5 Best Lifting Straps for Women in 2025

If you’re a female lifter, it can sometimes feel hard to find appropriate-sized gear. Finding the best lifting straps for small wrists can be challenging, as many brands simply won’t fit, even with the smaller size. So, we decided to compile the 5 best lifting straps for women to help narrow down your search.

Our team of professional weightlifters and coaches, including myself, looked at 12 popular options. We compared factors like durability, material, price vs. quality, comfort levels, and ease of use, and looked at other reviews to get a broader view.

After three workout sessions with moderate to high-intensity exercises, we got the list down to five best ones. We regularly update the list, so if you have thoughts or insight to share, feel free to leave a comment.

What Is Special About Athletes With Small Wrists?

One of the main gender differences between men and women is that the former are proportionately larger across populations. Additionally, more men are going to the gym and participating in weightlifting, although the gap has been shrinking in recent years thanks to destigmatization. As such, it can be difficult to find appropriately sized lifting straps for women, as most of the market is tailored towards men.

Moreover, the study comparing carpal bone size in men and women found that women had smaller wrists than men on average. However, it points out that people of similar size, regardless of gender, would have similar-sized wrists. In hindsight, this suggests that men of smaller proportions also face difficulties finding lifting straps for small wrists.

As an authority in the world of weightlifting, with staff ranging from professional coaches to Olympic athletes, we decided to compile this list of the best lifting straps for small wrists. Hopefully, it helps more female weightlifters and more athletes of generally smaller proportions find the right-sized lifting straps.

3 Benefits of Using Lifting Straps for Small Wrists (Why Small Wrists Need Lifting Straps More?)

Lifting straps wouldn’t have been created if they didn’t have a purpose. Here’s how lifting straps benefit you and why they’re even more important for smaller wrists:

1. Improving Grip

The main purpose of using lifting straps for women and men is to improve grip. Grip strength is a common weak point for athletes of various fitness levels. Unless specifically trained, it grows disproportionately to other muscles, often simply due to muscle size differences (think forearm muscles vs. trapezius, for example).

When lifting straps are on, they spread some of the weight away from your grip and onto your forearms. That way, you can use forearm strength to lift more weight. If you want to get even more specific, another study showed that lifting straps helped female lifters perform more deadlift reps by preserving grip strength.

But this effect isn’t exclusive to weightlifting exercises. A similar effect is also transferable to other pull-based exercises like lateral pulldowns or pull-ups. That way, lifting straps can easily assist with small wrists bodybuilding, calisthenics, and more.

Pro Tip:

"Avoid using lifting straps for lifts that are easily manageable for you. That way, you naturally develop grip strength and avoid overreliance on gear that might simply be unnecessary."

2. Avoiding Injuries

Research suggests that smaller wrist circumference is tied to an increased risk of fractures, and this trend is more true among women. In addition to this data, female weightlifters report a higher rate of wrist and hand injuries than male lifters.

By using lifting traps and reducing the chance of grip failure, we also avoid damage sustained by it, mitigating these long and short-term effects and keeping wrists healthier for longer.

3. Mental Edge

Studies looking at the effects of lifting straps on grip and performance also found that those who wore them also had an improved perception of exertion and grip security. In simple terms, their confidence in completing the lift was also higher, further suggesting the potential of using lifting straps for especially tough-to-manage lifts.

When Do You Need Wrist Straps?

Some people view lifting straps as cheating, especially in competitive environments. It’s not unheard of for them to be banned from lifting competitions due to their effects on grip and strength. That said, there are situations where they become more of a necessity than just a beneficial:

1. Weak Grip

Many people find that their grip strength fails first when doing grip-intensive exercises. This is even more true for a small wrists female vs. an average-sized male. Moreover, this happens even more frequently when doing exercises with higher repetition numbers vs. simply 1-rep maxing. If you find this to be the case for you as well, consider adding lifting straps. 

2. Wrist Issues

If you’re dealing with injuries such as fractures or medical conditions like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), you may struggle to maintain your grip during exercise. These conditions can cause discomfort and make gripping weights challenging. In such situations, using lifting straps can help alleviate pressure on your hands and wrists, making lifts more manageable.

Additionally, it's worth noting that female lifters tend to experience wrist injuries more frequently than male lifters, which further emphasizes the importance of wearing weight lifting wrist straps for women.

3. Sensitive Skin

An often-forgotten benefit of wearing lifting straps to alleviate grip pressure is the reduced tension on your palm skin. By displacing some of the weight from your palms and onto your forearms, you’ll sustain fewer and more manageable skin abrasions. Calluses especially come to mind. Although not set in stone, it’s a safe assumption that female lifters will care about this even more.

Pro Tip:

"There’s no shame in using assistance gear if your physical well-being is a concern. Lift straps can make a big difference if you have any type of wrist issue."

How to Choose Lifting Straps for Small Wrists? (Women & Men)

Consider the following factors when buying weight lifting wrist straps for women and men with smaller wrists:

1. Strap Type

Lasso lifting straps with an adjustable wrist fit are good pretty much across the board. Just narrow the fit down to your wrist and they’ll feel great. Olympic straps can be hit or miss depending on the length of the strap itself, but are generally pretty customizable, too.

A longer strap can make tying more secure, which is helpful for small wrists. Figure 8 straps are easy to slip into but are typically less tight-fitting, so sizing is crucial. The wrong size can prove unusable for a small wrists female, for example.

2. Material

Most lifting straps are made out of cotton, as it is a soft material that tends to fit well with all wrist shapes. Cotton straps shouldn’t be particularly abrasive even when under pressure, compared to something like leather. Leather straps are a bit more abrasive and can dig into the skin under high pressure, so it’s best to use them for single-repetition lifts.

3. Exercise Type

When it comes to multiple-repetition exercises, such as pulldowns or rows, consider using longer straps that loop around the handle or barbell, as they’re less likely to come. If you want something quick and easy to use for shorter weightlifting reps, figure 8 straps are a great choice. 

4. Durability

Quality material and stitching play a big part in the durability of lifting straps. Look for reinforced stitching at key pressure points. Cotton is perfect for blending comfort and durability, tough leather straps are a bit more durable, but also more expensive.

5. Value For Money

Conventional thinking usually goes that a bigger price equals better quality, but this isn’t always the case. When buying straps from a big brand, you’re often paying disproportionately for name value. In the case of weightlifting, specialized brands like Warm Body Cold Mind and Rogue can offer better price points.

FAQ

What Size Wrist Straps Are Best for Small Wrists?

Smaller wrists tend to be around 5.5 inches (U.S. and Europe). Most wrist straps are a one-size-fits-all design. Go for lasso straps if you want to get an exact fit. Otherwise, look for smaller-sized straps built for under <7 inches circumference.

What Are the Easiest Lifting Straps to Use?

When it comes to ease of use, figure 8 lifting straps arguably reign supreme. They can be slid on and off in a second and even less with some experience.

Conclusion

Those were the five best lifting straps for women in 2024. Lifting straps can make a big performance and comfort difference, especially for a small wrists female lifter. Alleviating some stress off the grip and onto the forearms can help you lift more weight, better target specific muscles, and avoid common wrist and hand injuries when weightlifting.

If we had to single out the best lifting straps for small wrists, we’d suggest the Warm Body Cold Mind Olympic Weightlifting Straps V1 over anything else. We’d love to hear from you as well. Are you a female weightlifter? Tell us what your favorite weightlifting exercise is. Leave a comment with your answer and remember to follow us on social media for more valuable fitness content.

Also read:

• How Long Should Wrist Wraps Be
• Weightlifting Hand Grips

References:

1. Margaret A. McDowell, Cheryl D. Fryar, Cynthia L. Ogden, Katherine M. Flegal, “Anthropometric Reference Data for Children and Adults: United States, 2003-2006,” National Health Statistics Report no. 10 (2008): 1-48.
2. “Calculating Body Frame Size,” Medline Plus, https://medlineplus.gov/ency/imagepages/17182.htm (accessed February 16, 2024).
3. Ivan Jukic, Amador García-Ramos, Jiří Baláš, Jan Malecek, Dan Omcirk, James J. Tufano, “Ergogenic Effects of Lifting Straps on Movement Velocity, Grip Strength, Perceived Exertion and Grip Security during the Deadlift Exercise,” Physiology & Behavior 229 (2021): 113283.
4. J. Siewe, J. Rudat, M. Röllinghoff, U. J. Schlegel, P. Eysel, J. W.-P. Michael, “Injuries and Overuse Syndromes in Powerlifting,” International Journal of Sports Medicine 32, no. 9 (2011), 703-711.
5. James L. Nuzzo, “Sex Difference in Participation in Muscle-Strengthening Activities,” Journal of Lifestyle Medicine 10, no. 2 (2020): 110-115.
6. Joseph J. Crisco, James C. Coburn, Douglas C. Moore, Mohammad A. Upal, “Carpal Bone Size and Scaling in Men versus in Women,” Journal of Hand Surgery (American) 30, no. 1 (2005): 35-42.
7. Kevin M. Trahey, Evan M. Lapp, Trent N. Talipan, Thomas J. Guydan, Alexander J. Krupka, Carrie E. Ellis, “The Effect of Lifting Straps on Deadlift Performance in Females,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 37, no. 10  (2023): 1924-1928.
8. Seyed Saeed Tamehri Zadeh, Seyyed Saeed Moazzeni, Samaneh Asgari, Mohammadhassan Mirbolouk, Fereidoun Azizi, Farzad Hadaegh, “Association between Wrist Circumference and Risk of Any Fracture in Adults: Findings from 15 Years of Follow-Up in the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study,” Journal of Clinical Medicine 11, no. 23 (2022):  7048.
9. All photos are made by our WBCM Media team.