Crossfit Equipment: Gloves

If you are out and about doing a lot of training you most certainly will look into gloves. There are many options to choose from and it depends on what fits your personal needs best. Here are my experiences to make your choice a bit easier.

What do i want to use my gloves for ?

What kind of athlete am I ?

What kind of gloves will be best for you is highly depending on your goals. If you just want to protect your hands from getting roughened up by the barbell and do not care that much about conditioning yourself for competition, than go for something with leather and rubber to protect your palms. If they are used to keep you warm during a run you might be just fine with a pair of thinsulate. However if you are an athlete the gloves have to be versatile and warming, while they do not necessarily have to fit the bill for barbell work, as you want to condition your hand for competition, where gloves are mostly not allowed.

How much should I invest ?

Gloves for gym purposes are in the range between 0 - 25€. I would not recommend to spent more as they usually are used up within 3 - 6 months or misplaced (at least that happens with me). If you spent more than 25€ on a pair of gloves as long as it turns everything you touch into gold, you have made a good investment.

What should i watch out for ?

Better to buy gloves too tight than too big. They will widen anyway. Thinsulates have the downside of being too warm in the summer and catching your sweat and breath and ice over, which makes your hand during exercise outside even colder. The upside for thinsulates is that they are readily available almost everywhere and come at a reasonable price. For gym gloves pay attention that they are not too bulky and inhibit your finger movement. There is nothing worse for lifting weights than not being able to close your hand properly because you can not curl your fingers enough. This is what I found with the gloves i bought which were advertised as gym or pull up gloves. I personally do not really see how half leather gloves which leave the fingers exposed fulfill a use. Either you want to protect your hand or not. Otherwise just focus on grip strength without a glove.

What would you recommend ?

The gloves in the picture are called muddyfox and i got them for 10 euros at the local sports world. So far they do the trick protecting my fingers and hand from the irish winter and during a tough mudder. I can freely move and they are snug, so if I wanted to use them for weight work, i could do so. Personally i prefer hand on cold steel when I am training, but everybody to their own tastes, i guess.