Hands

carpet cleaning,pulls of all kinds........

"Deadlifting."

Yeah right Wayne...like deadlifting EVER helped ANYONE.

My grip is so weak I can barely hold a conversation.

Deadlifting makes all the difference Neeb.  Anytime you can put the straps away and just barehand something the better.  Cleans, sntaches...whatever...provided you can do it SAFELY.

Now, I have heard it said that if your hands are preventing you from throwing (because that is what we do) hanging a lifting strap around the WFD handle will let you get some footwurq practice without tiring out your grip.  Give it a shot...your release at the end of the throw might not be stellar, but man it does make a difference.

Dude, don't feel silly.  You didn't know.  Now you know.  And knowing is half the battle!

Go JOE!!!

Neeb,

Bill is right about the hook grip.  One thing he forgot to mention is that if you are doing it right it is going to hurt.  A lot.  But once your thumbnail gets used to the pressure, you'll be golden.

Glad you liked the picture.  Hope you got a laugh.

make sure the weight sits on your thumb between your index finger and 2nd finger or you'll still be ripping your hand to pieces. So, from top to bottom (looking down, it should be weight, thumb, index/2nd finger) otherweise the weght is still going to sit on the gushy callused part of your hand and you're still going to be ripping it all the time. I also tape my ring finger as the weight sits there as well and when I do the spin WOB I tape my pinky finger.

I had to figure that out the hard way.

I've been hooking now for about 3 months and after about 15 hard throws with the HWFD my thumb is throbbing so bad I have to stop.. You just have to get used to it. I grab a glove and do my footwork stuff without the hook grip and at very little intensity. When it's time to do serious throws I'll tape up my thumb and ring finger.

Throw far buddy!!!

oh, and get some chalk for those deadlifts!

Hapy wrote: Hmmm... Not to say you are wrong there, as it may just be personal preference, but I put my thumb "on the side" of the handle, so that the weight is actually touching both the thumb and the fingers. (see the link that Dave Barron posted above - I think I do it pretty much like Wayne posted) I tried doing it originally the way you wrote, but found the weight getting stuck on the release on my thumb. - I can't remember who told me to try it differently, but it works for me. You might try not such a deep hook, this should enable you to throw pretty much all day without thumb pain.

different strokes for different folks I suppose.. I have tried mutliple different hook grips and the one I described causes the least damage to my hands, lol.. If I go on the side like you suggested, I still end up ripping calluses all day long..

good input though as I'm sure it's different for everyone!!