To buy or not to buy... these are the accessories!

The natural progression of this blog is to get into accessories you COULD use for Olympic weightlifting. Do you need these to lift? Hell no! Would you benefit from utilizing these? F*@k YES!

The first and foremost item I would highly recommend are weightlifting shoes also called lifters. I prefer Adidas, but as long as you get a heel that is 15 mm (0.6 inches), you should be good to go. The purpose behind getting a lifting shoe you may ask. "Weightlifting shoes have a lifted heel, which will increase the ankle's range of motion, or the ability to stretch the Achilles," says Lisa Reed, C.S.C.S., owner of Lisa Reed Fitness. So if you have a hard time sitting all the way down into a squat, they could help you achieve greater depth. "They also allow for hip flexion and extension in all of the Olympic movements," adds Reed, meaning they help you move through the full range of motion required for powerful lifts like squats, cleans and snatches. I would suggest getting some shoes from either Roguefitness as they have a pretty good array, or going with Amazon. If you want to splurge, look badass, and/or feel legit; I would then recommend getting a custom pair put together by BStreetShoes. The craftsmanship this guy produces is unparalleled! Below are a couple of pictures to give you a glimpse of what this man is capable of.

The next extremely recommended item is chalk as it provides a more natural boost to grip without constricting the wrist (as opposed to lifting straps) and allowing the muscles in the forearm more complete extension and flexibility. Chalk also helps ensure that your hands don’t get sweaty, which will compromise your grip and decrease your workout’s effectiveness. Now the type of chalk you choose is up to you. you can go old school and get a block, go with a chalk ball, or go progressive and get liquid chalk. Each has it's own pro's and con's, but ultimately you should be using a form of it every time you lift the barbell.

Going into things that are useful, but not mandatory or extremely encouraged would be wrist wraps. Instead of your wrists being bent wrong, fatiguing, or straining; wearing wrist wraps will actually help to keep your wrists stabilized, tight, and secure so that you can lift and target the muscles you want to focus on instead of your wrists taking all the strain. Perfect application is in the overhead squat. You will be pinning your arms overhead for up to a minute or two and need a lot of support for all that potential strain. I absolutely love my HookGrip wraps. You can go with the simple yet more secure wraps such as rogue, bear, or schiek found at Roguefitness or go with more of a traditional Olympic version with the tie closure seen on the hookgrip version. Its suggested to give the lifts a try without the wraps and build your tolerance, but utilizing them for heavier lifts. Myself... I have weak wrists therefore I use them quite frequently while performing snatch, cleans and and pressing movements. The key is to not become dependent on them.

On the topic of wrist wraps (seen above) is an item that frequently gets confused with wrist straps (see below). Wraps obviously wrap your wrist and assist with stability of the wrist joint. Wrist straps help grip the bar tighter, and complete lifts at loads unable to complete with a hook grip. I am not creating a whole category for straps because some lifters utilize their wraps to help with this demand. However, it wouldn't necessarily be a complete list without at least including the straps. I have a couple different variations of straps myself from my power lifting days. When pulling massive weight, you sometimes lose your grip, so you add straps to lock yourself into the barbell. On days I have snatch grip deadlifts or a clean pull variation at maximal weight, I will complete as many reps/sets as I can before strapping in. Again, not a huge issue to not have these and you really do want to build your grip strength and utilize your hook grip as much as possible. So not a big need, but can be useful at times.

Moving on... the next big item you may see in the gym, online or in advertisements would be knee sleeves or wraps. I personally only use these for squats and maxing cleans. However, some people have more stability in the knee joint, while others aren't as fortunate. If you have discomfort in squats, cleans, lunges or knee tracking is off when reviewing your lifts, maybe try sleeves or wraps. I have a few different sets and honestly don't have a preference or recommendation here. I would get a cheaper pair to begin with and see if they work. If you like them, you can go with a thinner, thicker, more aesthetically pleasing etc pair. I have these (below pic) just because they look nice and match a lot of my gear since the reverse/inner stitching is black and red.

The last recommended item would be a few resistance bands. These will help get you through a dynamic warm up, stretch, or do a few exercises/accessory moves to build speed, strength or technique. These bands by Oleksiy Torokhtiy are great for dynamic warm ups and overall training. Another option would be a few closed loop type of bands to help with other training assistance such as 5lb, 10lb and 15lb set. Using these can help open up shoulders, build strength in the over head position, add resistance with lifts etc. If possible, buy both the Oleksiy band and a few close loop bands. This will really give you a great variety to complete progressions of training. 

  

There you go... figure out what you may or may not want or need and go get it! Not a single one of these are mandatory, but if you were to buy only one, get the damn shoes! This will improve your lifting technique and output more than any other item I or anyone else could recommend.  

Have questions how to use any of it? Need to know a brand or an exact series I use or recommend? Leave me a comment and let me know. I may just write about it next week if it is a damn good question or recommendation! 

Until next week... lift it overhead, slam it to the ground and repeat! Practice leads to progression... progression to Gold!