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Kettlebell Tape on kettlebell

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Rbt

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Hey guys,
Anyone ever tape their kettlebell handles? Is this frowned upon in the Strong First community? I tried back taping the handle with the sticky side out seemed to work ok but is this cheating?
Thanks
 
Are you putting the tape on sticky side out because the handle of your kettle bell is too smooth? Is so, you may want to try chalk - I would use sparingly - only enough to remove the slipperiness.
 
You're only "cheating" yourself and your grip strength.
Agree 100%
If you want to develop real world strength you often times won't have the luxury of modifying the situation to suit. I would avoid tape... And avoid chalk if you can.
I use chalk only sparingly, and only in some non-kettlebell situations.
 
I tape handles for heavy snatches, depending on the bell. But with athletic tape, and not sticky side out.
 
@Rbt, just say "No" to this. Acquiring grip strength is important - if anything, go the other way and don't use chalk and/or don't wipe the handles down when they get sweaty and/or soap the handles.

-S-
 
Thanks for all of the replies. I'll stick to chalk for now. I only find I have a problem with my grip on one arm swings with the the 32kg although I'm not snatching the the 32kg at least not yet.
Thanks again guys
 
Thanks for all of the replies. I'll stick to chalk for now. I only find I have a problem with my grip on one arm swings with the the 32kg although I'm not snatching the the 32kg at least not yet.
Thanks again guys
Use a lighter weight.

-S-
 
When I first got into kettlebells the only ones I could put my hands on before buying were the Body Solid ones. They came with a coating of epoxy and were very slick.

I lucked out and found a 16kg RKC at a used sporting goods store for 30 buck. Snapped it up and immediately appreciated the texture on the handle - not to slick, not too rough.

Was doing slingshots in the basement and the 16kg got away from me - smashed into the handle of my 50lb Body Solid, so I took a ball peen hammer and knocked off the rest of the epoxy and spray painted it - under the epoxy were a bunch of casting flaws on the bell, but the handle had a great surface from (presumably) the sand casting mold that was used. What an improvement!

Anyway, for better grip it might be a good idea to sand a bit of texture of maybe it can be done with a peen hammer.

FWIW, I find the biggest problem I have with my 32 kb fitness type KB is the diameter of the handle - its massive. One of the older generation of body solid that has a steel handle anchored into a cast body. I don't like the balance on it either, but figure that just adds to the workout. Makes it real tough to do one handed anything with it that involves repetitive swings or cleans.
 
I am waiting for the arrival of a 24 kg non pro grade (Russian) kettlebell from Bells of Steel. I am replacing my pro grade bells which I find really slick. The non pro grade bells have just a little bit of roughness to them that make grip issues non existent. Also, because of the narrower handle when I do two handed swings I can't fit all my fingers in. Not a problem with the non pro grade.
 
@Rbt, just say "No" to this. Acquiring grip strength is important - if anything, go the other way and don't use chalk and/or don't wipe the handles down when they get sweaty and/or soap the handles.

-S-

Soap the handles?? Wow, that IS hardcore :)

I agree, that if you really want to develop strength, not just get as heavy as possible, you do not want to cut corners. I still remember one snatching session when there was a light rain and the handle was wet and slippery. I needed to squeeze the grip so hard, that I did half the reps than usual. But the training was great and I am sure it profited my overall strength a lot.
 
@Maq, I cannot offer you any scientific evidence to prove this, but it is my belief that:

If your hands and your belly and your back are stronger than often-talked-about parts like legs, arms, chest, and shoulders, you will be more resilient - less likely to suffer injury.

-S-
 
@Rbt, just say "No" to this. Acquiring grip strength is important - if anything, go the other way and don't use chalk and/or don't wipe the handles down when they get sweaty and/or soap the handles.

-S-
I have an exception to this. I've been doing shoulder PT to try and avoid surgery on a 50% tear of infraspinatus tendon (to get back to volleyball) and recently started doing several exercises with kettlebells. However, compared to most kettlebell exercises I've seen online, my therapist is having me do all the stability exercises while keeping the weighted end pointed straight up which adds a significant stability aspect that also requires significantly more grip strength to stabilize. Unfortunately, my hands often start to give out before I get a good burn in the shoulder. I rock climb regularly, so it's a different kind of grip strength that's fatiguing. It's not just keeping the handle secure in the hand, but also keeping it from rotating/twisting, and that's apparently some largely untrained muscle which I feel is mostly insignificant with respect to maximizing the shoulder stability focus. For instance, try doing a bunch of turkish get-ups keeping the weight pointed upward rather than hanging down against the backside of your wrist and see how fast your hands fatigue when you thought you had good grip strength.

That said, any suggestions on making the handle a bit grippier? It's not about dropping the weight or it falling out of my hand, and yes I'm sure it'll become less of an issue the longer I do the exercises, but at present it's frustrating when I'm trying to rehab the shoulder and having to stop because of the hands fatiguing first.
 
I have an exception to this. I've been doing shoulder PT to try and avoid surgery on a 50% tear of infraspinatus tendon (to get back to volleyball) and recently started doing several exercises with kettlebells. However, compared to most kettlebell exercises I've seen online, my therapist is having me do all the stability exercises while keeping the weighted end pointed straight up which adds a significant stability aspect that also requires significantly more grip strength to stabilize. Unfortunately, my hands often start to give out before I get a good burn in the shoulder. I rock climb regularly, so it's a different kind of grip strength that's fatiguing. It's not just keeping the handle secure in the hand, but also keeping it from rotating/twisting, and that's apparently some largely untrained muscle which I feel is mostly insignificant with respect to maximizing the shoulder stability focus. For instance, try doing a bunch of turkish get-ups keeping the weight pointed upward rather than hanging down against the backside of your wrist and see how fast your hands fatigue when you thought you had good grip strength.

That said, any suggestions on making the handle a bit grippier? It's not about dropping the weight or it falling out of my hand, and yes I'm sure it'll become less of an issue the longer I do the exercises, but at present it's frustrating when I'm trying to rehab the shoulder and having to stop because of the hands fatiguing first.


Depends on what the handle is made of - powdercoated steel, paint over steel, bare steel like a competition bell, epoxy....

All of my epoxy coated KBs have been stripped down and the handles left with a rough sandpaper finish. My older DD bell has a nice sandcasting type texture. IMHO a little texture not only helps a bit with grip, but also has less friction when doing snatches etc. I don't think I'd go with tape of any sort.

You could also do your exercises bottom's up till you poop out and then do them conventional. Bottoms up are great for grip and balance, but they're a variant - not as important as the overall movement.
 
I rock climb regularly, so it's a different kind of grip strength that's fatiguing.
Yes...rock climbing grip strength is quite a bit different from traditional 'grip strength'. I think your issue will go away with a bit more time. I would not tape the bell handles. Use chalk or rosin if you think you need it.
 
@Rbt, just say "No" to this. Acquiring grip strength is important - if anything, go the other way and don't use chalk and/or don't wipe the handles down when they get sweaty and/or soap the handles.

-S-

I agree in part and disagree in part. I completely agree that grip strength is important. However, kettlebell swings and snatches are not "grip isolation exercises." They are full-body power endurance exercises.

Using chalk is a good middle ground approach. It keeps the sweat away so there is no danger of slipping (safety is important) but you are still using your muscles to grip the KB. Tape sticky-side out would get awkward pretty soon. I always, ALWAYS use chalk. If I feel my grip is lacking then I do grip exercises using quality grippers (like Ironmind Captains of Crush). The work from grippers doesn't always transfer 100% to KB lifting but it's good enough.

I realize that quality grippers are somewhat pricey (Ironmind Captains of Crush are now $23), and if your budget is super tight than I suppose things like soaping the handle on a lighter KB to work the grip may make some sense. But there are some inexpensive grip tools if you don't mind taking some time to search the Internetz.
 
Grip on kettlebells is a quirky thing.

My old DD bells with the epoxy coatings are sanded to super smooth finish and these are my favorite bells to snatch. I actually prefer to not use chalk until my hands are slippery from sweat. I find the new powder coated bells raise calluses faster than my sanded handles do.

People tend to grip a bell in one of two places, either deep in the palm of the hand or in the fingers. Fingers is better but requires more grip strength. Deep in the palm will raise calluses and blisters.

Do farmers carries and towel hangs to improve your grip strength. I have not found that grippers give the same kind of grip needed for kettlebells.
 
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