As we discussed earlier, there are Three ways to hold on to a barbell if you are concerned about your grip slipping. You can use straps, point your palms in different directions (mixed grip), or you can grab them with a hook. A hook handle is safer than a mixed one, but one thing scares many people off: the pain.
I am happy to announce this to you after almost two years of the Olympics Weightlifting (where hook handle is neither feared nor discussed, but just a part of life) I now believe that hook handle is nowhere near as painful as it is supposed to be. And yes, I am the person who wrote in this previous article that hook handle “hurts like hell”. Partly because I got used to it, but also because I got it wrong.
Look at the bar that you are using
If you have small hands or are using a thicker bar, the hook handle may be more uncomfortable – or even impossible.
This is one of the reasons why there are women’s bars in Olympic weightlifting: The women’s bar has a diameter of 25 millimeters to allow smaller hands a more comfortable grip. (The men’s bar is 28 millimeters.)
The Dumbbells in a regular gym can vary. Powerbars usually resemble an Olympic handlebar for men measuring 28 or 29 mm. Squat bars, normally only found in powerlifting gyms, are heavier than a typical power bar and thicker. The thickness makes them more comfortable on your back, but mainly because these bars have to hold heavy plates while being stiff enough not to jump a lot. They are often 32mm.
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Deadlift bars, on the other hand, are thinner at 27 mm (but not quite as thin as an Olympic bar for women). Deadlifts and Olympic lifts are the most common lifts that people use hook handles. Therefore, only these bars are designed for this purpose. (Some powerlifting associations use a powerbar for the deadlift, while others use a deadlift bar. Powerlifting does not use different bars for men and women.)
All of this means, if you are having trouble with the hook handle, make sure you are using the thinnest suitable bar. I can’t hold onto a squat, and I don’t even find power bars very comfortable, but I have no problem grabbing a women’s Olympic bar or a deadlift bar.
Place your thumb so that it is parallel to the bar
A common mistake – and one thing that hurts the hook handle a lot more than it needs to be – is putting your thumb incorrectly on the bar.
Don’t think of your thumb as if it is wrapping itself under the bar. It’s not like a pair of pliers opposed to your fingers.
Instead, place the last joint of your thumb parallel to its length along the bar. When you grab the bar, your thumbnail should be in contact with your middle finger, somewhere between the last and penultimate joints of your middle finger.
The exact point of contact will depend on your body proportions, but I am trying to emphasize that you shouldn’t try to pinch your thumb under as many fingers as possible, nor should you try to wrap it deeply around the bar. If you have pain in the ankle where your thumb meets your palm, this is probably what you are doing wrong.
Work out
Even if you get everything right, your first hook-hold deadlift can be painful, or at least uncomfortable. However, if you use a suitable bar and grasp it properly, the discomfort will be short-lived.
If pain, bruising, or calluses occur, they should be mild and appear roughly parallel to the length of your thumb and on the side of your thumb rather than the center of the thumb pad or ankle.
Thumb strap can help a bit; Wrap athletic tape around your thumb, skip the thumb joint, or use an elastic thumb band around the entire thumb. This will add a bit of compression so the pressure doesn’t hurt as much, and it can also be more comfortable so the knurling of the barbell doesn’t grip your thumbs as much.
Once you get used to the hook, use it on as many elevators as you can – but it’s fine if you don’t use it on every elevator. For example, you can warm up for deadlifts by grabbing the lighter hooked sets and then using mixed grip or straps for most of your work sets. When it’s time to pull a heavy single, you may want to use the hook handle for just that rep. In time, you will be able to handle more. Even so, even experienced lifters often use slings for sets with high repetitions.
