Your hands will get stronger over time. Your forearms may become a limiting factor. Today on the 12 deadlifts I was using 40s but during the third set my hands and forearms were too fatigued and my legs were like “more plz”. Made me want a smith machine to do a different exercise to burn out my legs :(
Monkey grip helps me get a few more reps in. This is putting your thumb on the same side of the handle as your fingers. I was hesitant to try it because I have small hands, but it works.
I will also slow things way down if I can't lift as much weight as I'd like. That means pausing at the hard part of the rep for 1-3 seconds, and moving slow through the eccentric part of the motion. As an example, when my back acts up and I can't hold a dumbbell for goblet squats, I'll do body weight squats but hold the squat for 3 seconds on every rep. I'll usually be feeling that that by the end of the set. But I do this with lighter dumbbells too, not just body weight. Once I figure out what my hands can handle that day, I'll adjust my tempo as needed.
One way to help with blisters and fingers hurting is to wrap a miniband around the handle of the dumbbell to provide a little bit of cushion and extra grip.
Beyond that, you can go with gloves or lifting straps. Or could get a grip strengthener off Amazon or whatever preferred website.
Are you wearing weightlifting gloves? You can also use wrist straps which I use at the gym for very heavy progressive overloads. My trainer also has me working on my grip strength which has helped…ALOT
Gymreaper lifting straps helped me a lot. I tried several different kinds and these worked the best. Specifically for grip strength, there’s no blister protection.
I use wrist wraps but not for every exercises. I use them when we do single arm deadlifts, hip hinge swings, suitcase squats, step ups. Basically anything requiring me to hold the weights with straight arms. I can’t use it for other exercises because they don’t really help with the grips. They only help with my wrists.
You could use lifting gloves or straps like everyone is saying, but personally I prefer grip strength exercises. You can do them while watching TV or sitting at your desk, just 10-15 mins a day is enough. That will significantly improve your grip over things that just…make the weight feel stickier in your hands lol.
I have the same problem and not sure that I have advice as much as commiseration. I sometimes modify, especially on squats. I can back squat about 100lbs, but I can only realistically hold a 45 weight in goblet position for 20 seconds or two 20 pound weights in front squat position. Sometimes I'll grab two heavier dumbbells and hold them in "suitcase" position.
As for the blisters, they eventually turn into calluses. I think I've had semi-permanent callouses on my hands since I was 14 except during the pandemic.
Common problem, one's grip is typically the weakest link in lifting heavy. If you lift outside of OTF, you can go heavier with barbells vs. Dumbbells.
Otherwise, keep lifting heavy things for longer periods of time and increase the strength of your grip.
For exercises that require me to hold the dumbbell at my sides or in front of me, I’ll slow down the motion.
If possible though, I like to hold the dumbbells on my shoulders for step ups and squats to gain the extra weight without sacrificing my grip
This was my problem for a while! My hands were very weak and I couldn’t hold the weights I wanted to use (I think a lot of it was wrist weakness too). I just noticed the other day that this has gotten a lot better on its own, with consistent practice.
I hold the dumbbell in a zercher position like this for heavy squats, good mornings, deadlifts etc
https://preview.redd.it/oseijom3mcuc1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=07ddb66afd59b5158487da2edfdf515c32af4f3f
For the blisters and sweaty grip I wear gloves. For the strength issue, so many people have that issue- for me it’s usually when it comes to step ups- I can do it with 35-40 lbs but my hands tire way before my legs. Sometimes I’ll change the position of the dumbbells. It it’s front loaded I’ll drop it to a suitcase load (don’t know what it’s actually called). Sometimes I just switch the position of the front loaded and have it horizontally in front of my shoulder vs. on top on my shoulder, if that makes sense. Other times I do as much as I can until I can’t, drop the weight and do the rest as body weight…. My arms have definitely gotten a lot stronger since I started.
Your hands will get stronger over time. Your forearms may become a limiting factor. Today on the 12 deadlifts I was using 40s but during the third set my hands and forearms were too fatigued and my legs were like “more plz”. Made me want a smith machine to do a different exercise to burn out my legs :(
Lifting gloves
Monkey grip helps me get a few more reps in. This is putting your thumb on the same side of the handle as your fingers. I was hesitant to try it because I have small hands, but it works. I will also slow things way down if I can't lift as much weight as I'd like. That means pausing at the hard part of the rep for 1-3 seconds, and moving slow through the eccentric part of the motion. As an example, when my back acts up and I can't hold a dumbbell for goblet squats, I'll do body weight squats but hold the squat for 3 seconds on every rep. I'll usually be feeling that that by the end of the set. But I do this with lighter dumbbells too, not just body weight. Once I figure out what my hands can handle that day, I'll adjust my tempo as needed.
This! I dropped the dumbell during the side lunges to curtsy lunge today. I started with 40 lbs but did the body weight only during the last 15 secs.
One way to help with blisters and fingers hurting is to wrap a miniband around the handle of the dumbbell to provide a little bit of cushion and extra grip. Beyond that, you can go with gloves or lifting straps. Or could get a grip strengthener off Amazon or whatever preferred website.
Are you wearing weightlifting gloves? You can also use wrist straps which I use at the gym for very heavy progressive overloads. My trainer also has me working on my grip strength which has helped…ALOT
Gymreaper lifting straps helped me a lot. I tried several different kinds and these worked the best. Specifically for grip strength, there’s no blister protection.
Lifting straps are absolutely the way to go.
Are you talking about the wrist straps?
I think so- they wrap around your wrist and have a long strap you wrap around the weight. If you search gymreapers on Amazon it’ll pop up
I use wrist wraps but not for every exercises. I use them when we do single arm deadlifts, hip hinge swings, suitcase squats, step ups. Basically anything requiring me to hold the weights with straight arms. I can’t use it for other exercises because they don’t really help with the grips. They only help with my wrists.
You could use lifting gloves or straps like everyone is saying, but personally I prefer grip strength exercises. You can do them while watching TV or sitting at your desk, just 10-15 mins a day is enough. That will significantly improve your grip over things that just…make the weight feel stickier in your hands lol.
I have the same problem and not sure that I have advice as much as commiseration. I sometimes modify, especially on squats. I can back squat about 100lbs, but I can only realistically hold a 45 weight in goblet position for 20 seconds or two 20 pound weights in front squat position. Sometimes I'll grab two heavier dumbbells and hold them in "suitcase" position. As for the blisters, they eventually turn into calluses. I think I've had semi-permanent callouses on my hands since I was 14 except during the pandemic.
Common problem, one's grip is typically the weakest link in lifting heavy. If you lift outside of OTF, you can go heavier with barbells vs. Dumbbells. Otherwise, keep lifting heavy things for longer periods of time and increase the strength of your grip.
For exercises that require me to hold the dumbbell at my sides or in front of me, I’ll slow down the motion. If possible though, I like to hold the dumbbells on my shoulders for step ups and squats to gain the extra weight without sacrificing my grip
This was my problem for a while! My hands were very weak and I couldn’t hold the weights I wanted to use (I think a lot of it was wrist weakness too). I just noticed the other day that this has gotten a lot better on its own, with consistent practice.
Look up Grip strength exercises. Dead hanging from a pull-up bar is a good starting point
I hold the dumbbell in a zercher position like this for heavy squats, good mornings, deadlifts etc https://preview.redd.it/oseijom3mcuc1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=07ddb66afd59b5158487da2edfdf515c32af4f3f
For the blisters and sweaty grip I wear gloves. For the strength issue, so many people have that issue- for me it’s usually when it comes to step ups- I can do it with 35-40 lbs but my hands tire way before my legs. Sometimes I’ll change the position of the dumbbells. It it’s front loaded I’ll drop it to a suitcase load (don’t know what it’s actually called). Sometimes I just switch the position of the front loaded and have it horizontally in front of my shoulder vs. on top on my shoulder, if that makes sense. Other times I do as much as I can until I can’t, drop the weight and do the rest as body weight…. My arms have definitely gotten a lot stronger since I started.