Lifting Gloves: Fashion Statement Or A Waste of Perfectly Good Leather?
“Will my training partners think I’m a wuss if I wear ‘em?”
“Will they help my grip?”
“But what about these bleeding callouses?”
“Do these gloves make my butt look fat?”
Personally, I know that if I can’t grate a block of Parmesan cheese by dragging it across my palms, I’ve been slacking on my workouts.
Professionally, I have clients who, for one reason or another, can’t go around with calloused, bleeding hands, so I can’t always rely on my standard “don’t be a candy-ass” response when asked what I think about lifting gloves.
If you’re into powerlifting or Olympic lifting, you know that gloves aren’t allowed on the platform, so it wouldn’t make much sense for a competitive lifter to wear ‘em during training.
But what the regular guy/gal in the gym?
Perhaps a more meaningful way of looking at the glove/no-glove question for the non-competitive weight lifter is to ask: Is there a legitimate reason to NOT wear gloves?
It’s what yoga/pilates idiots freaks enthusiasts refer to as ‘mind-body connection’. The rest of us can just lump it under the category of “proprioceptive awareness”.
Call it whatever you like, but gloves dampen your body’s natural ability to FEEL. And that sense of feeling is something I certainly wouldn’t want to lose.
What you feel determines how quickly and accurately you can react to sudden (or not so sudden) changes in pressure, direction, ‘grippy-ness’ or any other forces that may come into play in and out of the gym.
If grip is your concern, try lifting chalk (magnesium carbonate – it’s available at sporting goods stores everywhere. If all else fails, search the web)
The shifting/rolling/sliding of a bar might not be a big deal if you’re using those little weights covered with pink foam, but any serious weight trainer should consider weaning themselves from their glove dependency.
Of course, the first consideration of any training program should be safety. So if you absolutely feel there’s no way you’ll be able hang on to a bar/dumbbell or any other training implement effectively without gloves, go ahead ‘n’ wear ‘em if you like. I won’t be offended. (see, I told you I have a professional side!)
If your biggest concern is overly rugged hands, you can always soak in Palmolive after your workout (ya’ big candy-ass).
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I won’t bore you with the details of my extremely limited blog posting for the last month or so (yet!), but it sure feels good to be back to THE CUP. Suffice it to say, changes are on the way. More to come…
"Mighty" Joe Stankowski
