Supinated Grip: How to Use a Supinated Grip When Working Out

Supinated grip is an underhand grip with palms facing upwards. It’s used for weightlifting exercises that involve equipment such as barbells, dumbbells, and pull-up bars. Supinated grip can be used as an alternative to neutral grip or pronated grip to target and activate different muscles during movements like supinated grip pull-ups, deadlifts, and bicep curls.

The primary difference between the pronated grip and supinated grip is the grip position. The pronated grip is an overhand grip position with palms facing down. It’s an intuitive grip that’s most commonly used for squats, pull-ups, bench presses, and deadlifts. Pronated grip can improve grip strength in certain contexts and provide overall activation, strength, and conditioning to muscle groups in your upper body and back, such as the latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius, brachialis, and brachioradialis.
Supinated grip, performed with palms up, is most commonly used for exercises like curls since it better activates muscles like the brachialis.

The difference between a pull-up and a chin-up, for example, is that pull-ups use a pronated grip to more broadly target muscles, while chin-ups use a supinated grip to more specifically target biceps, chest, and core strength. This is because the pronated grip creates a midrange stimulus across the back and upper back during workouts, while supinated grip creates more isolating or contracted muscle activation.

While pronated grip exercises like pull-ups can be great as primary compound exercises, supinated grip chin-ups can be used to target and isolate certain back muscles during back exercises. Supinated grip can also be used as compound movement for the biceps area, which includes the brachialis and brachioradialis, and to isolate the short head of the biceps. Supinated grip is the default for exercises like dumbbell curls, barbell curls, chin-ups, and bodyweight inverted rows.

At the end of a workout of compound movements with pronated grip, you can finish with isolating supinated grip exercises. When switching from pronated to supinated grip, understand that it will likely make the movement more challenging, so adjust weights and repetitions as necessary. You may also vary your grip from shoulder width to close grip or wide grip if more comfortable. Try swapping supinated grip for pronated grip for tricep extensions, skull crushers, lat pull-downs, bent-over barbell rows, and pull-ups.

Supinated grip and pronated grip can be combined for exercises for a stronger grip. This is called mixed grip or alternated grip. It’s often used in deadlifts because it helps prevent the bar from rolling in the palm. Mixed grip is useful in cases where the deadlift weight is exceptionally heavy or where the user is performing many reps and needs grip assistance as their hands fatigue.

If you have a previous or pre-existing health condition, consult your physician before beginning an exercise program. Proper exercise technique is essential to ensure the safety and effectiveness of an exercise program, but you may need to modify each exercise to attain optimal results based on your individual needs. Always select a weight that allows you to have full control of your body throughout the movement. When performing any exercise, pay close attention to your body, and stop immediately if you note pain or discomfort.

In order to see continual progress and build body strength, incorporate proper warm-ups, rest, and nutrition into your exercise program. Your results will ultimately be based on your ability to adequately recover from your workouts. Rest for twenty-four to forty-eight hours before training the same muscle groups to allow sufficient recovery.

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