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Kettlebell My Hands are my weakest Link. How to fix that?

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The reality of strength training is that you don't want calluses to totally disappear -- you just want to prevent them from getting out of control and causing problems that interfere with training.

Kettlebells, barbells, loaded carries, gymnastic rings, pull up bars, rowing, clubs, maces -- all will develop calluses.

FWIW, I never use gloves because it interferes with my sense of feel and grip feedback, which is part of learning how to avoid over-gripping.

(over-gripping can make calluses worse)
I really would love to avoid gloves. But today after 100 snatches with the 24kg i managed to get blisters on both of my hands. I think this time it really was the fault of the "crossfit Gloves". After about 70 snatches i felt that my palms get really hot. So i put the gloves on to avoud the caluses from ripping. But i noticed immidiatly how my grip changed and the force on my palms went a little deeper in direction under the pinkys. And 30 reps later i got two blisters. :D
That is so annoying. I hope that i will get my hands in controll one day.
 

Why Some Lifters Hate Gloves​

On the other side of the debate lie most experienced lifters (and trainers)—myself included. We don't like gloves.

It's not that I've never worn a pair; when I started messing around with a basement barbell set as a teenager, I always started the session by strapping on a set. But as I learned more about the weight room, I realized that the extra material between my hands and the bar were just holding me back from mastering proper form on moves like the power clean and developing a stronger grip. After all, that fine etching in your barbells and dumbbells isn't just there to rough up your hands—that's called knurling, and it's there to help you to get a better grip.

Men's Health Fitness Director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. isn't a fan of gloves for just that reason. "In theory, you're "protecting" your skin from the wear and pounding of metal bars, but you're also losing a ton of natural grip training," he says. "The best and most organic way for you to train your grip has always been to grip with intent. But you can't truly grip with gloves, and you lose the ability to truly feel what you're gripping."

That inability to take hold of the bar is an issue because you lose your full squeeze strength with the extra layer of material between the bar and your hands, and for the simple fact that you can't feel the bar as well. "When my hand is in direct contact with the weight, I can more easily adjust and be precise with my grip," says Samuel. "I can squeeze harder through my pinky, or squeeze more aggressively around my index and middle fingers. I can't do these things as aggressively or naturally when I'm wearing gloves."

 
Freaking gloves man... I don't know why anyone would prefer them. It effectively increases the circumference of whatever you're holding too, so it can actually make grip issues WORSE.
I train sometimes with gloves because I am prepping for firefighter training and you have to do everything with gloves on. I need the practice training my brain the proprioception and strength needed through that extra fabric. XD

But in general, without gloves gives your body a lot more feedback to work with.
 
I train sometimes with gloves because I am prepping for firefighter training and you have to do everything with gloves on. I need the practice training my brain the proprioception and strength needed through that extra fabric. XD

But in general, without gloves gives your body a lot more feedback to work with.
That's a totally different thing. Of course you should train with gloves on.
 
A lifetime of working construction (since I was a kid working for my dad), playing baseball, and lifting weights my hands are completely callused. Training kettlebells has never really effected my callused with the exception of the time I tired using liquid chalk, that s*** nearly tore my skin off doing snatches…

You want them to be callused but you may need to take a few weeks off and let them callus over. High volume snatches are tough on the hands even for someone with rough hands. My preference is to not use chalk for the reason above…I would say let them heal a bit then work back in.
 
My preference is to not use chalk for the reason above…

I never use chalk, even with barbell snatches / clean & jerk, or heavy pulls.

And I haven't torn a callus in a decade.

I'm convinced a lot of the problems people have are:

1. Skin hasn't toughened up enough through repetition

2. Hands are not strong enough to hold a more open loose grip, false grip, or hook grip, so they over-grip, massively increasing friction

If you're trying to crush grip, like CoC, on a kettlebell, mace, club, barbell, gymnastic ring, or barbell, you're doing it wrong.

Solving #2 makes it much easier to do #1 without injury.
 
I never use chalk, even with barbell snatches / clean & jerk, or heavy pulls.

And I haven't torn a callus in a decade.

I'm convinced a lot of the problems people have are:

1. Skin hasn't toughened up enough through repetition

2. Hands are not strong enough to hold a more open loose grip, false grip, or hook grip, so they over-grip, massively increasing friction

If you're trying to crush grip, like CoC, on a kettlebell, mace, club, barbell, gymnastic ring, or barbell, you're doing it wrong.

Solving #2 makes it much easier to do #1 without injury.
That’s contrary to much of SF ideology. Pavel and even in the new Andy Bolton article have emphasized that for max strength work you should white knuckle grip the implement to increase irradiation and increase strength.

Obviously, this doesn’t really apply to ballistics, but for many lifts they say you SHOULD try to death grip it.
 
That’s contrary to much of SF ideology. Pavel and even in the new Andy Bolton article have emphasized that for max strength work you should white knuckle grip the implement to increase irradiation and increase strength.

Obviously, this doesn’t really apply to ballistics, but for many lifts they say you SHOULD try to death grip it.

As a barbell athlete, that's not at all how I interpret the ideology.

Relax, then strength, is part of the ideology.

The Bruce Lee punch analogy.

Same thing applies to grip, especially on ballistics, but even on grinds.

You don't have to white knuckle it the whole time, only at the moment of greatest need for force production, usually the sticking point.

Even if I'm doing a heavy pull grind, once I'm past the sticking point, I can hold an isometric grip sufficient to keep the bar from falling and ride out the rest of the more relaxed strength curve and let my back, core and hips do the work.
 
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As a barbell athletes, that's not at all how I interpret the ideology.

Relax, then strength, is part of the ideology.

The Bruce Lee punch analogy.

Same thing applies to grip, especially on ballistics.

You don't have to white knuckle it the whole time, only at the moment of greatest need for force production, usually the sticking point.

If I'm doing a heavy pull, once I'm past the sticking point, I can hold an isometric grip sufficient to keep the bar from falling and ride out the rest of the more relaxed strength curve.
“1. Squeeze The Bar Harder
In fact, squeeze it as hard as you can. Squeeze it so hard your knuckles turn white. Do this just before you unrack the bar on your squats and bench presses and do it before the bar leaves the floor on the deadlift. Then keep your grip this way (or squeeze even harder) as the lift progresses.”

 
“1. Squeeze The Bar Harder
In fact, squeeze it as hard as you can. Squeeze it so hard your knuckles turn white. Do this just before you unrack the bar on your squats and bench presses and do it before the bar leaves the floor on the deadlift. Then keep your grip this way (or squeeze even harder) as the lift progresses.”


I don't understand your example.

Why are you getting calluses from a squat?
 
“1. Squeeze The Bar Harder
In fact, squeeze it as hard as you can. Squeeze it so hard your knuckles turn white. Do this just before you unrack the bar on your squats and bench presses and do it before the bar leaves the floor on the deadlift. Then keep your grip this way (or squeeze even harder) as the lift progresses.”


Also:

What you do for max attempts vs most of your training is totally different.
 
I don't understand your example.

Why are you getting calluses from a squat?
Not my example so I’m not sure if the answer. My point was that SF emphasizes irradiation from before you even unrack through the full ROM to increase strength.
Also:

What you do for max attempts vs most of your training is totally different.
This also doesn’t follow what SF teaches. From the same article:

“4. Treat Every Set as If It Were Very Heavy
Getting tight is a skill. This means it’s important to treat every set as an opportunity to practice that skill. If you ever see me warm up, you’ll see I make 95lbs on the bench press look remarkably similar to 500lbs or more. Same technique, same emphasis on tightness.”
 
Not my example so I’m not sure if the answer. My point was that SF emphasizes irradiation from before you even unrack through the full ROM to increase strength.

This also doesn’t follow what SF teaches. From the same article:

“4. Treat Every Set as If It Were Very Heavy
Getting tight is a skill. This means it’s important to treat every set as an opportunity to practice that skill. If you ever see me warm up, you’ll see I make 95lbs on the bench press look remarkably similar to 500lbs or more. Same technique, same emphasis on tightness.”

You're confusing practicing a skill (bracing, technique, positions) with intensity.

I don't need to white knuckle 70% RM attempts just because I treat it with the same technique as when it's heavy.
 
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Look, this is where the party standard issue recommendations start to fall into the dogma category... Yes, your hands and grip are absolutely neural potentiators and gripping something hard helps you get tight/create full body tension. And YES, "Treat the light weights like the heavy weights and the heavy weights will go up like the light weights" (Ernie Frantz, powerlifting legend, I think is where this is from originally) is also a helpful aphorism. BUT, that doesn't mean it applies to everything all the time...
 
Yep.

You can't get in much skill practice if you treat it all like max effort, all the time. Because you'll be quickly fried out.

Applies to sports, too.
Yes - and I get the whole "EVERY REP SHOULD BE EXACTLY. THE. SAME." thing that Squat University is pushing right now, but the reality is that isn't always preferable or even possible.

I've been tempted to send him some of my videos from first rep/first set to last and see how much he freaks out about it.
 
Yes - and I get the whole "EVERY REP SHOULD BE EXACTLY. THE. SAME." thing that Squat University is pushing right now, but the reality is that isn't always preferable or even possible.

I've been tempted to send him some of my videos from first rep/first set to last and see how much he freaks out about it.

You should. I'd like to see his response. ;)
 
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