Weight Lifting Gloves

msbanana

Hey all you MFPee-ers!
Need some suggestions from serious weight lifters...

I just finished filing the caluses off my hands for the last time. I'm going to break down and buy some gloves. What I need from you beautiful people is a recommendation as to the best, most resilient and possibly supportive gloves you've had experience with. If they suck I won't wear them and I'll be right back to filing off caluses.

Things you should know about me:

I lift (free weights only) 4-5 days a week.
I sweat like a *kitten* in church so they need to be washable.
I am reaching a point where my wrist stability is beginning to limit the increasing of my weights and have been toying around with the idea of straps. (opinions on straps are welcome)
I'm cheap so the best value is always preferred but if the slight extra cost saves me money on pumice stones over the course of the year it may be worth looking into.

Alright talk to me peeps! What do love/hate/recommend?! GO!

songbyrdsweet

You filed them off!? Never file them off! :laugh:

My hands got really rough when I used to powerlift...now I just have a row of thick skin at the base of all my fingers and while it sometimes peels, I never try to get rid of it. My boyfriend knows I lift hard and he deals with it. Harding makes good, sturdy, thick gloves that are reasonably priced. Nike makes thinner ones specifically for women, but they are so thin I don't know how well they'd hold up. I have a pair of straps, but even the short ones wrap so thick around the bar that I can't get a good grip with my stubby fingers. I only ever use chalk/talc or (this sounds silly) wrap the bar in paper towel. Usually sweat will get you in those pulling exercises! I don't use wraps or anything for bench because if you have proper form, you shouldn't be straining your wrists (your hands shouldn't be bent back like when you're doing a pushup, just enough that the bar rests in the fat pads of your palms).

natekorpusik

First I shall qualify myself. I lift weights for 2 hours a day 5-6 days a week. I have been for quite some time.

Now to answer the question. I have used gloves before and I found the golds gym brand worked fine for me. I used them for the same reason, as wrist support was needed at the time. Currently I do not use gloves because I personally like to "feel" the weight in my hands. I have caluses, but I have just lived with them. I will use wrist straps and they are a great and cheap investment.

In my opinion, for me, I would use straps and not gloves. Cheap, easy to clean, supportive, and still a great "feel" for the weight.

Some stats currently

Bench Press: 345lbs (1rm)
Incline Chest press: 95lbs (10rm)
Leg press: approx 1200lbs
Squat: approx 500lbs
Dumbell Curl: 60lbs (10rm)
Decline Chest: 275lbs (10rm)

So as you can see from the above, I get AWFUL calluses. Keep up the great work, and best of luck.

songbyrdsweet

Oh, and AWESOME job on the weight loss!!

natekorpusik

Oh, and AWESOME job on the weight loss!!

Ditto.

msbanana

Thanks guys! I have mixed emotions about the gloves... I too like to feel the weight and maybe I just need to get over man hands... I may try wrist straps though. I really need to work on my grip and the other reason the pinching!! A good example would be the bent over row... I could easily increase to 60lb dumb bells but they pinch my hands like a SOB and my fingers start to give up before my major muscles start to fatigue. I am just sort of assuming that straps would help with that... Do gloves stop the pinching?

natekorpusik

Thanks guys! I have mixed emotions about the gloves... I too like to feel the weight and maybe I just need to get over man hands... I may try wrist straps though. I really need to work on my grip and the other reason the pinching!! A good example would be the bent over row... I could easily increase to 60lb dumb bells but they pinch my hands like a SOB and my fingers start to give up before my major muscles start to fatigue. I am just sort of assuming that straps would help with that... Do gloves stop the pinching?

Gloves will stop the pinching. So will straps/wraps to a certain extent. Gloves generally have a lot of padding but they also can interfere with your grip by not making it as tight.