Advice about weight lifting gloves

parkscs

I'm not going to tell you whether you should or shouldn't use them OP, but you may want to consider Versa Gripps. You can use them for pushing exercises, much like a glove, and they double as straps for pulling exercises so your grip on the weight will actually be more secure than barehanded/with chalk.

dbmata

Wrist wraps can be helpful. I've experimented with them for heavy bench, but my weights aren't heavy enough to wrap yet. (Only 225# bench)

In just looking at my hands today, this is after working deadlifts at 90% my 1RM, Bench up to 105% my 1RM (new 1RM), various db work.

I have a little callous under my middle finger, and a little one under my ring finger on both hands. Maybe the size of an orange seed per, if that. Put a little cocoa butter on them and they go away.

perfectlytrained

xmichaelyx wrote: »

dbmata wrote: »

dlvuyovich wrote: »

From not using gloves, and lifting very heavy, including body weight exercises (pull ups) I ended up with tendonitis in both forearms. As it turns out, a lot of people in my gym, those who are more on the serious side of lifting, have developed this too.

You do realize, that's not how that works right? You go tendonitis because of repetitive use, also known as not doing enough OTHER things. Gloves have zero impact on that. Regardless of what your cousin's uncle's roommate's chiro may have said about it.

This. The tendonitis was unrelated to using or not using gloves.

Back to the handwraps, I think that's a great idea, and you should do that. I used to work out at a boxing gym, so we're talking strong guys, good grips, and lots of handwraps. We always loved kettlebell days, because handwraps are so deleterious to grip that those kettlebells would often get launched.

Also this, but to be less sarcastic and make the point less confusing:

Hand wraps will keep you from getting callouses, but will also weaken your grip, making it harder to lift heavy. Think about why boxers wrap their hands -- it has nothing to do with grip. Then think about why lifters wear gloves -- it's ALL about grip. Then you'll have all the answers you need.

Also, it takes all of 2 seconds to put on gloves. A good wrap takes several minutes, and an extra person. Pointless.

I would disagree with the analysis of hand wraps given here.

- All good wraps definitely do not require an extra person. Some do, but many styles can be done individually. Once a person is proficient at it, wrapping both hands takes about 5 minutes (yes, I've timed it, and I wrap my hands myself). I would not consider that a huge amount of time considering the benefits that wrapping my hands gives me.

- There are different styles to hand wrapping. Yes, the traditional boxer's wrap would not be effective for lifting weights, however a modified muay-thai wrap style is golden as it doesn't detract from the grip and allows a person to very precisely control the tension around all joints in the hand and wrist for protection and additional support if needed.

I can only speak for myself and for my SO who transitions often from heavy lifting to MA afterwards. He's been lifting heavy for years.... I lift heavy for a female, but only have a year under my belt. Even so, I am earning respect from the heavy lifters (both men and women) in my gym.

To each there own. I would definitely recommend that the OP try the wraps. If anything, they're usually cheaper than lifting gloves and will last much longer as well. As I said in my first post, I would strongly suggest that the OP find someone who is proficient at wrapping hands so that she can learn how to do so *effectively* (ie: for lifting).

BlueBombers

I wear men's weight lifting gloves with wrist wraps, I find women's gloves way too small and flimsy.

Female here (obviously).

daydreams_of_pretty

dbmata wrote: »

Wrist wraps can be helpful. I've experimented with them for heavy bench, but my weights aren't heavy enough to wrap yet. (Only 225# bench)

In just looking at my hands today, this is after working deadlifts at 90% my 1RM, Bench up to 105% my 1RM (new 1RM), various db work.

I have a little callous under my middle finger, and a little one under my ring finger on both hands. Maybe the size of an orange seed per, if that. Put a little cocoa butter on them and they go away.

Yours don't sound as bad as mine.

After lifting yesterday, I had callouses under each of my four fingers (not thumbs) and tiny blisters on each palm. Today I can still see all of them except for the ones under my index fingers. They also seemed to have dried out compared to the rest of my hands.

I use a lot of moisturizer already so I don't think it's a lack of moisturizer. My weights have a rough texture that I assume is to help with grip.

MissHolidayGolightly

Danielle_Husband wrote: »

berkayaliulker wrote: »

use chalk instead.

Chalk probably wouldn't work for me right now because I work out at home, and it sounds messy, lol. Thanks, though. I'll keep it in mind for later.

Liquid Grip isn't messy. Second chalk over gloves.

parkscs

I don't know that liquid chalk is the answer for preventing calluses though. It's low mess, it's nice for grip... but it also dries your hands out pretty badly. At the end of the day though, your hands are never going to be perfectly smooth if you're into barbell training.

daydreams_of_pretty

parkscs wrote: »

I don't know that liquid chalk is the answer for preventing calluses though. It's low mess, it's nice for grip... but it also dries your hands out pretty badly. At the end of the day though, your hands are never going to be perfectly smooth if you're into barbell training.

Technically I'm still using dumbbells, lol. My heaviest dumbbells are 25 lbs, but I range from 15-25 lbs in each hand depending on what I'm doing. (There, now you can all make fun of me.) I also use kettlebells and some body weight exercises.

It just seems like a lot of damage on my hands. It must have been building up over time, but I didn't notice until yesterday so it seems like my hands are suddenly calloused. I mean, if they're already getting calloused, then what's going to happen when I do get a barbell and really heavy weights. It's going to be a hand blood bath (literally?).

I thought that a lot of people used gloves before I posted this. I'm definitely going to look for the liquid chalk, the versa grips, wraps, and tiny gloves. I'm not sure in what order, though. I was hoping to save money by asking this question, but that seems like it won't be the case. Either way, I just want to do whatever works the best for my hands/safety. Dbmata has me turbo afraid that I'm going to lose my grip on a weight and break my face, my foot, my television, or my wall. Knowing me it'll probably be face.

MissHolidayGolightly

I think chalk helps with calluses because it prevents the bar from moving around in my hand and rubbing. Hand washing and moisturizing prevents the dryness.

I've never had bad problems with my hands and they don't look torn up or anything. Might be that you skin just needs to toughen up a bit.

I would experiment with different methods and see which you like. You can always change. I used gloves for a while but as the weight I was pulling increased, they stopped helping me. They inhibited my grip and didn't protect my hands anyway.

singingflutelady

Hardly anyone at my gym uses gloves and no one uses hand wraps for lifting.. just saying

gamesandgains

Versa Gripps. Get them.

dbmata

Danielle_Husband wrote: »

Yours don't sound as bad as mine.

After lifting yesterday, I had callouses under each of my four fingers (not thumbs) and tiny blisters on each palm. Today I can still see all of them except for the ones under my index fingers. They also seemed to have dried out compared to the rest of my hands.

I use a lot of moisturizer already so I don't think it's a lack of moisturizer. My weights have a rough texture that I assume is to help with grip.

So check it.

I have a skin condition that makes my skin on my hands ridiculously dry. As in, peeling for no reason. I get callouses from really small stuff, you should see the size of the callous I have from using a chef's knife.

Think about your technique. Is it ok? You shouldn't be having crazy callouses unless you have totally candy hands.

All bars have knurling, it's for grip and good for you. A smooth bar will result in bar droppage. As for gloves, obviously, I think you should try for yourself... however I will add:
I've not seen anyone using them in any of the gyms I go to. Hand wraps only at the boxing gym because we were hitting *kitten* and each other.

I'd really think about that.