Lift more, protect your wrists, and secure your grip on the bar with the best weight lifting hooks for the gym.
One of the best parts about lifting heavy stuff in the gym is the opportunity to improve.
Seeing an additional plate slide onto a barbell, or leveling up to the next heaviest set of dumbbells, there really isn’t anything like it.
This progression keeps us motivated and hungry to come back to the gym for more. But as you get stronger in the gym, there is one thing you quickly notice—that your grip is one of the biggest limitations you have for getting stronger.
The obvious thing to do with a grip that is failing us is to strengthen it, either by using a classic hand grip strengthener or using thick bar grips to light our forearms on fire.
When it comes to instantly securing your grip on the bar, rather than strengthening it, there are a few options.
You could use a pair of weightlifting gloves (particularly handy—haha–for sweaty hands) or my usual go-to, weight lifting straps.
And then there are lifting hooks, which are heavy-duty hooks that lock your hand on to the bar.
Let’s take a look at the best weight lifting hooks out there. Check out the key features of each. And pick the best ones for you.
Let’s dive in.
Iron Bull Weight Lifting Steel Hooks
For my top pick for best weight lifting hooks, I gotta go with the set from Iron Bull. Frequent visitors of the blog know that I am pretty keen on their stuff, with their hip thrust barbell pad in my rotation as well as their bumper plates, which I have been banging out on since Covid started.
Iron Bull knocks it out of the park with these bad boys, which are padded for maximum comfort with neoprene padding. They are comfortable as hell, whether you are pulling for a new PR on deadlifts or using them simply to secure your grip while doing pull-ups.
The hooks themselves are made of metal, the Velcro straps give you a custom, proper fit, and the metal hooks are coated with a slip-free rubber so that you aren’t sliding all over the place when grabbing the bar.
The Iron Bull Strength Hooks combine quality construction, comfort, and affordability (I picked up mine for less than $20 on Amazon–check here for current pricing).
RIMSports Heavy Duty Weight Lifting Straps
Runner up for best weight lifting hooks goes to the hooks from RIMSports. The neoprene strap is thick, comfortable, and secure as hell (also customizable to your wrist size).
The hooks are made of metal, the pads made of 5mm neoprene, and the combination of a lightweight construction with heavy-duty materials gives you a superior fit and grip on the bar, whether you are trying to level things up on the lat pulldown bar or pull more weight off of the floor with your deadlift.
RIMSports sells these bad boys for just under $20 (click here to see what Amazon is selling them for today) and they are available in half a dozen color flavors, from your usual black on black to neon green and pink.
(They mentioned MY WEBSITE in their Amazon listing page here: https://amzn.to/3esrjiF
Contact them to maybe post a link on this article: https://www.rimsports.com/blogs/rm/lifting-straps-v-lifting-hooks
DMoose Fitness Weightlifting Hooks
DMoose isn’t one of the best known names in the gym equipment biz, which is too bad—they make quality stuff. Whether it’s ankle straps for cable machine kickbacks, wrist wraps, or knee wraps for squats, DMoose always ranks at the top of the quality-pile for gear designed to support heavy lifting.
DMoose’s hooks are no exception.
Double-stitched, with heavy-duty Velcro straps and a comfortable neoprene pad to reduce chafing, these hooks are awesome for going HAM on big lifts, whether it’s shrugs, deadlifts, or picking up all of the grocery bags in one trip.
Other fun facts: They are rated for up to 600lbs, come in three different colors, and are super reasonable in terms of cost, coming in at around $19 (check Amazon for today’s pricing).
Harbinger Lifting Hooks
Harbinger is another one of my faves, selling top notch tricep rope attachments and weight lifting belts. The Harbinger Lifting Hooks provide an alternative to the uni-hook, err, hooks, with this intelligently designed alternative.
While most hooks have one thick piece of plastic to secure the bar, the Harbinger hooks tackle thing from a different angle, with two-prong hooks that are heavy-duty versions of a coat-hanger.
The hooks are designed to fit most bars, and the coating on the hooks helps keep them firmly in place while you are donkey-kicking PRs in the gym.
The inside of the cuffs feature that same silky smooth neoprene that we all expect from anything that we strap onto our body, reducing chafing and keeping things comfortable. The Velcro straps allow for a comfortable and secure fit.
Harbinger sells these bad boys for around $25 (check Amazon for current pricing and shipping options).
Lifting Lab Weight Lifting Hooks
Another set of hooks that come in the double-coat hanger format are Lifting Lab’s hooks.
The hooks are covered in a non-slip rubber that helps keep the bar where it’s supposed to be instead of slip-and-sliding in your hands. The individual hooks do snap onto the bar a little more snugly which can help you pile on more reps after the moment where your grip and forearms would typically give out.
Reviewers consistently find the wrist strap to be comfortable (it’s adjustable). These retail for a bit more than the Iron Bull and DMoose hooks (picked mine up for $30—check Amazon for current pricing and availability), but if you prefer the separated hooks with your lifts, these are a great choice.
Lifting Lab also makes a pair in pink as well that are slightly more expensive.
Hawk Fitness Weight Lifting Hooks
At just $12 (check Amazon for current pricing and shipping options), Hawk Fitness’s lifting straps are a killer pair of hooks at an epic price point.
The hooks are powder-coated for durability and comfort, and 5mm neoprene pads eliminate yucky chafing and red skin. The straps come with the usual hook and lock Velcro strap for a custom fit every time you step up to the barbell.
Rated to be able to support up to 700lbs, Hawk Fitness combines affordability with awesomeability (I know—not even close to being a real word, but kinda just flowed off the keyboard).
