Do you wear gloves while k'belling?

halimaiqbal00

I've just stopped wearing them after 3years lol but man, the high rep snatches are killing my hands!
Chalk is not an option as I workout at home so can do without chalk powder everywhere!

ItsCasey

I used to wear them when I did high volume snatching, but sometimes they just made the blisters and tears worse. I only use chalk now, and I have done as many as 100 reps with a 16 kg without tearing up my hands. I do them in ladders of 1, 2, 3 on each hand so that I'm never doing more than 3 reps in a row on one hand. That seems to help. Without chalk, I honestly don't even know what to recommend. I've used tape, moleskin, sock sleeves, you name it, and nothing has really worked. It just takes getting strong enough that you don't feel the need to grip the bell so tightly, and then it floats a lot more easily.

KidP

No. I tried it briefly but as mentioned above, sometimes it was worse than not wearing them. I too have tried chalk, tape, etc. Occasionally taping up an injured part of the hand helps, but most of the time it just comes off. I am not the most hardcore kettlebeller out there but my hands do get torn up pretty good too, especially in the summer when it's hotter.

When i tried using gloves, i found the lack of control was more dangerous than tearing my hands up. It just didn't feel as safe, felt like the bell could slide out.

When my hands are torn up, i usually just do another movement or exercise with the kettlebell instead, something that doesn't involve as much friction (i.e. presses, Turkish getups, etc). It's not the same as snatching or swinging but it allows for exercise and doesn't irritate blisters and tears the same way.

An observation: an unfortunate side effect of going up in weight with the bell seems to be that your hands get ripped apart more. Technique will certainly help as it improves, but iron will do what iron will do.

FitGuyWillDoIt

Never used to. Then started a program that shredded my hands. So, sometimes I do. Sometimes I don't. Depends on what I'm doing.

IronSmasher

Liquid chalk or workout outside.

Lupercalia

No, never. I take care of my hands regularly and use tape on them when I tear a callus. Someone already said rotating exercises when you've got sore or torn up hands is the way to go--I agree. I don't snatch for many reps most days. Once a week I do a snatch workout, if that, and then once a month I do a 5 minute snatch test to see how I'm progressing (or maintaining progress). I do high volume swing workouts about 3 x per week, and I don't find those bother my hands at all anymore, though they did a bit in the beginning.

Chalk is the only thing I'd recommend. Nothing else has really been too helpful to me, apart from using tape when I've got a torn callus.

halimaiqbal00

Thanks for the replies...I'll just grin and bear it