Pulling aids - advantages and disadvantages
Basic heavy weight exercises are considered to be the most effective exercises you can do to build enormous muscle mass and brute strength as quickly as possible. A very decisive reason for the inimitable effectiveness of the aforementioned basic exercises is that they involve a whole range of muscles. The only problem is that your muscles are not all equally strong, so that the end of the exercise is ultimately determined by the weakest muscle area. In the case of heavy deadlifts, these are mostly the hand muscles, which usually tire long before the leg and back muscles. However, premature hand muscle fatigue is not the only problem with the deadlift. In addition, there is of course the risk that the dumbbell will simply slip out of your hands due to training-related sweating. So-called pulling aids promise a remedy for these two problems, which, by the way, are not only given with the deadlift, but their use is not undisputed.
An overview of the most common pull support variants
Before the individual points of criticism are dealt with in more detail and at least partially refuted, a brief explanation of the terms would be appropriate due to the relatively low distribution of pulling aids. As the appropriately chosen name suggests, help pulling aids when pulling weights. It is worth mentioning that there are different variants of pulling aids that are similar in principle, but have some differences. These differences in turn result in their own advantages and disadvantages, which must be viewed completely independently of the actual criticism.
The simplest variant of the pulling aid is nothing more than a simple band, one end of which is wrapped around the wrist and the other end around the barbell. The disadvantage of this variant compared to other variants is, on the one hand, that the pulling aid can easily be detached from the wrist. On the other hand, it proves to be not very user-friendly in practice. After all, when you put on the second pulling aid, one hand is already "tied" to the barbell.
A much more practical pulling aid variant for heavy pulling exercises consists of a loop for the wrist and a metal hook into which the barbell is hung. In order to be able to hold the heaviest loads, the hook must be extremely robust, which is why the metal it is made of may be so thick that you can no longer grip the bar as usual.
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The third variant is again a combination of the two variants mentioned above. It consists of a backrest and a claw, of which the steel claw is placed around the barbell and the backrest with an adjustment band around the wrist. The advantage that this variant offers compared to the variant with the simple metal hooks is that the claws for the barbell are significantly thinner and the loop around the wrist is padded so that you can grip the barbell better.
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Experienced athletes mostly prefer a variant made of non-slip tape with a wrist loop, in which the loose end is first wrapped around the barbell so that you only have to put on the loop when starting the exercise. The greatest strength of this variant is that by wrapping the barbell you get a consistently thick, non-slip and, depending on the material, sweat-absorbing cover.
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What speaks against pulling aids?
Regardless of the aforementioned advantages and disadvantages of the respective pull support variants, there are still overriding points of criticism, most of which, however, turn out to be baseless on closer inspection. One such point of criticism is, for example, that hand fatigue is a protective function that would be undermined by the use of pulling aids. What this means is that by using pulling aids you could train with weights that are actually too heavy for you, which would put you at an increased risk of injury. An aspect that cannot be completely dismissed by hand, but would ultimately only be relevant if you were actually training with weights that are much too heavy or if your posture is not correct when performing the exercise. Regardless of this, it is not entirely safe if a heavy barbell unexpectedly slips out of your sweaty hands. Another point of criticism is that the hands would become increasingly weaker if you only trained with pulling aids. That may be true. But honestly. Who is using pulling aids for all pulling exercises without exception?
Conclusion pulling aids advantages and disadvantages
Pulling aids can help youto train more intensely than before. They can also help make training safer. However, you should really only use them for those exercises that you absolutely need them for. Also, never let yourself be tempted to use heavier weights than are good for you.
