Best Lifting Straps for Weightlifting and Deadlifts

You’re on your last set of heavy deadlifts for the day, and arghhhhh you just can’t hold on to that bar. You’re strong enough but it’s just too slippery.

Stop – you either need lifting straps or chalk. 

Top 3 Best Lifting Straps

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Quality lifting straps will anchor you to the bar while you perform your compound lifts and you’ll never sacrifice gains because sweat again. Whether your deadlift grip strength is lacking, or you need straps for an olympic movement like the clean and jerk, or snatch – you’ve come to the right place.

Here I’m going to break down some of the most popular weightlifting and deadlift straps on the market in an easy-to-digest article that saves you time. Here are my reviews of the best lifting straps for weightlifting and deadlifts

Best Lifting Straps Reviews

IronMind Lifting Straps Review

In a line: If you want the most heavy-duty straps, get these – “Overall best lifting straps”

Not too many products out there live up to their hype but these straps by IronMind have passed the test. These straps are hardcore – backed by some of the strongest men on the planet and used by weightlifters as well. The fact that they’re the #1 most used wraps on the US Strongman Circuit is proof enough for me that they can handle your deadlift, clean and jerk, and snatch needs. These are the best lifting straps for weightlifting and deadlifting in my opinion (and many others).

• Strongest lifting straps on the planet basically
• Official straps of the World’s Strongman contest
• Will withstand anything you can lift
• Great for deadlifting (powerlifting) and olympic weightlifting or crossfit
• Very reasonably priced – won’t break the bank
• No padding on the wrist area
• Cons: NONE
• Check them out on Amazon here

It’s hard to have to go on and review any other wraps after these – not much else holds up to them but there are some options that are lighter-duty, and also some more budget options, so let’s keep going.

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MuscleDriver Loop Lifting Straps Review

In a line: A great option for olympic weightlifting as the surface is less resistant than the IronMind straps.
The MuscleDriver loop straps are a basic strap that’s wider than most which is why it made it onto this list. The basic principle of lifting straps are to torque you to the bar using the rotational force and surface area of the strap material. Having a wider strap increases the surface area of contact to the bar and of the wraps wrapping around the wrap itself. Some people like a wider strap so if you’re in that boat then these are a great option for you. In terms of performance they’re on par with the IronMinds but I’d still go with the IronMinds for a one-time purchase.

• A wider lifting strap that has some appeal
• Great for weightlifting, powerlifting
• Some more appeal to olympic as they less grippy than the IronMinds
• No padding on the wrist
• Cons: Price is a bit high

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Basic Cotton Lifting Straps Review

In a line: Best budget lifting straps for deadlifting or weight lifting.
Only if you’re on a budget or want to try out lifting straps would I go with a generic pair of straps. These often come with a padded wrist which I like to avoid as it causes uneven contact between your hands/wrists and the bar. However, they are a fraction of the price of any other item on this list so there is that I guess.

• Cheap straps that will get the job done for the most part
• I would recommend these for beginners or those on a budget
• Cons: Durability, comfort, the padding
• Check them out on Amazon here

Overall, go with these if price is an issue – they’ll last you fine until you need another pair and most straps will serve a similar purpose until you’re lifting the big boy numbers.

 

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Versa Gripps Review

In a line: A different style when it comes to straps – less work in set up.

Here we have an interesting innovation when it comes to lifting straps. What the Versa Gripps do is anchor the strap to your wrist with a locking velcro and only have the end of the strap dangling down for you to wrap around your contact surface (the bar). What this does is eliminates the lengthy set-up of wrapping your straps around your wrists, and fastening it to the bar. All you have to do here is wrap a little bit of material around the bar and you’re ready to lift. Now is it worth it? These are pricier than any other item on this lift, and while they all perform very similarly you’ll have to decide if the convenience is worth it.

• Durable, capable of pulling high numbers
• Unique design could save some time
• Available in a wide variety of colors for you gym fashionistas
• Provides a solid lock to the wrist
• Cons: Price
• See them here on Amazon

If you’ve got some dough to spend and think that the time you might save is worth the price then go for it. Otherwise I would just recommend the IronMind’s (and you should probably get them anyways).

 

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How to pick the best lifting straps for you

Whether you’re deadlifting and starting to lose grip, or performing a high volume of snatches/cleans and wanting to try using straps – there aren’t too many ways you can go wrong when purchasing a pair. If you read through this entire article and ended up with a pair of IronMind’s then I haven’t failed at my task – but there is some merit to choosing the MuscleDriver straps too.

I think I would recommend the MuscleDriver’s over the IronMind straps for weightlifters because they’re slightly shorter and that makes it much less painful for setting up a ton of lifts. When you’re deadlifting a set it might be once every five minutes without re-strapping between each rep. So for powerlifting let’s say go with the IronMind straps, and for olympic weightlifting and other applications go with the MuscleDrivers. If you do a mix of both I would go with the IronMind’s.

On the topic of price, it really shouldn’t be an issue as these are such an inexpensive item that a one-time purchase of the IronMind straps shouldn’t set you back too far. They’re less than 2x the price of the cheapy straps so if those break on you once and you need a new pair, you’ve already surpassed the price of the good straps.

Padded vs non-padded wrist straps

This is a little section I’d like to address before moving onto how to properly use your lifting straps is padding. Sometimes you’ll see cheap straps like the one cotton pair on this list have padding. I would never recommend padding for olympic weightlifting, however if a cheap pair you were getting for deadlifting had it then it’s not a big deal.

For weightlifting that padding would cause a lot of extra friction and could hinder wrist movement which is important for the clean and snatch. I don’t recommend having padding for any form of lifting on your straps, but it would matter less if you’re only using them for deadlifting. Avoid padding like the plague if you’re an oly lifter or a crossfitter.

How to properly use lifting straps

Without trying to type out all of the details, lets save both of ourselves and you check out this video by Bryan Shaw (one of the strongest men in the world) where he demonstrates how to use your straps and how to get the most out of using them.

Should I wear my lifting straps every time?

NO – and I’ll explain why. Lifting straps should be used as an aid to still progress in lifting heavier weights without having your grip strength slow you down. HOWEVER you still need to be working on your grip strength in the mean time to catch it up. Once your grip strength has caught up with your lifts you can really take advantage of them and start to surpass your numbers by an even greater amount using the straps to pull harder. I would suggest that every time you use your straps to lift a weight that the next session you would do that movement, try it without the straps to see how you’re progressing.

For weightlifting and olympic movements it’s a bit of a different story. You can do the lifts fresh without straps but as the sessions go on and you’re more and more worn out, the straps can give your busted hands a break while you still work on perfecting your form. For olympic weightlifters looking to start using straps I would slowly work them into your regime and also take days off (lighter if need be) where you don’t use the straps at all.

Best lifting straps reviews conclusion

It’s not hard to find the best lifting straps for weight lifting and deadlifting because there really aren’t a lot of trusted names and there’s a huge amount of knock-offs on Amazon and everywhere else. What I hoped to accomplish with this list of the best lifting straps is a short and sweet guide that makes it easy for you to pick the right straps for you, so let’s break it down real simple.

• If you’re a powerlifter, strongman, or you do all kinds of weightlifting – get the IronMind Straps
• If you’re an olympic weightlifter, or crossfitter – get the MuscleDriver straps
• If you have some extra cash to blow and think the Versa Gripps could save you time and effort, by all means.
• If you’re still unsure, get the IronMind’s and lift!

Until next time, Wheymen.