Get to grips with this comprehensive guide on all you need to know about weightlifting gloves, lifting straps, and wrist wraps for lifting.
Your lifting is feeling good: You’re upping the weights, and you’ve almost hit a new one-rep max on your deadlifts this week. But suddenly, you find it’s not your strength holding you back but that horrible feeling of the bar sliding out of your hands mid-rep. Even worse, you’ve got calluses (or worse, skin tears), making the whole experience pretty uncomfortable.
We’ve all been there. Luckily, there are solutions to help: weightlifting gloves, lifting straps, and wrist wraps—designed to improve grip by reducing tension in your fingers, helping you lift heavier and providing a more comfortable workout experience.
But how do you know which lifting accessory is right for you, and is it even a good idea to start using weightlifting gloves, lifting straps or wrist wraps at all?
Enter the great lifting gloves debate.
It’s been going on for years, with plenty of differing opinions as to which accessory is best and whether we should be using weightlifting gloves, lifting straps, or wrist wraps at all.
Ultimately, it comes down to personal choice, but we’re going to give you all the facts to help you make that decision. Let's discover the pros, cons, differences, and best exercises to use each of these weightlifting accessories for.
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ON LIFTING GLOVES, WRIST STRAPS, AND WRIST WRAPS.
Weightlifting Gloves
Weightlifting gloves (AKA gym gloves or workout gloves) are an accessory that many lifters will turn to at some point. Designed to support and protect the hands while lifting barbells, dumbbells, and kettlebells, weight lifting gloves are suitable for all levels of lifter and come in a variety of style.
SHOP:
Types of Weightlifting Gloves:
- Full coverage gloves: Cover the whole hand providing full protection when gripping the barbell or weights.
- Fingerless lifting gloves: Cover half the fingers and allow for more flexibility during your lift.
- Fingerless lifting gloves with wrist wraps: Cover only the palm and half the fingers and provide extra wrist support from the wrist wrap.
Pros and Cons of Lifting Gloves
Benefits:
- Improve Grip: Designed with padding on the palm to ensure a secure grip on the weights, helping you lift heavier, for longer.
- Protection: Help prevent callouses and reduce pain in the hands.
- Stabilize and Support: With wrist straps, they help to stabilize and support the wrists by keeping them in a neutral position.
Drawbacks:
- Dependency: Some see becoming reliant on weightlifting gloves as a problem, as it decreases their adaptability.
- Negatively Impact Form: The additional padding of the glove can change how your hands naturally grip the bar, which may differ from the natural technique.
Best Exercises for Weightlifting Gloves:
- Heavy weightlifting with dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, or a bar.
- Pull-ups (or any exercise on the rig or pull-up bar).
Lifting Straps
The least controversial lifting accessory, and most commonly used across all abilities, the lifting strap (or wrist strap) is designed to provide bar security, enhance grip, and support the wrist joint. Wrist straps are a great tool for hypertrophy, weightlifting, and powerlifting.
SHOP:
Types of Lifting Straps:
- Single Loop: Best for quick-release lifts such as the clean and jerk and snatch; suitable for advanced lifters.
- Figure 8 Loop: Comfortable and easy-to-use; best for performing deadlifts.
- Lasso: Loop your wrist through for added wrist support and then wrap the long strap tightly around the bar; ideal for all abilities for heavy pulls, pull-ups, and rows.
Pros and Cons of Lifting Straps
Benefits:
- Increase Volume: Help you lift more weight than usual by redistributing the weight away from your palm.
- Increase Grip: Remove the weakest link: your grip, allowing you to lift more weight.
- Protection: Help prevent callouses and reduce pain in the hands.
- Develop Strength: Improve your wrist and forearm strength.
Drawbacks:
- Dependency & Weaken Grip Strength: Frequent use may decrease one's natural grip strength over time.
Best Exercises for Lifting Straps:
- Deadlifts
- Lat pull-downs
- Rows
- Chin-ups
We emphasize ‘heavy’ because lifting straps should only be used for heavy-weight, low-rep lifts to maintain good grip strength.
Wrist Wraps
Wrist wraps are pieces of fabric that wrap around the wrist. They wrap around the wrists to support them whilst lifting, ensuring stabilization and correct wrist placement on the weight or bar.
SHOP:
Types of Wrist Wraps:
- Velcro Wrist Wraps: Suitable for all types of lifts and provide comfort and support. Often feature an elasticated thumbhole for added stability.
- String Fastening Wrist Wraps: A softer, more easily adjusted style, ideal for more dynamic movements such as Olympic lifting or gymnastics.
Pros and Cons of Wrist Wraps
Benefits:
- Wrist Stability: Keep the wrist in a neutral position when lifting, helping with proper form and preventing overextension.
- Pain Prevention: Help prevent pain in the wrists by taking some pressure off the joints.
- Recovery: Aid recovery by supporting and rehabilitating the wrist while lifting.
Drawbacks:
- Dependency & Weakened Grip Strength: Risk becoming reliant on wrist wraps, which may stop you from developing your natural wrist strength.
Best Exercises for Wrist Wraps:
- Bench press
- Shoulder press
- Clean and jerk
- Overhead press
FINAL THOUGHTS: LIFTING ACCESSORIES CAN BE BENEFICIAL, BUT DON’T BECOME OVERLY RELIANT ON THEM
As we can see from this breakdown, the general consensus is that weightlifting gloves, lifting straps, and wrist wraps can all be beneficial to a certain extent but can hinder natural grip and wrist strength if you become too dependent on them.
As you build muscle, progressive overload becomes easier, and you may find eventually that you no longer need help from lifting accessories. But in the meantime, whilst you're seeing how far you can push your strength, it might be worth getting your hands on some lifting accessories to help get a grip on those heavy lifts.