Gloves for lifting..your thoughts

tennisdude2004

Just a personal preference - I generally will gauge how unclean the person using the bar before me looks, and then make my decision from there.

randomtai

I like my gloves. And for the record they match my outfit :laugh:

alizamanuk

ALL WOMEN SHOULD WEAR GLOVES LOL ALL MEN DO NOT DARE ! BE A MAN NOT A MOUSE

tigersword

No gloves. They hurt grip strength. Use chalk, and make sure your grip is correct. Most of the time people hurt their hands because they aren't gripping the bar properly.

So the thought on this is that I may be holding the dumbbells or bars too tight thus the pain/callusses? Just trying to understand. Also is the purpose of the chalk just to keep my hands dry so i don't have to grip so tightly?

You're most likely gripping the bar in such a way that you're compressing skin. Of course it depends on the lift, but you should review the way you grip the bar on a lift-by-lift basis and make sure you are using best practice. It's not the tightness of the grip, it's the path the bar lies across your hand.

Ahhh ok...thanks so much for the helpful information. I'm learning something new each day.

Yes, that. For example, deadlifts. A lot of people have a habit of automatically centering the bar in their palms when they grip it. When you deadlift, gravity pulls the bar down toward your fingers, pinching the skin and (potentially) ripping and tearing. That's why for deadlifts, you should aim to grip the bar as as close to your fingers as possible (which is where the bar will end up anyway) to prevent that. As Jimmer said, each lift needs to be adjusted individually based on position and bar path.

And use chalk.

skeo

When I first began lifting a year ago, I purchased a pair of gloves, but then as others have mentioned they bunched up and got in the way of my lifts, specifically deadlifts and heavier bench press. Someone on here linked a Mark Rippetoe video about grip and it helped me tremendously.

What seemed to be causing the callouses for ME, was where the bar was resting in my hands, on dead's specifically, I needed to focus the weight to my fingers more so than trying to grip with my palm, and in a matter of 6months, I was able to increase my dead from 100 to 185.

Gloves are really a preference, but in short with our without them, I still had callouses and rough spots at the base of my fingers.

cwolfman13

Look at some YouTube videos for proper grip. Your grip needs to be corrected and that will go a long way in rectifying the situation. I also prefer chalk to gloves...gloves interfere with grip IMO.

parkscs

I use gloves for some lifts, chalk for others and sometimes I use neither. For certain pushing exercises I like to use gloves/wrist straps, but for deadlifts and pulling exercises I find some chalk makes all the difference. I don't think it needs to be a binary decision of gloves/no gloves - go with what feels best for each specific lift. It also varies depending on the weights you're using. For instance, my Bowflex 1090's at home have a rough texture and I always use them with some sort of glove or gympaws to avoid the meat grinder effect on my hands.

dixiewhiskey

I bought a pair last year.. couldn't tell ya where they are now because I never use em. They just messed up my grip.. I would go for chalk if you have to use something to help with your grip.

TR0berts

Look at some YouTube videos for proper grip. Your grip needs to be corrected and that will go a long way in rectifying the situation. I also prefer chalk to gloves...gloves interfere with grip IMO.

Yes. Like this one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTqNSgCmM2s

IWILLBelieveAchieveInspire

Thanks for the great suggestions and tips everyone! I'm definitely going to look at some of the youtube videos on grips. Like I said earlier..I'm learning something new each day. Have a great day everyone!