How to Use CrossFit Grips: Technique, Grip Strength and Care

Buying a pair of grips is the easy part. Getting anything out of them takes about a week of using them properly, and most people never get told how.

This covers the technique, what to do about grip strength, how to make a pair last, and what a competing athlete actually does on the day. If you are still working out whether you need grips at all, start with what CrossFit grips are and what they do.

Why grips matter

Pull-ups, muscle-ups and toes-to-bar all take skin off the same patch of palm. CrossFit grips put material between your hand and the bar, and they take some of the holding off your forearms so those are not the first thing to fail.

That second part is the one people miss. A grip is not only protection. Used properly it changes how long you last on the rig.

1. Get the technique right

Three things, and the second one is where nearly everyone goes wrong.

Set the position before you jump

The material should sit across the part of your palm that meets the bar. Not bunched at the base of your fingers, not halfway down towards your wrist. Sort it on the ground, not hanging.

Let the grip take the load

Fold the material over the bar so it forms a hook, then let it hold you. The instinct is to squeeze harder because something new is in your hand. Squeezing harder defeats the point and will tire your forearms out faster than going bare-handed would have.

If your forearms are burning more in grips than without them, this is why.

Match the grip to the bar

This is not about ability, it is about the rig you train on.

Not sure which you have? Chalk or chalkless grips shows you how to tell what your rig is by look and feel, and what to do about rings. For a straight answer in a minute, which grip is mine does the job.

2. Build grip strength outside the rig

Grips take load off your hands. That is useful in a workout and a problem if it becomes the only way you ever train, because your hands stop getting the stimulus that makes them stronger.

• Farmer's carries. Heavy, walk until it goes. Nothing builds a hold faster.
• Dead hangs. Accumulate time, do not chase one long set.
• Barbell holds. At the top of a deadlift, count.
• Some bar work bare-handed. Lower volume sessions are the place for it.

If it is your wrists giving out rather than your hands, that is a different problem and grips will not touch it. Wrist wraps are what that needs.

3. Make a pair last

• Dry them flat. Rolled up in a wet kit bag is how a grip ages in a month instead of a year.
• Keep them out of damp storage. The boot of a car counts as damp storage.
• Rotate two pairs if you train most days. One for daily work, one kept back for competition.
• Use MagnaSafe between sets. A magnet in the grip, a matching one in the seam of the sweatband. Flick the grip back and it holds flat on your wrist instead of twisting round the back of your hand. Less wear, and no fumbling on the transition.

A worn grip is not just tired, it is unpredictable. If the surface has gone glassy, replace it before a competition rather than after one.

4. What a competing athlete actually does

Philroy, one of our athletes, does not have one grip. He has a strategy.

In training he uses the HyperGrip+ V2. Rough bars, chalk, and it doubles as grip strength work because the bar is doing more of the fighting.

On competition day he looks at the rig first. Chalky bar, HyperGrip+ V2. Smooth or shiny, UltraGrip+ V2. The bag has both in it.

That is worth copying if you compete, and worth ignoring if you train in one gym on one rig. Buy for the bar in front of you.

5. Common mistakes

• Wearing a brand new pair in a workout that matters. Break them in over a few warm-ups first.
• Chalking up in chalkless grips. They are built not to need it.
• Sizing up because it feels safer. Too long and the material bunches. Measure base of palm to tip of middle finger: Regular is 19 cm, Large is 21.5 cm.
• Training in grips exclusively. See the section above.
• Wearing them through a tear. Let the skin close.

Where to start

Coated or smooth bars, take the UltraGrip+ V2. Bare steel and chalk, take the HyperGrip+ V2. Both are fingerless carbon fibre, both come in two sizes, and both ship with magnet-compatible sweatbands.

Browse the full range of CrossFit grips, or read chalk or chalkless grips if the rig is the bit you are unsure about. UK orders before 4pm go out the same day and delivery is free over £70.

The next generation UltraGrip+ V3 is confirmed and on the way. The V3 waitlist hears the spec and the launch price first.