Have you ever been told that weightlifting gloves are a bad idea? That ‘Real gym go-ers’ don’t wear them? Well think again! Weightlifting gloves have a lot of benefits in the gym whether you are performing pull-ups or working with weights and equipment such as dumbbells and barbells.
The Benefits of Weightlifting Gloves
- Enhances grip
- Can help prevent calluses
- Can improve technique
Enhances Grip
Take the pull-up for example, the number of pull-ups you can complete in one set will partially be down to your muscle capabilities. However, this all changes if you can’t hold onto the bar. This is where weightlifting gloves can come in handy.
While performing pull-ups or a "Dead Hang", your back, shoulders and arms are all under constant tension as you hang. This constant tension is what helps them grow.
However, as your hands start to sweat, no matter how textured the bar is, it will become slippery by the second. When you fall off, even though it seems like 2 seconds to get yourself back up on the bar, that constant tension that your back was under now has now gone. By wearing weightlifting gloves you're less likely to loose grip, meaning you can keep your muscles under constant tension.
Can Help Prevent Calluses
Moderate or expert weight-lifters will know calluses all too well. Those hard pieces of skin below your fingers that have developed by gripping barbells and dumbbells over the years as the bar rubs against your hands, the skin will grow tougher to protect itself.
Calluses are by no means dangerous, but some people don’t want them in general. Also, they can become painful if they tear open. Wearing gloves can help prevent calluses by acting as a protective barrier between your hands and the bar.
Can Improve Your Technique
When lifting weights, you’ll work with various types of equipment that work various muscles. Mind-muscle connection is when you focus on contracting and squeezing the muscle you are working. Take a standard bicep curl - curling the weight and squeezing at the top for a few seconds is a great way to build muscle. However, if you have to focus on your hands squeezing the bar to prevent it from dropping, you can’t focus 100% on the muscle you are working.
By wearing weightlifting gloves, you can spend less time focusing on gripping the bar as tight as you can, and more time focusing on the muscle you are working.
Other Ways to Improve Your Grip Strength
There are plenty of other ways to increase your grip strength in the gym. Practice a "Dead Hang" on a pull up bar will improve your overall grip. Try to increase your time over a few sessions.
Farmers walks are another method (hold some dumbbells or kettlebells in your hands and do some 10-20 m laps of the floor in a straight line.
Perform Plate holds. Take the large weighted plates you would usually put on the end of a squat bar, put one in each hand and grip onto the top of them. You could try 4 rounds of 30 second holds or even see what your maximum time is.
Weightlifting gloves are great to use in the gym as they can improve technique and help keep your muscles under constant tension as they provide a grippy texture to keep you onto equipment including, but not limited to, the pull-up bar. Yes, lifting weights without them will help improve your grip strength, but it’s not the only way.
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