Deadlift Grip Options: Double Overhand, Mixed Grip or Hook Grip

For most people, the best deadlift grip is double overhand: both palms facing you, thumbs wrapped round the bar. Use it for every warm-up and as many working sets as your hands allow. When the bar starts to roll out of your fingers before your back and legs are tired, you have two choices. A mixed grip (one palm towards you, one away) is the easiest to learn and holds the most weight quickly, but it is lopsided. A hook grip (thumb trapped under the fingers) is symmetrical and very secure, but it hurts for the first few weeks. Which you pick depends on your goals, your hands and how patient you are.

Below is how each one works, what it costs, and the order I teach them in.

Why grip becomes the limit

The deadlift is the one big lift where your hands hold the full load. In a squat the bar sits on your back; in a bench press it sits in your palms but is pushed, not hung. In a deadlift the whole weight hangs from your fingers for every second of the set. Your legs, hips and back are large and get strong quickly. The small muscles of the forearm and fingers do not keep pace, so after a few months of steady training many people find that the bar slips before anything else gives out.

That is not a reason to grab straps straight away. It is a sign that your grip needs some attention, and that you need a strategy for the heaviest sets.

Double overhand: the default

Both palms face your body. The bar sits low in the hand, close to where the fingers meet the palm, not in the middle of the palm. If it sits too high it slides down as you lift, and the skin bunches up and tears. Wrap your thumbs round and squeeze hard before the bar leaves the floor.

Strengths: it is symmetrical, so both shoulders and both sides of the upper back do the same job. It builds grip strength every time you use it. It is the natural grip for Romanian deadlifts, rows and shrugs, so you only learn it once.

Limits: it is the weakest of the three. The bar wants to roll out of your fingers, and once it starts rolling it does not stop.

A sensible rule: use double overhand until it genuinely fails, not until it feels hard. Many people switch far too early and never let their grip catch up.

Mixed grip: the quick fix with a cost

One hand faces you, the other faces away. Because the bar wants to roll forward out of one hand and backward out of the other, the two cancel out and the bar stays put. Most people can hold noticeably more this way on the first day.

The costs are real, though:

• Asymmetry. The underhand side tends to rotate the bar and the torso slightly. Over months of heavy sets always done the same way, that adds up.
• Biceps risk. With the underhand arm, the biceps is in a stretched, exposed position. If you bend that elbow and try to curl the bar off the floor, you load a muscle that has no business lifting a heavy deadlift. Biceps tears in mixed-grip deadlifts are uncommon, but they are a known injury in strength sports, and they tend to happen when the underhand arm is bent.
• Uneven bar path. Some people find the bar drifts or tilts slightly towards one side.

If you use a mixed grip, keep both arms completely straight, like ropes, and alternate which hand is underhand from set to set or session to session. Save it for your heaviest work rather than every rep.

Hook grip: secure, symmetrical and uncomfortable at first

Put the thumb on the bar first, then wrap the index and middle fingers over it, pinning the thumb between bar and fingers. The thumb becomes a wedge, and the bar cannot roll out without pulling it free. Olympic weightlifters use it as standard because they need a grip that holds through a fast, explosive pull without twisting the body.

Strengths: it holds a lot of weight, both arms work the same way, and there is no rotated, exposed biceps.

Limits: it hurts. The thumb is squashed under load, and for the first two or three weeks most people find the pressure on the thumbnail and joint unpleasant. Smaller hands and shorter thumbs find it harder, because the fingers struggle to reach over the thumb. Tape on the thumb (a couple of loose turns of finger tape) helps a lot.

The discomfort fades with regular use. If you are willing to put up with it, hook grip is the tidiest long-term solution.

Comparing the three

Grip	Holding power	Symmetry	Learning curve	Best use
Double overhand	Lowest	Even	None	Warm-ups, most working sets, all RDLs
Mixed	High	Uneven	Minimal	Occasional heavy singles and top sets
Hook	High	Even	2-3 weeks of discomfort	Heavy sets once adapted

What about straps and chalk?

Chalk is the first and simplest aid. It dries sweat and improves friction, and on a well-knurled bar it makes a bigger difference than people expect. Straps take grip almost entirely out of the lift. They are useful for high-rep Romanian deadlifts, rows, or the last back-off sets when your hands are done but your back is not. They are not a replacement for building a grip. I have written a fuller comparison in straps vs chalk.

The order I teach them in

1. Learn the lift with double overhand. Every new client starts here. Grip is rarely the limit for the first couple of months, and the priority is a clean hinge and a solid brace. If the movement itself is new to you, start with how to deadlift properly.
2. Add chalk when the bar first slips. Same grip, better friction.
3. Train grip directly. Two short blocks a week: heavy holds at the top of a deadlift, farmer’s carries with dumbbells, and slow, controlled lowering. See grip strength exercises for options.
4. Choose a heavy-set grip. Hook if you can tolerate the thumb pain and want symmetry; mixed if you prefer simplicity, alternating hands and keeping the elbows locked.
5. Keep double overhand in the warm-up. Switch grips only once the weight demands it. Your grip keeps getting stronger, and the warm-up keeps it honest.

Common grip mistakes

• Holding the bar in the middle of the palm, so it slides and pinches the skin.
• Gripping lightly and squeezing only once the bar is moving. Squeeze before it leaves the floor.
• Bending the underhand elbow on a mixed grip.
• Always putting the same hand underneath.
• Using straps for every set from the first month.
• Hands too wide. For a conventional deadlift, hands sit just outside the legs, so the arms hang straight down.

How this plays out in a coached session

In the basement studio on Archway Road, grip is something we watch from the first warm-up set: where the bar sits in your hand, whether your thumbs are wrapped, whether the elbows stay straight. Most clients never need to think about mixed or hook grip until they have been training for several months. When they do, we choose together and build it into the plan rather than improvising it under a heavy bar. If you want that kind of attention on your lifting, the 1-1 personal training page explains how sessions work.

If you have had a hand, wrist, elbow or shoulder injury, or you have been away from training for a long time, check with your GP or physiotherapist first before lifting heavy from the floor.

Questions we get asked

Is mixed grip bad for you?

Not inherently. Used for heavy sets only, with straight arms and alternating hands, it is a reasonable tool. The problems come from using it for everything and from bending the underhand elbow.

Does hook grip get less painful?

Yes, for most people. The first few weeks are the worst. Light tape on the thumb and short, regular exposure help more than occasional heavy attempts.

Should I use straps for deadlifts?

For some back-off or high-rep work, yes. For your main heavy sets, build the grip first. Straps are a tool, not a crutch.

How wide should my grip be?

For a conventional deadlift, just outside your shins so your arms hang vertically. Wider makes the pull longer. Sumo is different: hands go inside the knees.

Want your grip, set-up and plan checked by a coach? Read more about personal training in Highgate, or see everything at The Highgate House.

For general activity guidance, including strength work on at least two days a week, see the NHS physical activity guidelines.

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