Advice about weight lifting gloves

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.

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).

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.

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.

Versa Gripps. Get them.