ExRx.net

A guy at the gym watched me do my DL today (135# I might add) and mentioned I should try doing the grip where your hands are reversed. What is the reasoning behind this?

Second he said I should breath in on the way up and exhale on the way down. I know we had this discussion before about holding the breath and I am not sure if the DL is one of those exercises where you should do that.

Diana

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Diana
Goals
squat 150
bench 100
DL 175

The mixed grip prevents the bar from twisting in your hands, and therefore lets you hold heavier weights than just double overhand.

I hold my breath, unless I have to let out a grunt or something like that.

When you say "your hands are reversed" you mean one facing each way? One in and one out? That's what Ironman means by "mixed grip", and it's the most common grip in DL. Many of us try to use double overhand on our lighter sets, as this trains the grip muscles better, but when it gets too heavy to hold onto that way, change to a more secure grip. The other alternative, which is what I use, is hook grip, where the thumbs are wrapped around the bar, and the index and middle fingers are over it. That allows the thumb to counter the tendency for the bar to roll out of the fingers on overhand grip.

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

I think one of the issues I am having is the bar feels like it will slip from my hands. I have been using the chalk and that helps a little. The mixed grip feels odd so I may have to get used to it on my warm up sets.

Diana

_________________
Diana
Goals
squat 150
bench 100
DL 175

start doing suitcase carries and/or farmers walks.

squeeze bar.

You can get used to mixed grip pretty quickly. You might also try hook grip on some light pulls. It typically takes longer to get used to hook grip.

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan