Here’s How Your Grip Technique Could Be Holding Back Your Workout Progress

This common mistake could be causing you pain without you even knowing it.

Heavy pulling exercises like deadlifts, rows, and pullups require a strong grip—but according to Athlean-X's Jeff Cavaliere C.S.C.S., a simple but common mistake could be holding back your gains with these types of movements. In a recent YouTube video, Cavaliere explains the flaw in grip technique that can have a negative effect on performance in the gym, as well as contribute to soreness elsewhere in the arm.

"If you've ever done any kind of heavy pulling movement, you've likely dealt with some type of pain in the medial elbow," he says. "It feels like someone is driving a knife straight into your elbow."

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This is due to the flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS), a muscle which reaches all the way from the interphalangeal joints of the ring finger and the pinkie finger down to the medial elbow. And as the ring finger is the one that exerts the most pressure when the hand is in a gripped position, that means it is placing the most tension on the FDS.

"This is a thin muscle, it can't handle heavy loads on its own," says Cavaliere, who advises adjusting your grip in order to reduce the dominance of the ring finger. With a pullup bar, this means keeping the bar closer to the palm of your hand, to avoid overloading your fingers. When standing under the pullup bar, you should be able to see the knuckles of your hand, but not the joints of the fingers.


If you're doing a chinup with an underhand grip, then the reverse is true; you want to see the joints of the fingers, as that means you've got the hand hooked securely over the bar. In each case, you should be mindful that the further into a set you get, and the more fatigued you become, your hand can start to slip down and you'll begin to put more pressure on the fingers. (This advice also applies to barbell workouts; gripping the bar as closely to the palm as possible can help to reduce elbow issues and improve your performance.)


Another tip for minimizing the contribution of the fourth finger is to wrap a band around the bar, and place your ring finger and pinkie on the band. This shifts focus, and leaves the remaining fingers to do the majority of the grip work.

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