essentials

Are Gym Gloves a Hype Or a Necessity?

“No Pain, No Gain”. True. But why suffer from unwanted pain?
In older days one had to use sand to increase grip on hands and legs while playing sports. Technological advancements have bought us a long way from there with the arrival of gym gloves. Considered a fundamental piece of gym center outfit it is straight up there with tank tops, shorts and shoes. Many people still don’t prefer using gloves and consider it an unnecessary hype but researches prove that they are widely useful in the long run.
The foremost use of gloves is the enhancement of grip and prevention of calluses. People who frequent the gym, often use gym chalk to enhance grip and reduce sweating. However gym chalk is difficult to clean as well as causes nasal irritation. Gym gloves automatically increase grip by absorbing the sweat on your hands. Calluses are rough spots that appear on the base of your finger mainly due to friction. Gloves have smooth insides and consequently lessen the grinding which thus forestalls calluses. Some gloves even have a tight Velcro strap that can be wrapped around the wrists providing greater stability as well as protecting one from wrist fractures which is one of the most common occurrence for a weight lifter. Ultimately one feels great while utilizing gloves as they are delicate and offer some rest from direct contact with metal bars.
At the same time there are a few cons of using gloves too. The foremost being they don’t allow one to grab thicker bars or put unnecessary stress when one lifts them. One other major problem is some weight lifting techniques don’t allow the use of gloves. For example in certain exercises, like bench press and shoulder press, it is important that you keep the bar in the palm of your hand, close to your wrists. When you wear workout gloves, it will often force the bar to move up towards your fingers, due to the increased bulk from the glove. This can put unwanted pressure on your wrists, increasing the likelihood of injuries over time. In addition, it will often make your lifts more difficult, since the bar positioning will be off throughout the movement. Lastly one small issue is the overdependence on gloves as once you start working put with them, their absence can make your workout experience less pleasant.

Reading next

Leave a comment

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.