Hi everyone! this is my first post on T-Nation, although I’ve been reading the articles here for at least 3 years lol.
I’ve been using training gloves for a while now - probably since I started training. Initially, I used gloves because, at the time, I was working in contracting/construction/brick laying, and my hands and wrists were taking a beating. the calluses that I developed would drive me crazy.
These are the gloves I use, although I’ve tried a few different ones over the years:
My question is this:
Could these gloves be holding me back? I’ve been at a bench press plateau for a long, long time now (225x1). Could these gloves, considering that they wrap the wrists, have something to do with it?
I’ve edited my first post. Sorry, guys, guess I misspoke.
Anyway, other than dependency, is there any other problem with gloves? I was wondering if they could cause a lack of circulation, and if so, if that would hurt strength on lifts?
Edit: I train at my high school gym (my HS was renowned around the nation for our athletics, especially football, lacrosse and wrestling) and we are allowed to chalk (provided we make an effort not to make a huge mess), do Olympic lifts, etc.
[quote]bond james bond wrote:
Chalk if your gym will let you.Those gloves will turn into a bacteria factory not to mention the smell…my2c.[/quote]
X2,
I never thought of that during my football years. The sweat, dirt, grass, and blood, hell I am surprised I didn’t get Ebola or something worse. Just go barehanded just like the old schoolers do.
So the general consensus is that I should stop using gloves. Sounds like a plan, I’ll start using them less and less. but what about them affecting me strength-wise? Could they be robbing me of strength?
I wear gloves all the time to train, but not with the wrist wraps as in your example shown above. Ronnie Coleman uses the gloves that you have and he has no problems - watch his Unbelievable dvd if you think it limits strength. Chalking is not allowed in my gym so it is not an option.
the gloves are not robbing you of strength man. if you keep lifting the same way for a long period of time, you plateau. Swith it up dude. Its not rocket science. My suggestions is to move on over to the incline bench. I wont be to hard on you because when i was in highschool, i cared about my bench press so much that i benched multiple times a week(which im sure you do).
start training smarter and learn nutrition and you will be bench pression 225x10 in no time.
Use gloves or dont. It doesn’t matter at all. If you plan to be a hand model I’d recommend wearing gloves. If you can hold more weight with gloves, use them. If the extra circumference added to the bar due to the thickness of the gloves makes you weaker dont use them.
If you plan to make any sort of progress as your lifting career carries on you will have to start using common sense. Use as much of it as possible.
And finally, if you bought those gloves and they didnt come with a matching purse, you got ripped off.
[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
There is a beginners forum btw.
Use gloves or dont. It doesn’t matter at all. If you plan to be a hand model I’d recommend wearing gloves. If you can hold more weight with gloves, use them. If the extra circumference added to the bar due to the thickness of the gloves makes you weaker dont use them. [/quote]
Sorry, I didn’t see the beginner’s forum… plus it wasn’t a question from a beginner, per se. I’ve been lifting for years. I just have a terrible bench.
I’m not a beginner. I know plenty about nutrition, plenty about lifting, periodization, CNS vs hypertrophy training, etc.
Oh, and I’m not in high school. I’m in college. I just spend so much money on my other hobby (building cars) that I can’t afford a gym membership, not that there’s a decent gym near me anyway.
I bench press once a week. I was using this program for a while (3 months total), but took a year off due to personal reasons.
I’m currently following Men’s Health Power Training workout… I know, I know, men’s health is a joke, but the workout itself comes from Coach Dos Remedios, of Arizona State’s football team, and it’s pretty good.
I’m also currently on a low-carb diet, trying to finally rid myself of being overweight.
[quote]Acrophobia13 wrote:
BONEZ217 wrote:
There is a beginners forum btw.
Use gloves or dont. It doesn’t matter at all. If you plan to be a hand model I’d recommend wearing gloves. If you can hold more weight with gloves, use them. If the extra circumference added to the bar due to the thickness of the gloves makes you weaker dont use them.
Sorry, I didn’t see the beginner’s forum… plus it wasn’t a question from a beginner, per se. I’ve been lifting for years. I just have a terrible bench.
I’m not a beginner. I know plenty about nutrition, plenty about lifting, periodization, CNS vs hypertrophy training, etc.
Oh, and I’m not in high school. I’m in college. I just spend so much money on my other hobby (building cars) that I can’t afford a gym membership, not that there’s a decent gym near me anyway.
I bench press once a week. I was using this program for a while (3 months total), but took a year off due to personal reasons.
I’m currently following Men’s Health Power Training workout… I know, I know, men’s health is a joke, but the workout itself comes from Coach Dos Remedios, of Arizona State’s football team, and it’s pretty good.
I’m also currently on a low-carb diet, trying to finally rid myself of being overweight.
[/quote]
Forums aren’t exclusive to members. They are exclusive to specific topics.
You’d have to agree that asking whether or not gloves work for YOU is not an advanced or even an intermediate question pertaining to bodybuilding.