Doctor Deadlift is in, and he’s going to show you how to use a hook grip. Cailer Woolam, who’s broken the world record for the deadlift, is the perfect person for the job.
But before he can show you how to use it, he’s going to explain why you should use a hook grip.
Traditionally, when you someone deadlifting, they will hold the bar with an alternating grip, or as Cailer calls it, a mixed grip (i.e., one hand is in a pronated/overhand grip while the other is in a supinated/underhand grip) because it prevents the bar from rolling out of their hands. If you try to hold the bar with your hands in a pronated grip with maximum weight, it will roll right out of your hands.
The hook grip will let you deadlift with both hands in a pronated grip. The difference from a regular pronated grip and the hook grip is the position of your thumb.
You’ll hook your thumb around the bar and hold it in place with your index finger resting on the backside of your thumb’s knuckle. Your middle finger will fall into on the top of your thumb, and then wrap the remaining fingers around the bar.
“I’m just going to give you guys my personal opinion of why I think the hook grip is better than the mixed grip in every possible way.”
In Cailer’s experience, the mixed grip is more difficult to use as the weights get heavier — plus there’s a bigger chance for a bicep tear if you’re using a supinated grip.
Now, if you have both hands pronated, the risk of having a nasty bicep tear drastically decreases.
Another reason Cailer prefers it is due to the symmetry of the lift — in fact, it’s the main reason he switched over to the hook grip. Referring to a plethora of exercises, such as push-ups, rows, and shrugs, he asks, “How do we have our hands on the bar?”
In all of these examples, the hands are pronated.
So why would we suddenly switch it up just for the deadlift?
“In my opinion, it only makes sense that you’re going to be stronger with both of your hands pronated on the bar because that’s how we do everything else.”
The symmetry of the lift is also beneficial for the way the bar will move during the lift — and the differences are remarkable, as Cailer demonstrates below.
The final reason to use the hook grip is that it can increase the amount of weight that you can hold on with to the bar compared to the mixed grip.
Give the hook grip a shot and let us know how it goes!
