How to Use Lifting Straps

Lifting straps move part of a heavy pull from your fingers to your wrists. Slip your hand through the loop so the tail runs toward your thumb, wrap the tail under the bar and back over once, then roll the bar toward you until there's no slack. Open your hand and a single wrap lets go.

Save them for the sets where your grip gives out before the muscles you're training: heavy deadlifts, rack pulls, high-rep rows and shrugs. They don't brace the wrist joint and they won't help a press. For the bench, you want wrist wraps, which wind around the wrist instead of tying you to the bar.

Put a loop strap on your wrist

A loop strap, also called a lasso strap, is a length of webbing with a loop sewn at one end. Feed the tail through that loop and you have a cuff for your wrist. Our Cursed straps work this way and come as a pair, one threaded for each hand.

1. Put your hand through the cuff. The tail should run across your palm and out between your thumb and index finger. If it heads the other way, you're holding the other hand's strap.
2. Snug the cuff just below your hand. Keep it off the forearm, with room to slide a finger underneath.

Wrap it on the bar and tighten

1. Start with your non-dominant hand. Your dominant hand stays free to help. The second side is fiddlier because one hand is already on the bar.
2. Rest your open hand on the bar. The tail hangs down on your side.
3. Wrap under, then over. Push the tail under the bar, away from you, and bring it back over the top toward your palm. One wrap is enough. Extra turns add bulk and slow your release.
4. Close your hand and roll the bar toward you. Keep rolling until there's no gap between hand, strap and bar.
5. Match the other side, then grip hard. Both straps should feel equally tight. A loose grip lets the strap drag the bar away from your legs.

Make your first strapped set a light one so you can check the tension and the wrap direction. Rows use the same setup, with a barbell or a dumbbell. For underhand rows, wrap over the bar first instead of under.

Figure-8 straps: locked on, no quick release

A figure-8 strap is one band crossed into two loops: one for your wrist, one for the bar. Once you're in, you stay attached even if your fingers relax, which is the appeal on a heavy deadlift. The catch is getting out. Opening your hand won't free you.

1. Put your wrist through one loop.
2. Pass the other loop under the bar.
3. Put the same hand through the second loop. Both loops now sit on that wrist.
4. Grip the bar and strap firmly, then lift. To get out, set the bar down first.

Use figure-8s only where you can always finish by setting the weight down: deadlifts, rack pulls, shrugs, holds and barbell rows you lower to the floor. Switch to loop straps for cable rows, pulldowns and anything you might need to let go of mid-set, and never strap into a figure-8 for cleans or snatches.

Mistakes that make straps slip

• A loose cuff or wrap. The most common cause. Snug the cuff and roll out the slack before you pull.
• Wrapping against the roll. If the tail unwinds mid-pull, rewrap it so rolling the bar toward you tightens the strap.
• Balling up the spare strap. A wad in your palm won't release when you need it to. Cursed straps are 56 cm long, so let the extra hang.
• Strapping lifts you might need to drop. Never strap a squat clean, and think twice about straps in a front-squat rack.
• Worn stitching. Check the webbing and seams before your heavy sets.

Keep training your grip

Warm up without straps, then use them only on your heaviest or highest-rep sets. Try a hook grip before you reach for them, and train your grip on its own. A 2026 review found no long-term studies on what straps do to grip strength, either way, so keeping some unstrapped pulling in your week is the simple insurance.

If you compete, check the rules early. As of October 2026, lifting straps aren't on the permitted equipment lists in the IPF, USAPL, USPA or IPL rulebooks. USPA and IPL make one exception: a lifter missing at least 50% of their fingers, including the thumb, may strap that hand for the deadlift. Strongman rules vary by event. If a powerlifting meet is coming, pull your heavy singles without straps in training.

Next step: pick the type that suits your lifts. Loop straps such as Cursed cover most pulling work, while figure-8s such as 4-Star suit heavy deadlifts, shrugs and floor rows. You'll find both in our lifting straps collection.