top tip
If your hands cant hold it maybe you shouldnt be trying to lift it
Maybe your hands are your strength barometer
Bypass that with straps and you might hurt yourself
"If you need a belt for your frail back maybe you shouldn't lift."
"If you need heels to hit depth in the squat maybe that's your body telling you to stop."
"If you need wrist wraps maybe that's your body telling you your bones aren't made for this."
And the raw divisions "needed" an allowance for knee sleeves. But why exactly? Completely abitrary rule (actually made only to recoup some of the losses from selling PL gear). Of course then they started manipulating them too, everyone was wearing sleeves they couldn't even get on by themselves and maybe needed to be cut off. I think at least some orgs now need to see the athlete put them on by themselves Lol.
My grip never once failed me. I think I have pretty weak hands but for some reason I can hold on to "anything", probably 100lbs more than my raw max so I'd never get that point.
The trick and "cheat" with figure 8 straps that I mentioned is that you might be able to hold the bar 2cm or lower down your hands, which means your hips could be slighty higher in the start, improving leverages. It's a tiny tiny thing but might translate to some poundage increase - only likely relevant to some "deadlift specialist". I seem to remember some Westsider hung the bar lower in his hands which he thought gave him an advantage. There might have even been a couple who mentioned it. Of course it only applies to those whose hands this style fits. And sometimes you grab the bar wrong by mistake but somehow you hold on regardless.
Regarding the arbitrariness of powerlifting rules, think about something like the "correct" diameter of the plates. Who said this was the correct height to deadlift from? Completely arbitrary.
