Why You Shouldn’t Use Lifting Gloves
Aug 12th, 2007 by Mehdi Posted in Gym Equipment
I used lifting gloves during my first 6 months of strength training. I quit using them because I had to buy a new pair every 6 weeks. I didn’t understand back then why you shouldn’t use lifting gloves. I do now. Here’s why you shouldn’t use lifting gloves.
Lifting Gloves Make the Exercise Harder. The thicker the bar, the harder it is to grip it. If you ever trained with a fat bar, you know what I’m talking about. Gloves add thickness to the bar. This is especially hard on exercises where the weight is pulled downward out of your hands. Like the Deadlift.
Lifting Gloves Are Not Safe. The Overhead Press & the Bench Press has the weight above you. The more secure your grip, the less chance to injure yourself. What’s the most secure grip? A grip where you can squeeze the bar hard. The thicker the bar, the harder it is to grip it. No lifting gloves.
Lifting Gloves Prevent Proper Technique. The bar should rest as close to your wrist as possible when you Overhead Press or Bench Press. This allows you to apply maximal force on the bar. Lifting gloves add thickness, which makes impossible to keep the bar close to your wrist. The result: bar gets more into your fingers. Leading to less power, wrist pain & a less secure grip.
Lifting Gloves Cause Eczema. Check Pompholyx. Heavy sweating can cause eczema in your fingers.
Lifting Gloves Are Not Allowed on Competitions. You never know. If you get into powerlifting or weight lifting competitions one day, know that lifting gloves are not allowed. Better to build good habits from the start.
Lifting Gloves Are Useless. Why are you using gloves anyway?
- Your hands hurts?
- Your hands are sweaty?
If your hands hurt, be patient. Let calluses grow. Having no calluses hurts more than waiting for their formation. If your hands are sweaty, use chalk.
Lifting gloves also desensitizes the feedback loop through the nervous system between the arm and the back - the greater your grip, the greater the fiber recruitment from the back musculature. Same reason why you shouldn’t use straps and hooks as well.
the biggest reason period….
how many elite-level lifters do you see wearing them?
None! but aside from that obvious point, the above points are spot on, brother.
Does this mean using a fat bar is also a bad idea? (I’m talking about the first 3 points)
You left out the biggest reason! Wearing gloves is for ninnys.
Sorry, catfish, I’m a ninny!LMAO I know they aren’t exactly ideal, but after ripping off a couple of callouses, I’m a total girl about it. Ripping a blister doesn’t hurt NEAR as bad, and I’d rather not do that again. Now, if y’all can offer some ideas on how to avoid ripping the hell outta my hands, I am truly game to try again.
lynne…
work on softening and removing callouses yourself. Look it up online, it isn’t hard to do and is recommended. When callouses rip while working out, it does suck. Use lifting chalk. With every pulling exercise that I do with a bar I use chalk.
Fox, using a fat bar for some lifts to strengthen your grip is good. Using gloves with a fat bar is bad.
I think what he means by making the exercise harder is that when you are going heavy and you use gloves you are taking away from your grip; therefore, not only making the exercise harder but more unsafe.
Gloves are great if you plan to train on machines for the rest of your lift and your sole purpose is to stagnate along with your exercise routine, but if you plan on having any serious progress, lose the gloves and use chalk.
Chalk and pumice stones are you friends
Fat bars are great for training grip strength. If you’ve ever used a women’s olympic bar before, you’ll know that they feel lighter than they actually are(15kg), because you can grip them tighter. Fat bars are harder to grip, but because of that they also force you to train your grip…which is great!
This is probably the biggest reason not to use gloves. If your hands can’t grip it, your back can’t lift it. Check how switching from a pronated to an alternate grip on the deadlifts makes a big difference. Good advice galapagos, as always.
Exactly, so if an fat bar is a good idea because of the harder grip, then so are gloves.
Flying Fox, you mean you can deadlift more weight with a fat bar than with a normal bar? I don’t think so, that’s why you shouldn’t use lifting gloves.
Btw, I suspect you’re not using lifting gloves yourself. Don’t turn this into an argument once again.
No, I mean deadlifting with a fat bar is harder, wich makes fat bar a good idea when training grip. So training with gloves would also be good when training your grip.
Also, I’m wondering: is benching/overhead pressing with a fat bar dangerous as well?
You’re right, I don’t use gloves, and if you don’t want me to turn this into an argument, I won’t.
Everything is dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. It’s certainly a great idea to alternate normal bar with fat bar.
guys,
I am a 51 year old male with advanced arthritis in my hands and wrists. I have done weight training for several years without gloves but recently the pain in the wrist area has limited my ability to bench press. I began using gloves with a wrist wrap which has really reduced the pain, but if gloves are not recommended, is there an alternative for this issue?
Where do you feel pain in your wrist? Does it hurt during the Bench Press or other lifts too?