Workout gloves vs bare hands

To wear or not to wear gym gloves has always been a subject of debate among the weightlifting community.

Here we’ll give you the pros and cons of workout gloves that’ll help you make the right decision.

Pros of workout gloves

1. Improved grip and protection

Wearing gym gloves can help improve your grip and control over your weights. They provide good cushioning and a tight grip translating into a more effective workout and protection against injuries.

2. Prevents calluses and blisters

Workout gloves absorb all your sweat and prevent it from causing friction between your hands and the weightlifting bar or other gym equipment, thus preventing the occurrence of painful blisters and calluses on your hand. 

3. Better wrist support 

When you’re at the gym doing pull-ups or lifting weights, you are bound to put a lot of strain on your wrists. Gym gloves with wrist support wrap around your wrists, keep them stable and help your lift form. They also prevent injuries by providing extra padding and protection to your hands and wrists.

4. Increased comfort

Sweaty palms can cause you to lose your grip and drop your weights at times. Gym gloves can keep your hands dry thus helping you get the most out of your workout session.

If you live in a cold country, it can be extremely uncomfortable to lift a pair of cold dumbbells or a barbell. Workout gloves with textured palms will keep your hands warm and make your workout experience more enjoyable.

5. Takes the pressure off weightlifting

Workout gloves help relieve some of the tension that you feel in your hands while weightlifting, thus allowing you to lift heavier weights and perform more reps than you normally do.

Gym gloves with wrist support can spread the weight evenly across your forearms making your lifts easier.

6. Protects against germs

Gym equipment can be chock-full of nasty germs and wearing workout gloves can be the best barrier against them. If you have an open wound or suffer from conditions including allergies, warts, eczema, etc. wearing gloves could help prevent infections.

Cons of workout gloves

1. Could cause grip problems

In some cases, wearing gloves can impede your grip.

Say you are doing pull-ups on a thicker-than-normal pull-up bar. Or maybe performing deadlifts or Olympic lifts. In such cases, your glove thickness increases the diameter of the bar, which could make it harder to grip.

2. Takes away the “feel” of the exercise

For a few moves, workout gloves could limit the “feel” that is required to execute them perfectly. For instance, in a dynamic barbell move, where the bar is resting in your palms. In this case, the smoothness of the gloves could cause the bar to slide onto your fingers, compromising the alignment of the exercise.

At the end of the day, wearing gym gloves or working out with bare hands is a personal preference. We suggest going bare hands for a while and then training with gloves for a few weeks and then deciding which one works better for you.