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Despair*
06-03-2009, 08:07 AM
Hey Guys,

Lately I have found myself lifting at the gym and the bars are doing a number to my hands. When lifting heavy weights sometimes the bar pinches my hands in the area where my fingers start. After I while this will eventually cause blisters. And nothing is worse than gripping the bar and to start feeling it slip in your grip.

Just wondering if anyone has any recommendation for lifting gloves and where I could possibly pick a pair up locally?


-DC

bulaian
06-03-2009, 08:24 AM
I use Harbinger gloves. You can pick them up at fitness source, possibly even sport chek

lint
06-03-2009, 08:26 AM
Before you resort to gloves, try gripping it lower in the fingers. Gripping the bar high in the hand causes the calluses and blisters that you're talking about.

GQBalla
06-03-2009, 09:09 AM
harbinger for me as well too - cept i might just switch to straps - ive been finding that my gloves makes the bar slip during the heavy deadlifts

theken
06-03-2009, 09:13 AM
Gloves are gay man. Straps are the way to go

Denslayer
06-03-2009, 09:17 AM
just a suggestion... but maybe try using chaulk if the gym allows it.. i found it worked better then gloves..

ZorroAMG
06-03-2009, 09:29 AM
Chalk or straps.

Gloves are for gardeners.

And gays.

:rofl:

BigShow
06-03-2009, 10:29 AM
^ Ignore this comment.

Theres nothing wrong with using gloves, they'll protect your hands from blisters and calluses. If you've been working out for a while with barehands you will appreciate this.

If you dont care what your hands look/feel like. The best feeling and grip is with chalk! Break some up, bring a small container with you.

For shrugs/deadlifts you'll notice a huge difference with the straps. Definately worth trying out, you can goto Sportchek and get a decent set for $15

To answer your question, gloves are gloves. You wont notice a difference where you get them or how much you pay. Just find a pair that is comfortable. Try Nike Dryfit.

lint
06-03-2009, 11:59 AM
Originally posted by BigShow
^ Ignore this comment.

Theres nothing wrong with using gloves, they'll protect your hands from blisters and calluses. If you've been working out for a while with barehands you will appreciate this.

Due to the padding, gloves tend to make gripping harder by making the bar larger than it is


Originally posted by BigShow
If you dont care what your hands look/feel like. The best feeling and grip is with chalk! Break some up, bring a small container with you.

Chalk helps, but if you're gripping improperly you'll still get calluses and blisters. Caring for your hands is as simple as filing down/cutting callouses regularly. Keeping callouses from building up will prevent chances of blisters


Originally posted by BigShow
For shrugs/deadlifts you'll notice a huge difference with the straps. Definately worth trying out, you can goto Sportchek and get a decent set for $15
There's a trade off. Straps help you lift more weight, but won't help you develop grip strength.

Darkane
06-03-2009, 03:23 PM
There's just something about callouses on a man's hands.. you know it makes him a man.

If you're gonna use gloves to "protect" your hands, you probably shouldn't be lifting anyway.

Straps are good for advanced trainees. Not the average person.

Work on grip strength.

ZorroAMG
06-04-2009, 12:06 AM
Originally posted by BigShow
^ Ignore this comment.

Theres nothing wrong with using gloves, they'll protect your hands from blisters and calluses. If you've been working out for a while with barehands you will appreciate this.


Ignore Richard Simmons, here ^^

Chalk or straps.

max_boost
06-04-2009, 01:19 AM
Man up and skip the gloves. :thumbsup:

Oz-
06-04-2009, 06:01 AM
Don't bother with gloves or straps. If your grip is slipping, then work on your grip strength with static holds or plate pinches. In the long run when you lift heavy weight there won't be a need for straps to keep going.

Use chalk if you are allowed and file down or cut off the calluses that you get over time.

Just man up to lift heavy weights, otherwise you won't ever move past the pink & green colored dumbbells.

BigShow
06-04-2009, 07:11 AM
Originally posted by lint


Due to the padding, gloves tend to make gripping harder by making the bar larger than it is



I agree entirely, I'm not saying to use gloves for grip.

I've had calluses for so long from heavy weights it doesnt bother me anymore, if you dont wanna use gloves go for the chalk!

1-Bar
06-04-2009, 08:13 AM
I got some soft square foam pads I use....one for each hand, picked'em up from that fitness place in Deerfoot mall $15 :thumbsup:

Despair*
06-04-2009, 11:19 AM
Thanks for all the information guys. Some very interesting opinions and stuff. I never really took it into consider grip training but that sounds like an excellent idea (Thx for the suggestions Darkane and Oz). I'll have to look into these static holds and plate pinches and add them into my workout.

mazdavirgin
06-04-2009, 11:56 AM
People get rid of their calluses? That is way too much work :\ I just let them grow and be happy all over my hands. Not to mention it helps boat loads to have calluses when you rock climb...

88coupe
06-04-2009, 01:35 PM
So what's the verdict here, gloves or no gloves?

lint
06-04-2009, 01:49 PM
Originally posted by 88coupe
So what's the verdict here, gloves or no gloves?

The verdict is in: you don't know how to read

liquidboi69
06-04-2009, 11:35 PM
Shy away from gloves and straps. They hurt your grip strength. You need to develop it. And you probably don't want to have to do extra grip/forearm isolation exercises because you used gloves/straps.

Lift (especially deadlift) with nothing (chalk if you are allowed,) this will actually work your forearms so they're proportional to everything else.

People need to suck it up with the calluses. Lifting imo is about not just being strong physically, but mentally. Don't be afraid to bleed /expression.

jazzyb
06-05-2009, 08:21 AM
sorry but gloves are cool

straps are for homos who want weak forarms

timdog
06-05-2009, 09:35 AM
I use gloves for 90% of my workouts. I am sick of people saying shit like 'gloves are for pussies' or 'be a real man'. it's the people with attitudes like that that make me hate the gym sometimes. i don't go to the gym to look cool or for anyone else's approval.

i worked out for almost 2 years without gloves, then a couple years ago i thought i'd try them out, and i never went back. now, my fiance doesnt get grossed out by my nasty hands any time i touch her or any time she looks at them.

further more, playing guitar is one of the most important things in my life, so whatever i can do to protect my hands, the happier i am.

personally, i dont like straps, it seems like a form of cheating to me... but whatever floats your boat.

lint
06-05-2009, 10:59 AM
so straps are cheating, but gloves aren't? Interesting.

But this is getting to be a glove vs no glove debate, which is derailing the OP's question. I withdraw my comments, since I don't have glove recommendations.

timdog
06-05-2009, 11:17 AM
well like i said, whatever floats your boat. i would not make fun of someone or say 'man up' if they had straps, just because i dont personally like them.
cheating might be the wrong word but it generally allows you to pull more weight and it also takes your forearms/grip out of the equation which is kind of dumb in my opinion.
but i will admit sometimes when i am doing lat pulldowns my forearms start to hurt like crazy so maybe straps would be good for the odd exercise here and there.

88coupe
06-05-2009, 02:19 PM
Originally posted by lint


The verdict is in: you don't know how to read

you doochebag!

lint
06-05-2009, 02:44 PM
Originally posted by 88coupe


you doochebag!

Well, I do drive a BMW

TurboD
06-05-2009, 11:51 PM
i love all the hate for straps.
so ignorant.

(oz, liquid, jazzy)

just because a person has weak finger/forearm strength why should they have to wait the 3-4 years of gaining that strength before they are able to shrug with enough weight to work their muscles.

i shrug with 2x 75lbs - this is my body weight, i would have to be a monster to be able to grip this for 10 reps without assistance of straps.

does this mean i don't train finger strength, obviously i do forearm workout and finger strength workouts, but im not going to sit around waiting for my muscles to grow and put all my other muscles on hold because of that.

yeah, ill just have a weak back and neck until i develop super human forearms....especially since i have a skinny neck and normal forearms.

everyone that has flamed straps has either never used straps or is a freak of nature, or has small shoulder/neck muscles.

show me someone with no training that can grip and hold for 60 seconds x 4 sets more weight than they can shrug.

Oz-
06-06-2009, 07:18 AM
Originally posted by TurboD
i love all the hate for straps.
so ignorant.

(oz, liquid, jazzy)

just because a person has weak finger/forearm strength why should they have to wait the 3-4 years of gaining that strength before they are able to shrug with enough weight to work their muscles.

i shrug with 2x 75lbs - this is my body weight, i would have to be a monster to be able to grip this for 10 reps without assistance of straps.

does this mean i don't train finger strength, obviously i do forearm workout and finger strength workouts, but im not going to sit around waiting for my muscles to grow and put all my other muscles on hold because of that.

yeah, ill just have a weak back and neck until i develop super human forearms....especially since i have a skinny neck and normal forearms.

everyone that has flamed straps has either never used straps or is a freak of nature, or has small shoulder/neck muscles.

show me someone with no training that can grip and hold for 60 seconds x 4 sets more weight than they can shrug.

I used to have a hard time deadlifting 405 x 3 without straps and couldn't get more because of my grip strength, so I decided to use straps all the time. With time I noticed that just couldn't hold weight like I used to.

So I stopped using straps 100%, worked on plate pinches and static holds to increase my grip strength. 6 months later I can deadlift 405 x 10 without any grip issues.

My feeling is that the earlier you use straps in your training career, the worse off you will be when you are a much more mature lifter.

TurboD
06-06-2009, 08:10 AM
Originally posted by Oz-


I used to have a hard time deadlifting 405 x 3 without straps and couldn't get more because of my grip strength, so I decided to use straps all the time. With time I noticed that just couldn't hold weight like I used to.

So I stopped using straps 100%, worked on plate pinches and static holds to increase my grip strength. 6 months later I can deadlift 405 x 10 without any grip issues.

My feeling is that the earlier you use straps in your training career, the worse off you will be when you are a much more mature lifter.

this does make sense, but im saying that the grip strength if its not there right away shouldn't prevent you from lifting big if your other muscles need the weight to work hard.

grip strength is important but i'm not going to let it get in the way of training the heavy weight that i need to train with.
i'll train it separately and eventually build up the strength

kutt3r
06-06-2009, 09:32 AM
Originally posted by Oz-


My feeling is that the earlier you use straps in your training career, the worse off you will be when you are a much more mature lifter.

Simple as that....

I would be concerned if you cannot shrug your body weight without straps. When you get to 2-3 times your bw then maybe straps, but I bet you wont need them if you were not using them. Working out is a marathon to last a life time not a sprint to try and look good for the summer.

Gloves are personal choice, I prefer chalk, I don't have large build ups of callus on my hands as I look after them...

TurboD
06-06-2009, 05:24 PM
it would be different if a person only used straps and never did any grip strength training.

but without straps i was struggling to do 2 reps and almost dropping the weights trying to get them back on the rack all the while not my neck muscles aren't even warming up, with straps i'm able to do my max which is 10+ reps and 3-4 sets.

so instead of struggle with weights and be dropping them on my feet and concentrating on not slipping out of my hands i am concentrating on the exercise at hand and am able to properly work the muscle that i have set out to work.

not everyone has 100% proper proportion, and not everyone is a bodybuilder, and not everyone cares about grip strength.

Darkane
06-06-2009, 05:47 PM
Originally posted by TurboD
it would be different if a person only used straps and never did any grip strength training.

but without straps i was struggling to do 2 reps and almost dropping the weights trying to get them back on the rack all the while not my neck muscles aren't even warming up, with straps i'm able to do my max which is 10+ reps and 3-4 sets.

so instead of struggle with weights and be dropping them on my feet and concentrating on not slipping out of my hands i am concentrating on the exercise at hand and am able to properly work the muscle that i have set out to work.

not everyone has 100% proper proportion, and not everyone is a bodybuilder, and not everyone cares about grip strength.

Just out of curiosity, how much weight are we talking about when it slips on 2 reps?

2 reps and 3-4 sets of 10 is just to big of a gap. You really gotta work on grip strength.

It's not just that, but grip will also help you on your bench, squats and the whole package. Let me explain.

When benching many power lifters say to squeeze the bar as hard as you possibly can, this keeps you tighter and more muscles are recruited.

Same thing in the squat, although no more actual muscle is being recruited for the lift, squeezing the bar harder will allow you to stay tighter and have a stronger base for the lift allowing more poundage to be used which directly translates into bigger gains.

So yes, care about grip strength.

liquidboi69
06-06-2009, 06:32 PM
Originally posted by TurboD
i love all the hate for straps.
so ignorant.

(oz, liquid, jazzy)

everyone that has flamed straps has either never used straps or is a freak of nature, or has small shoulder/neck muscles.
I can say, I used gloves. Then I stopped using gloves, but my forearms were weak. Then I used straps. Then I realized how detrimental they are. Now i just use chalk.

I wouldn't say I am ignorant towards the use of the equipment, and what they have to offer/limit. I can confidently say right now, my weakest point of my shrugs are my grip. I can baseball grip shrug 365 x 4 on a barbell, but I struggle with even holding 150 dumbbells.

And that's exactly it, don't make the same mistake I made. Don't use anything from the beginning. It's my advice from personal experience, I guess you can take it or leave it.

liquidboi69
06-06-2009, 06:36 PM
I understand you feel it limits your shoulder/back muscle workouts (you can just baseball grip shrug), but people wouldn't have that problem if they proportionally gained shoulder/back/grip strength together. And the best way to ensure close gains, is to not use any straps.

Let's say you start evenly/proportional (they are both equally weak), then you use straps. You will gain back/shoulder strength more than you will gain grip. If you are already down that road, and continue that trend...you'll be forever forced to do extra forearm assistance exercises...and you'll never catch up.

You say
Originally posted by TurboD
not everyone has 100% proper proportion, and not everyone is a bodybuilder, and not everyone cares about grip strength.
That's true, but you should work for proportion. Why do people work out? For looks, for functional strength, health, other reasons.

Looks: needs aesthetic proportion
Functional strength: need strength proportion
Health: improportions could be detrimental to joints

lint
06-06-2009, 07:28 PM
Originally posted by TurboD
grip strength is important but i'm not going to let it get in the way of training the heavy weight that i need to train with.
i'll train it separately and eventually build up the strength

How's that working out for you?


Originally posted by TurboD
but without straps i was struggling to do 2 reps and almost dropping the weights trying to get them back on the rack all the while not my neck muscles aren't even warming up, with straps i'm able to do my max which is 10+ reps and 3-4 sets.

That good, eh?


Originally posted by TurboD
it would be different if a person only used straps and never did any grip strength training.

They'd only be able to do 1 rep instead of 2 like you can?

TurboD
06-06-2009, 10:11 PM
Originally posted by liquidboi69
I understand you feel it limits your shoulder/back muscle workouts (you can just baseball grip shrug), but people wouldn't have that problem if they proportionally gained shoulder/back/grip strength together. And the best way to ensure close gains, is to not use any straps.


im going to ignore lints response since it's just a pile of incoherent garbage with no intelligent information.

i could probably hold a lot more weight with baseball (or hockey) grip, but my main problem area is dumbbells with hands at my sides which i find to work the best, and in this you cannot use a baseball grip.

and i find it interesting that you mentioned your grip is the weakest point of your shrugs, what im trying to say is if you had straps you could get a proper "shrug" workout.

maybe we can find a compromise....

what about when doing shrugs you do as many reps with as heavy weight as you can grip safely and then bump up to weight that is going to pack on size and therefore add straps to assist so you can lift the weight.

one big point that i didnt mention earlier that i also wanted to point out is this:
-just because you have the bar in straps this does not prevent you from gripping and using your max grip strength to hold the bar.
you can actually have the bar in straps and yet the straps cannot be doing any work other than supplying grip so your hands don't slip off, but the actual support can be all through your fingers and arms and they can be there in case your grip fails and instead of having the weights fall to the floor they will fall in support of the grips.

i have a giraffe neck that im intentionally trying to pack on as much size as i can without regard for my grip muscles as i cannot wait for them to catch up. in highschool the guys that hated me called me dinosaur :D

lint
06-06-2009, 10:34 PM
Originally posted by TurboD
im going to ignore lints response since it's just a pile of incoherent garbage with no intelligent information.


sorry TurboDiplodocus, I'll use smaller words next time

kutt3r
06-07-2009, 10:16 PM
Originally posted by TurboD


one big point that i didnt mention earlier that i also wanted to point out is this:
-just because you have the bar in straps this does not prevent you from gripping and using your max grip strength to hold the bar.
you can actually have the bar in straps and yet the straps cannot be doing any work other than supplying grip so your hands don't slip off, but the actual support can be all through your fingers and arms and they can be there in case your grip fails and instead of having the weights fall to the floor they will fall in support of the grips.

i have a giraffe neck that im intentionally trying to pack on as much size as i can without regard for my grip muscles as i cannot wait for them to catch up. in highschool the guys that hated me called me dinosaur :D

First off Lint is a good sized dude.. you might want to listen to his gibberish.

2nd you have no clue on strap use. I can hold my strap with one finger.. that is not working my grip in the least.

If you want to pack on mass, get ready to do heavy weight.. that requires grip strength.. why do you think you have Lint, Dark, Oz and myself telling you this... we are all mature lifters that have a clue of what we are doing.

At your weight a 75# shrugs ain't going to do nothing, start deadlifting 300-400# and you will get some results.
Just like all the kids at the gym doing bicep curls.. if you want big arms... squat (best quote ever, and when you understand it, you might have a clue)

Start now, 2 months to get the grip strength up will not kill you or make you miss out of big traps.

No one is intentionally being mean, just trying to tell you the errs of our ways.

lint
06-07-2009, 10:24 PM
you use straps because your grip sucks
your grip sucks because you use straps
only way to break out of this is to stop using straps
also, stop looking at your body as individual parts. start training it as a whole, and your grip catch up from all the neglect

TurboD
06-07-2009, 11:46 PM
i understand that its possible to let the straps do all the work and only use one finger, but what if i actually use my max grip and try to do all the work so that the straps aren't helping me but rather they are there as a safety measure in case the grip lets go.

for sure there is some good arguments against straps in this thread that i never thought about before.
i will have to try some different things and see what works best for me.

to be honest, ive never ever even tried deadlifts, but 3 months ago i had never done a squat either and now im heavy into leg raises and squats and leg press' etc.
so its a learning curve i might be slightly ignorant towards, but im learning new things every week and I will eventually become more educated.

swak
06-08-2009, 12:20 AM
I only use gloves on 'back day'.
Helps A LOT, with most of the workouts for back day being pulling motions.

kutt3r
06-09-2009, 06:30 AM
Originally posted by TurboD
i understand that its possible to let the straps do all the work and only use one finger, but what if i actually use my max grip and try to do all the work so that the straps aren't helping me but rather they are there as a safety measure in case the grip lets go.

for sure there is some good arguments against straps in this thread that i never thought about before.
i will have to try some different things and see what works best for me.

to be honest, ive never ever even tried deadlifts, but 3 months ago i had never done a squat either and now im heavy into leg raises and squats and leg press' etc.
so its a learning curve i might be slightly ignorant towards, but im learning new things every week and I will eventually become more educated.

There is no safety issue, if you are 230 and deadlifting 400+ then I can agree to use straps to protect your biceps. At your level... there is no issues, especially shrugging.

At least you are keeping an open mind... I know myself alone have been lifting off and on for almost 20 years and if I could go back with what I know now... Add in the other guys on this board and you have a chance to miss all the mistakes we made.

Cheers!