Top 10 WOD Grips for CrossFit and Gymnastics Reviewed

Using gloves when going to the gym might seem like a weird idea if you've never done it before, but a lot of people do it for many reasons, and yet others avoid them like the plague, claiming they are of no help at all. If you're a seasoned lifter, then you know what going barehanded can do to your hands, and Crossfitters know the perils of blisters and corns just as well.

Gloves help strengthen your grip when you lift weights and improve it so you can lift more. When you lift weights, combined with WOD which is very intense, you will definitely sweat, and sweat can make holding a lot of weight up a very dangerous situation. The gloves will absorb that sweat and let it dissipate, and they will also keep your hands in a safe position, as opposed to letting your fingers slide around due to increased moisture.

If you lift a lot, or if you work where you really need your grip all the time, then you're familiar with blisters and calluses. Blisters can be very painful, and they can pop and bleed and become infected, making them even more painful and dangerous. The pain won't let you use exercise normally, and your progress will be hindered. These pesky things develop because you constantly adjust your hands around the bars, and the increased friction combined with the moisture really hurts your skin, which is where gloves come in handy. Gloves mask all of these problems and give you a very secure grip.

Gloves also give your wrists much needed support when you exercise. The material your gloves are made out of also faces a lot of damage, as it's their job to give you this support. When you perform, your wrists do a lot of work, and they bend in unnatural angles which can cause a lot of pain, and even tearing or twisting of the ligaments. The gloves also improve the amount of pressure you can withstand, increasing the amount of weight you can lift. The gloves distribute the weight and pressure evenly, as opposed to letting it concentrate on only one spot. You might have your reasons why you oppose gloves, but give them a try and see why they are so praised!

Your gloves should be glued to your hands. If they slide or move around too much, they will be of no help at all, only creating problems they were meant to fix. This is not true for grips, however, as they are supposed to be loose around your palms, and tight around your fingers. The reason why is very simple - grips are used for pull-ups and gymnastic routines, where you need to wrap your hands around a curved surface. The extra flimsy surface material will wrap itself around that bar, giving you nothing but security and stability. Regular gloves need to fit you well though, so read on to discover how you can recognize if the fit is good.

Plenty of gloves are actually fingerless. This happens because your fingers need their range of motion and flexibility to actually grip something. If everything is wrapped into a stiff material, you won't be able to use your hands at all, rendering the gloves completely useless. Plus, your skin won't be able to breathe and you will sweat like crazy! Make sure that your gloves keep their shape for a long time. If they don't, the perfect fit you once had before breaking-in the gloves will be loose after a few sessions in the gym, and you'll be left with useless gloves.

The way your gloves are closed also affects the fit. When gloves were first brought into existence, we still didn't discover velcro or elastane. So the gloves back then had a drawstring closure. If you ever had anything on you that utilized this, you know how complicated it can be. The string digs into your skin limiting your range of movement and loosens up quite fast. A lot of people realized this, and so they searched for a solution. This is when elastic closures were brought into the game. They were much more adjustable, and they were easy to adapt to your own shape and size. This created a more individual fit, but elastic loses its properties after a while, and thus buckle closures and velcro were the new idols, and it's been that way ever since then.

Your gloves need to be comfortable. If they're not, it's likely that you will only think about how annoyed you are by that one part biting your skin or the closure that's digging into your tendons, instead of focusing at exercising. If your gloves lack sufficient padding, you can end up with a lot of problems that the gloves are meant to prevent - blisters and calluses, and those are truly not comfortable at all!

The foam was the number one choice for padding at the beginning. Foma is very pliable and comfortable, but a lot of layers need to sit between you and the bar if you seek sufficient protection. These multiple layers worked for a little while, but they got worn down very fast because friction was a big problem for it. Once those layers broke down, you were left with nothing but a strip of fabric that created discomfort instead of comfort. This is why manufacturers today choose either gel or silicone as their padding option.

Gel pads seem to be a very popular choice. They're not only good as pads but as insulators too, keeping you warm and cushy when the weather gets cold. The gel absorbs shock very well, easing the pressure on your joints and surrounding tissues. This makes them ideal for Crossfit and gymnastics, but if you're looking for gloves made for lifting, you might need to skip gel gloves since there's not a lot of shock there to be absorbed in the first place. The gel reduces a lot of friction too, but silicone takes the cake there.

Silicone is very soft and elastic, and it makes friction almost non-existent when you lift or do any difficult motions related to Crossfit. Silicone is also sticky, so your grip will be improved even more. But silicone does get worn down faster then gel does, so weight down what you consider to be the most important aspect and choose your padding according to that!

What your gloves are made out of says a lot about them. The very first workout gloves were made out of leather. Leather is a great material, and many shoe producers know this, which is why the best shoes are made out of leather. It can withstand years and years of wear and tear damage, rising from the ashes better than it was before. This all happens thanks to the oil secreted by our skin. When you exercise, you sweat, and that sweat, along with the oil, gets absorbed by the leather of the gloves. This makes the leather soft and supple as a result. Leather also stretches very fast, and it takes on the shape of your hands, fitting you to the tee.

A lot of time went by, and leather was slowly losing its popularity. Leather is amazing, but it degrades over time. Leather also isn't all that breathable, and it traps in heat and moisture, creating the perfect environment for bacteria to develop. But technology advanced fast, and a lot of new players were brought into the game. This is when neoprene and nylon gloves made an appearance. Both their strength and durability were better, but nylon didn't last all that long though. It was also very slippery, so that was a new problem fitness enthusiast had to tackle.

This is why today we see a lot of gloves made out of neoprene. Grips are still made out of leather or suede though because leather is simply unparalleled when it comes to softness and grip, hence the name. Neoprene is synthetic though, and we're all used to seeing it on wetsuits. Neoprene almost acts like cling foil, adjusting to the shape of your hands perfectly. Neoprene also tends to be thick, and this thickness acts as padding all by itself. Neoprene also wicks away moisture and frees you from any moisture trapped inside. It can't do this alone though, and nylon or leather, or even mesh need to be somewhere in the material blend. The best gloves are made out of a combination of materials that improve each other and give you the best possible experience you could have asked for!

Weightlifting gloves and fitness gloves, in general, are a source of controversy in the fitness community. There is a reason why this is happening, and we will tell you everything about what a fitness glove can and can't do so you can decide whether you want them for yourself or not.

The very first reason why a lot of people avoid gloves is that they can't exactly feel what they're gripping. This doesn't allow the brain to process your location or your movements, causing imbalance and creating unnecessary risks of injuries. The extra material layer clouds your judgment, and you might even think that you can lift more than you're actually ready to take on, causing even more risks. You might think that you have a mighty strong grip, which is simply not true if you're just starting out. Your grip strength needs to develop all by itself, which is why a lot of people are against wearing gloves until your grip is developed enough naturally.

A lot of people worry about blisters and calluses, and gloves do protect you against them very effectively. But there are people who love to wear them like pride marks, that show people how strong and mighty they are. Calluses, as opposed to blisters, can actually be helpful, provided that they do not cause any pain or burning. If you suck it up and let them develop, you will have something like your very own natural gloves - think of people walking barefoot all their life and how callused their feet are and then think about how they can walk on thorns like it's the softest carpet in the world. The same thing rings true for calluses developed on our hands! Your nerve endings sort of die out, and your hands toughen up, so you lose the need for gloves in the first place.

All in all, gloves are very effective tools, provided that you get the right model for your preferred sports choice, and if they fit you well. If you worry about your grip strength, work without gloves for a while until you are comfortable with gripping heavyweights. You probably won't even need the gloves until you get to lift some serious weight, but if you need them to spin or grab onto something, it's better to go for grips!