Are Lifting Straps Cheating? When Straps Make Sense (and When They Don't)

Few pieces of gym gear spark as many arguments as lifting straps. Some lifters call them cheating, claiming they make your grip weak. Others strap up for every pull and say grip is irrelevant for building a big back. The truth sits somewhere practical in between. This article looks at what straps really do, why many of the strongest people in the world use them, where the "cheating" argument has a point, and how to balance straps with grip training.

What Straps Actually Do

Lifting straps loop around your wrist and wrap around the bar. When your hands start to fatigue, the strap helps hold the bar so the muscles you are actually trying to train, your back, glutes, hamstrings and traps, can keep working. They do not lift the weight for you. Your legs and back still have to move every pound. Straps simply remove grip as the first thing to fail. For the basics of setup, see how to use lifting straps.

Why People Call Straps Cheating

The argument usually comes down to three points:

1. Grip strength: If you always use straps, your hands never get pushed, so grip strength may lag.
2. Competition rules: Powerlifting federations generally do not allow straps on the competition deadlift, so relying on them can leave you unprepared for meet day.
3. Ego: Lifting a weight with straps that you cannot hold without them can feel like an inflated number.

These points have some truth to them, but only if straps are used thoughtlessly.

Why Straps Are Not Cheating

You choose what you are training

If the goal of an exercise is to build your back, letting grip end the set early means your back gets less work. Straps let you train the target muscle fully. That is not cheating; it is matching the tool to the goal.

Grip is a separate quality

Grip can be trained directly with carries, holds and double overhand work. You do not have to train grip on every set of every exercise.

Strong lifters use them

Bodybuilders strap up for rows and pulldowns. Olympic weightlifters routinely use straps for snatch and clean pulls. Strongman athletes use them on many deadlift events where rules allow. Powerlifters use them in training to build pulling strength on high-rep or overload work, even if they cannot use them in competition.

Rules depend on the sport

"Cheating" only means something if you break the rules of a competition. In the gym, there are no rules except the ones you set for your training.

When Straps Make the Most Sense

• High-rep pulling: Sets of 8 to 15 on Romanian deadlifts, rows or shrugs, where grip burns out long before the target muscle.
• Heavy shrugs and rack pulls: Loads that exceed what most people can hold. See how to do rack pulls.
• Back-focused work: Rows, pulldowns and pull-ups when you want the back to be the limiting factor. Read lifting straps for pull-ups and rows.
• Late in a session: After heavy deadlifts, your hands may be fried for accessory work.
• Skin issues: When calluses or torn skin make gripping painful, straps let you keep training.

When to Skip the Straps

• Warm-up sets: Use them to train grip naturally.
• Lighter working sets: If you can hold it, hold it.
• Before a powerlifting meet: Practice your competition grip on heavy deadlifts.
• Dedicated grip work: Farmer's carries, dead hangs and plate pinches.

The Balanced Approach

Many coaches recommend a simple framework:

1. Go without straps until grip genuinely limits you.
2. Use chalk to extend how long you can grip unassisted.
3. Strap up when grip is the reason a set would end early.
4. Include direct grip training once or twice a week.

For deadlifts specifically, a common plan is double overhand without straps through warm-ups, then either switch to a hook grip or mixed grip, or add straps for top sets and high-rep back-off sets. Our article on how to improve grip strength for deadlifts has a full plan.

Do Straps Make Your Grip Weak?

Using straps does not shrink grip strength on its own. What can happen is that grip lags behind the rest of your strength if you never train it. If you use straps sometimes and also train grip directly or lift unstrapped on lighter sets, your grip can keep up just fine.

Straps vs Other Grip Aids

Straps are one of several options:

• Chalk improves friction. Not cheating by anyone's definition, and allowed in most competitions. Read how to use liquid chalk.
• Hook grip is a technique that wraps the thumb under the fingers. It is fully legal in powerlifting and weightlifting. See our guide to the hook grip.
• Mixed grip puts one palm forward and one back. Allowed in powerlifting.
• Gloves can reduce friction for some lifters. Compare in lifting gloves vs chalk vs straps.

Is a Strapped PR a Real PR?

It is a real lift, just not the same lift as an unstrapped one. Track them separately. Your strapped deadlift and your competition-style deadlift are both valid numbers for different purposes. Being honest about which is which keeps the debate simple.

Straps in Different Sports

• Powerlifting: Generally not allowed on the competition deadlift; widely used in training.
• Olympic weightlifting: Not allowed in competition, but very common in training for pulls and sometimes for the lifts themselves.
• Strongman: Allowed on some deadlift events, depending on the competition.
• Bodybuilding and general fitness: No rules, use them whenever they help.
• CrossFit: Check event standards; usually not used in competition.

Always check the rulebook of your specific federation or event.

Figure-8 vs Lasso: Does It Matter for the Cheating Debate?

Figure-8 straps lock you to the bar more securely than lasso straps, which some lifters see as even more "assisted." They are popular for strongman deadlifts and heavy shrugs. Lasso straps still require some grip and are easier to release. See figure 8 straps vs loop lifting straps.

What Our Customers Usually Do

Most lifters we hear from keep a pair of straps in the bag and use them for a handful of sets per week: top deadlift sets, heavy rows, shrugs and pulldowns. They train grip directly too. That balance tends to keep both grip and back progressing.

Choosing Straps

If you decide straps belong in your training, look for a length that wraps the bar securely, padding at the wrist and durable stitching. Bay Gear Co. padded lifting straps are 24" long and $19.99, available in designs such as Black, Tactical Hawaiian and Caution. Browse the full lifting straps collection or read our best lifting straps for deadlifts guide.

Pair Straps With the Right Gear

Heavy pulling sessions often include a belt; the Bay Gear Co. Lever Lifting Belt is 10mm, 4.25" wide and $129.99. Lifters who train both push and pull often grab the Wrist Wraps + Lifting Straps Bundle, or the Elbow Wraps + Wrist Wraps + Lifting Straps Bundle for a full pressing and pulling kit.

A Sample Week Balancing Straps and Grip

• Day 1 (deadlift): Warm-ups double overhand, top sets with hook or mixed grip, back-off sets with straps.
• Day 2 (upper): Rows and pulldowns with straps on the final heavy sets.
• Day 3 (squat): Finish with farmer's carries, no straps.
• Day 4 (accessories): Heavy shrugs with straps, dead hangs at the end without straps.

Where the Critics Have a Point

It is worth giving the anti-strap crowd their due. A lifter who has strapped every deadlift for two years and then signs up for a powerlifting meet often discovers that their grip cannot hold their training numbers. That is a real, avoidable problem. The same goes for people whose hands tear up the moment they try to hold a heavy bar without straps, because their skin has never adapted to the knurling. The fix is not to throw the straps away, but to make sure some heavy pulling happens without them, especially in the months before any competition.

How to Wean Off Straps If You Have Overused Them

1. Drop the straps on all warm-up sets immediately.
2. Do your first working set unstrapped each session, using chalk.
3. Add one set of farmer's carries or dead hangs at the end of two sessions per week.
4. Every two to three weeks, move one more working set to unstrapped.
5. Keep straps for the final high-rep sets and for shrugs.

Within a couple of months, most lifters find their unstrapped numbers catch up a long way.

Common Questions

Will people judge me for using straps?

Some might, but most experienced lifters use them. Train for your goals.

Should beginners use straps?

Beginners usually benefit from building grip first, but there is nothing wrong with using straps on high-rep pulls once technique is solid.

Can straps help with pull-ups?

Yes, if grip gives out before your lats. See how to do pull-ups.

The Bottom Line

Are lifting straps cheating? Not in the gym. They are a tool that lets you train your back and hips without grip ending the set early. The fair criticisms, weak grip and unprepared competition lifters, are solved by using straps selectively and training grip directly. Use them where they help, skip them where they do not, and track strapped and unstrapped lifts separately.

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