Call me a weenie

but I finally broke down and bought myself some lifting straps. 

I'm a HUGE believer in developing grip and have never been one to wear gloves for sports (unless, of course, they were part of the equipment, like a baseball mitt), but my hands have been sore for a few weeks now and it's probably going to get worse during Maximum Strength.  Cressey, in fact, recommends using straps, I presume because grip can be a lift-limiting factor, and this program isn't about pressing that particular limit. What pushed me over the edge was doing offset squats (similar to the kettlebell exercise called suitcase deadlifts) today with a 55# db; the bod was able to comply (with effort), but my hands were KILLING me to the point where I almost dropped the weight at the end of a set.  And of course the next exercise superset included high rep RDLs; by the time I was done that, my hands were very sad claws.  I should have the straps next week and we'll see how it goes. 

And, YAY!  The sun finally came out.  Should be a beautiful, if cool weekend.