength becomes the bottleneck.

Different Types of Weightlifting Straps

Lifting straps aren’t a one-size-fits-all deal. You’ll see a few different types around the gym.

Lasso Straps

The lasso strap is the most common type of lifting strap: a single piece of material with a loop at one end. You feed the other end through the loop to create a cuff around your wrist and then wrap the long end around the bar.

The Good	The Catch
The classic one-piece strap. Versatile, easy to use once you get the hang of it, effective, and inexpensive. You can wrap them as tight or as loose as you like.	If you need to bail from a lift quickly (Olympic lifts come to mind), they can be too tricky and slow to release.

Closed-Loop Straps

The closed-loop strap is the go-to for Olympic weightlifters. As the name suggests, it’s a single, closed loop of material. You put your hand through the loop and then wrap the strap around the bar.

The Good	The Catch
The main advantage is that you can release the barbell quickly. If an Olympic lift goes wrong overhead, the last thing you want is to be physically attached to the bar. Closed loop straps allow for a quick escape.	Closed-loop straps reinforce your grip less than other straps and are not the best choice for grinding out heavy, slow reps.

Figure 8 Straps

When you absolutely, positively do not want to drop the bar, you bring in the figure 8s. They are shaped like the number eight and are the most secure option. You put your wrist through one loop, wrap the strap under the bar, and then put your wrist through the other loop.

The Good	The Catch
Your hands are essentially locked to the bar, with your grip almost entirely out of the equation. Good for heavy deadlifts, rack pulls, and strongman training like the farmer’s walk.	There is no quick release. If you get into trouble, you’re going with the bar. That’s why you shouldn’t use them for Olympic lifts or any exercise where you might need to bail ASAP.

Honorable Mentions

• Open-loop straps are similar to close-loop straps, but the difference is that they are not sewn shut. You can release them instantly, and some Olympic lifters prefer them over the closed-loop style. They can be a hassle to secure properly, though.
• Lifting hooks are less of a strap and more of a cuff with a metal hook that goes around the bar. They are quick and easy to set up and give you a secure grip in many lifts, but they can sometimes slide a bit on others. And, in my experience, some lifters feel disconnected from the weight when using them compared to regular straps.

Pros and Cons of Using Lifting Straps

Now that you know how straps work, let’s break down the pros and the cons of using them.

Like any tool, straps have their moments to shine and times they’re best left in your gym bag.

Pros of Using Straps

Bigger Lifts, Bigger Gains

This is the big one. You can lift more weight in exercises where your grip is the weakest link.

Your back and legs can likely handle a lot more weight in deadlifts, rows, and shrugs than your hands can hold onto.

I’ve even seen people use straps to secure themselves to the leg extension so they can focus more on their quads instead of fighting to hold themselves down on the seat.

Straps bridge the strength gap between your hands and back/legs, letting you pull heavier weights and do more work for the muscles you want to train.

There is no doubt that straps make you stronger during a lift, but there are no studies that follow lifters long enough to see if that extra load and volume translate into more strength and bigger muscles over time.

It should, but research hasn’t formally verified it. I’ll talk more about this in the next section.

More Mind-Muscle Connection

Mind-muscle connection is when you focus mentally on a muscle to really feel it working and activate it as much as possible. Basically, thinking hard about your biceps while you curl.

When you don’t have to focus on maintaining your grip on the barbell or the pulldown handle when you’re trying to work your back, that mind-muscle connection comes easier.

Straps remove that bottleneck so you can chase mechanical tension and metabolic stress where you want it.

Higher Workout Training Volume

When you’re doing set after set of heavy pulling, your grip is often the first thing to wear out.

Wrist straps can help you bang out a few extra reps each set for more training volume. And training volume is a key driver for muscle growth.¹

Saving Your Skin

Heavy lifting can tear up your hands. One of the biggest selling points of lifting straps for those of us who like to lift heavy without our hands looking like we’ve been wrestling a cheese grater is that they save our skin, literally.

While calluses are a badge of honor for some, ripped skin is just a pain. A lifting strap creates a barrier between your palm and the bar. So, instead of only your skin grinding against the metal, the strap takes some of the friction.

Also, because you don’t have to squeeze the bar with a death grip, you get less skin irritation and callus formation in general.

Cons of Using Straps

Now, before you go strapping in for every single lift, let’s talk about the potential pitfalls. Overusing straps can have some not-so-great consequences:

The Crutch Effect

The most obvious drawback is that relying on straps too much can lead to a weaker grip.

The muscles in your forearms and hands work like all the other muscles in your body: you need to challenge them if you want them to get stronger.

If you’re always using straps, you’re robbing them of that opportunity.

The solution is obvious: don’t use straps all the time. Use them strategically.

Bring out the straps for your heaviest top sets or back-off sets where your grip would otherwise be the limiting factor. That’s where you’ll reap the rewards of being able to handle more weight.

At the same time, I don’t understand “hardcore” lifters who scoff at people who use straps to improve performance in lifts where your grip is a natural bottleneck or call it “cheating.”

You’ll never make your hand muscles as strong as your back, glutes, and thighs. No matter how much grip training you do.

Does it make sense to limit your performance to your weakest link? I don’t think so.

Besides, nothing prevents you from training your grip separately.

Safety Concerns

Lifting straps can be a safety problem if you need to bail on a lift.

When a lift goes wrong, your natural safety mechanism is to just let go of the bar.

Straps, by their very design, prevent you from doing so. You are physically attached to the weight.

Using regular straps for Olympic lifts like the snatch or the clean and jerk is a no-no.

When doing these exercises, you often have to dump the bar forward or backward instantly if you lose control. And losing control of the bar is part of the training.

If you’re strapped to a barbell that’s heading somewhere you’re not, you’re inviting injuries, even bad stuff like broken wrists, dislocated elbows, or torn shoulders.

Even for some standard strength-training exercises, like front squats, there are potential risks involved.

It’s pretty common to use straps to help with the front rack position in the front squat. If you have to bail, you want to push the bar forward and get away from it, but if you’re attached to it with straps, doing so becomes both difficult and dangerous.

At least be aware that things can happen if you need to drop the bar fast.

Awareness in the weight room is what separates a smart lifter from a future injury statistic.

Extra Time and Space Commitment

It’s a minor issue for most lifters, but it takes time to secure your straps if you’re doing a high-volume workout with lots of heavy sets, especially with figure-8 straps.

And if you’re using short set rests or doing something like supersets, it might feel like you’re not doing any actual resting, only fiddling with your straps.

In addition, one or more straps (you never know when you need a spare pair) means at least one more thing in your gym bag.

That might not be an issue for you, but then again, it might be.

Granted, lifting straps aren’t bulky or take up much space, but they are one more thing to carry around.

Competition Rules

Now, there is one time when using straps to lift more would be cheating, and that’s if you compete in lifting heavy things.

If you have any interest in competing in powerlifting or weightlifting, you’ll have to lift without straps.

They are allowed in some strongman and CrossFit events, but even there, some events might not allow you to use them.

It’s a rude awakening to get to the platform and realize you can’t hold onto a weight you’ve lifted in the gym with straps.

So, if you’re a powerlifter and want to use straps in your training, go right ahead. Just make sure you can actually lift the bar without straps when it counts.

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What the Science Says About Lifting Straps

But are there any studies that examine the benefits of lifting straps?

You bet. Here’s a quick rundown.

A Quick Tour of the Research

Area studied	Key finding	Study details
Max reps & bar velocity (deadlift)	Straps let lifters squeeze out significantly more repetitions at a certain load without negatively affecting barbell speed.	10 trained women, 80% 1RM deadlift, crossover design.2
Grip preservation & recovery	Compared with no-strap deadlifts, straps slowed the drop-off in grip strength during a workout and sped up recovery after lifting. Lifters also reported lower RPE and higher grip security.	16 trained men, 80% 1RM deadlift, randomized crossover.3
Deadlift 1RM and bar speed	Straps increased the amount of weight lifted in the deadlift by 10%, but the bar moved faster when no straps were used, and this gap widened as the weight got heavier.	20 resistance-trained men, 1RM tests, counterbalanced, within-subjects design.4
Upper-body pulling strength	In the lat pulldown, straps did not increase 1RM, number of reps with submaximal weights, or muscle activation.	12 trained men, 1RM test and 70% 1RM, EMG, randomized crossover.5
Velocity-based training validity	Using lifting straps during the prone bench pull exercise had no effect on the relationship between the load lifted and the velocity of the movement, nor did it affect the accuracy of predicting a 1RM.	20 trained men, crossover design, counterbalanced sequence.6
Muscle-activation redistribution	During an 80% 1RM snatch, straps decreased forearm/biceps EMG by 16 and 7%, respectively, letting larger muscles do more work.	12 sub-elite male weightlifters, EMG on 8 muscles.7
Deadlift kinematics	Belts and straps together, but not straps alone, improved deadlift kinematics and made the reps feel easier.	20 recreational male weightlifters, 3D video analysis.8
Clean pull performance	Lifting straps improved velocity, force, and power in heavy clean pulls.	Pro rugby players, 140-kg clean pulls, crossover study.9
Power clean performance in high school athletes	Using straps helped lift heavier loads in the power clean but did not help produce greater force or develop that force more quickly.	16 male high school basketball players, 70% 1RM, crossover design.10

In short, some studies find significant benefits of strapping up; others do not. But they do not seem to affect anything negatively.

Do Lifting Straps Help You Build More Muscle and Strength?

With the benefits in strength and training volume discovered in the studies above, lifting straps should be the bee’s knees for getting big and strong, right?

Not so fast.

As of writing this, zero long-term studies have looked at muscle gains or strength increases where strap use was the independent variable.

All strap research to date is either acute (single-session EMG or performance) or short-term mechanistic (velocity-based or isometric tests).

The few 6–12-week programs that mention straps allowed both groups to use them during testing to avoid grip bias, so there is no way to say if they are better than no straps.

So, strictly speaking, there is no direct evidence that bypassing your grip means greater hypertrophy in the lats, traps, erector spinae, hamstrings, etc.

The same goes for strength: All the formal research on straps and strength is acute (single sessions) or, at most, a few workouts spread over a week or two.

What We Can Infer, Cautiously

In theory, if straps let you accumulate more effective reps (heavier weight and/or extra reps past grip failure) across a longer training period, you should build bigger muscles and gain more strength over time.

You’d get both more volume (which drives muscle growth) and lift more weight (which recruits more fibers and drives strength gains).

In addition, muscle hypertrophy itself is key for strength.

But to actually prove that straps can do this, you’d have to design studies that:

• Use two groups of people doing the exact same workout plan for several months.
• Let one group use straps to reinforce their grip, while the other group would never use them.
• Measure relevant muscles like lats, traps, spinal erectors, and hamstrings before and after using ultrasound or DEXA to see who grew more.
• Match total work sets so that any extra weight lifted comes from the strap effect.

All that’s doable.

However, no one has yet finished and published a study like that.

Until that day, we are left with two things: 1) proven acute performance benefits and 2) a theoretical link to muscle growth and strength.

But direct evidence is missing.

Do I believe straps using lifting straps is a good strategy to gain more muscle and strength?

Yes, I do.

But it remains an evidence-informed bet, not an evidence-proven one. Yet.

How to Use Lifting Straps

It’s time to get you strapped in and ready to pull some serious weight.

Want to watch a video instead of reading? We made this video for our Swedish YouTube channel, but it’s a silent one, so the visuals will speak plenty no matter your native language.

Using lifting straps for the first time can feel like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube in the dark, but I promise it’s a piece of cake once you get the hang of it.

Here’s how to put on the most common type of lifting straps, the lasso-strap ones.

Step 1

First things first, you need to create a loop for your wrist.

Take one strap and thread the plain end through the loop at the other end. It should look like a little noose, but, you know, for gains, not for anything weird.

Some straps are pre-sewn, so the loop is already fixed and ready. In that case, you can skip the above step.

Now, you want to put them on so the tail of the strap runs down across your palm, between your thumb and index finger.

Slide your hand through the loop and snug it up around your wrist.

It should be comfortably tight but not cutting off your circulation.

Step 2

Approach the barbell (or dumbbell or handle) and place your hand over it. The tail of the strap should be hanging down.

Take the long end of the strap, wrap it under the bar, and then back over the top.

You’ll want to wrap it around the bar a couple of times.

Once you’ve wrapped the strap, roll the bar towards you like you’re revving a motorcycle. You’ll feel the strap tighten and pull your wrist closer to the bar.

Now, place your hand over the wrapped strap and grip the bar as you normally would.

Note: if you use an underhand grip (palm facing away from you, like in a chin-up), you’d wrap the strap over the bar first instead of under.

The strap should always wrap in the opposite direction of your fingers.

• Fingers over the top? Strap goes under.
• Fingers under the bottom? Strap goes over.

Step 3

Wrapping the first strap is the easy part.

The second one requires a little more finesse since one of your hands is now attached to the bar.

Use your thumb and fingers of the hand you’re strapping in to guide the strap under and around the bar.

It might feel clumsy at first, but with a bit of practice, you’ll manage just fine.

You can even use your teeth if you’re not afraid of little gym-bag bacteria. This can be especially helpful if you’re tightening straps over your head, like a pull-up.

Then, just like before, rev that “motorcycle” to tighten it up and get your grip.

And, as easy as 1,2,3, you’re ready to lift without losing your grip.

Frequently Asked Questions About Wrist Straps

Final Rep

Some say using lifting straps is cheating.

But is it?

Only if lifting heavier is considered a crime.

If your goal is to build a back that’s wider than a barn door but your T-Rex hands give out first, then slap on some straps for your heaviest sets and let your lats and traps do the work you intended.

That is smart training.

But if you’re reaching for the straps on your warm-ups or every single set, you’re just putting a band-aid on a weak grip.

You don’t need lifting straps, but they can be a very helpful tool to get more out of your training.

Last reviewed: 2025-07-02

References

1. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2018 Dec 14;51(1):94–103. Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men.
2. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 37(10):p 1924-1928, October 2023. The Effect of Lifting Straps on Deadlift Performance in Females.
3. Physiology & Behavior, Volume 229, 1 February 2021. Ergogenic effects of lifting straps on movement velocity, grip strength, perceived exertion and grip security during the deadlift exercise.
4. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 34(12):p 3331-3337, December 2020.The Use of Lifting Straps Alters the Entire Load-Velocity Profile During the Deadlift Exercise.
5. Sports Biomech. 2021 Nov;20(7):858-865. The effects of lifting straps in maximum strength, number of repetitions and muscle activation during lat pull-down.
6. J Strength Cond Res. 2024 Nov 1;38(11):e638-e644. The Effect of Lifting Straps on the Prediction of the Maximal Neuromuscular Capabilities and 1 Repetition Maximum During the Prone Bench Pull Exercise.
7. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, November 4, 2024. The use of lifting straps during snatch alters muscle activation patterns.
8. Medicine, 2022 Feb 18;101(7):e28918. The influence of weightlifting belts and wrist straps on deadlift kinematics, time to complete a deadlift and rating of perceived exertion in male recreational weightlifters: An observational study.
9. Journal of Australian Strength and Conditioning, June 2010. The effect of lifting straps on peak velocity, force, and power during clean pull.
10. International Journal of Sports Science, 2017; 7(5): 184-190. The Effects of Lifting Straps on Force Applied During the Power Clean.