Fitness is extremely important.
More and more people are heading to the gym to work out as part of their daily or weekly routines.
They spend some day some on cardio, some on legs, and some on arms.
Working out is important to help maintain a healthy lifestyle, and one of the popular ways to stay in shape and tone your muscles is through lifting weights.
Unfortunately, it’s also an easy way to get injured. A lot of people don’t use the right technique, which can cause more harm than good.
Even people who do follow the proper form also fall into some common traps that can lead to problems if left unchecked.
One of the biggest errors people make is not using the proper gear when they work out.
Most people show up to the gym in active wear and athletic shoes, but very few people realize that weight lifting requires some additional support.
If you’re going to be lifting weights on a regular basis, you should invest in a good pair of weight lifting gloves.
In this article, we will highlight some important features that weight lifting gloves need.
When shopping for gloves, make sure to look for these features so you know you’re buying the right gear.
We will also get you started with some of our favorite gloves on the market, in case you want to click and buy instead of shopping around a lot.
Best Weight Lifting Gloves – Reviewed
Now that you’ve learned about the things a pair of weight lifting gloves should be able to do, and some common mistakes to avoid, let’s take a look at some great gloves.
These are some of the best weight lifting gloves available. We are sure that there will be a pair on this list that suits your needs.
1. Fit Active Sports New Ventilated Weight Lifting Gloves
These are some of the best workout gloves on the market.
They can prevent you from ending up with calluses on your palms and protect your wrists from sprains.
These gloves feature a silicone and neoprene blend, so they can wick away sweat and increase your traction and grip on the bar.
They can resist oils, water, chemicals, and heat, so they’ve also got a lengthy lifespan compared to other gloves.
They offer full protection to your palms without restricting the range of motion in your fingers and their built in wrist wraps offer an incredible amount of support while evenly distributing the stress of the weight.
The wraps are a unique design to this glove that can handle weight lifting as well as cross training with snatches, squats, and jerks without adding unnecessary stress to your wrists and joints.
The palm is a mesh design that allows for plenty of air flow, letting your palms easily breathe without building up excessive amounts of sweat.
This prevents bacteria from growing in your gloves and making them sweaty, which increases their life expectancy. It also means that your grip will be extra tight, thanks to the silicone and neoprene.
This lets you triple your workload without worrying about the bar slipping when you sweat and prevents your hands from getting roughed up and full of calluses when you do pull-ups or lift barbells.
2. Trideer Padded Weight Lifting Gloves
These gloves are some of the most comfortable ones on the market for people who want to feel the extra cushion and support.
Trideer has a reputation for making the best CrossFit gloves available, and their weight lifting gloves are in the same vein of excellence.
These gloves offer great palm and wrist protection. They are made from a lightweight microfiber that offers plenty of comfort and durability.
The palms include silica gel, which allows you to comfortably grip the bar without sacrificing range of motion, traction, or complete control over your hands and grip.
This gel also protects against injury.
These gloves are pressurized for increased support and comfort. They have a little bit of finger protection but leave your fingertips free so you can use the phone and curl your fingers without being restricted.
They even come with dual straps. This wrist design offers an 18 inch wrap of protection and safety that outshines almost any competitor on the market.
These straps keep your wrists locked into place and prevent injury, offering a wide area of stability and protection.
The gloves are also designed to prevent any friction that may occur between your fingers. The mesh on the backside makes them very breathable and comfortable.
These gloves all come with a 30 day refund guarantee and a 1 year warranty, plus a lifetime of customer service.
3. Skott 2019 Evo 2 Weightlifting Gloves
These gloves are fantastic, too. They have an integrated wrist wrap for full coverage support.
Their material is all double-stitched, so it will last a lot longer before giving out and needing to be replaced.
Skott has over 3 decades of experience manufacturing high quality athletic gear, and these gloves continue their tradition of reliable and quality options.
They’re fully ventilated for breathability and offer traction at your palms to prevent your grip from slipping.
These gloves also come with other convenient features. They include a detachable plastic hook.
This allows you to store them easily and conveniently bring them along with you and move them.
They also have pull off tape and a tab on the top and bottom of your wrist area, which makes them very easy to remove no matter which direction you start pulling them off your hands.
These gloves are a little thicker than some other options, but that’s because they’re padded.
This padding offers an extra cushion against the bar and extra support for your wrists, so you’re not overtaxing your joints when you work out.
The gloves are designed for a unisex fit, offering 3 dimensions of sizing consideration for both men’s and women’s hand anatomy.
The fingers are protected on the bottom, where they curl around the bar, but left open on the top for additional ventilation and to allow you to operate a phone.
The integrated wrist wraps take advantage of the latest advances in weightlifting technology.
They have industrial strength Velcro that lets you customize your fit and support strength and the full integration and padding offer a maximum amount of support.
4. Harbinger Pro Wrist Wrap Weight Lifting Gloves
If you’re into the classic materials, then check out these gloves. These are extremely comfortable and offer a ton of great protection for your wrists and palms.
They offer a snug fit plus a double secured wrist wrap, and the leather palms are perfect for preventing the bar from slipping.
These loves are vented and their interior contains open cell foam, which prevents sweat from building up inside the gloves and cushions palms against calluses and injury.
The ½ finger length on your hands will allow you to use the phone, while the wrap around thumb offers you protection against abrasion or friction from the bar.
All of the seams on this glove have been double stitched to reinforce the craftsmanship and prolong the lifespan of this glove, making it exceptionally durable.
It comes with a 90 day warranty, too. The smaller fingers offer additional traction where the glove ends, allowing increased contact and a better grip.
5. Nike Men’s Lock Down Training Gloves
If you’re looking for a more familiar brand, hen Nike makes some great weight lifting gloves.
Their gloves are made from a Dri-Fit fabric that wicks away and expels sweat as it forms, preventing slips and bacteria build up in the glove.
These gloves also include a padded palm that has ventilation, allowing your palms to breathe while still cushioning them during your workout.
The middle finger has been extended so you can easily and quickly get them off when you finish your training.
These gloves also come with an adjustable strap that will allow you to customize your fit.
This strap also cushions and protects your wrist against injury. The gloves come with a 1 month warranty and a lifetime of customer service.
Buying Advice For The Best Gym Gloves
Let’s take a look at some of the things that go into weight lifting gloves.
These are different from ordinary gloves, and you will need to buy specialized ones to protect yourself while lifting weights.
Here are some important things to keep in mind.
How They Fit
One of the most important pieces of a glove is the sizing. There are a lot of different hand sizes, and a lot of gloves may not fit you properly.
This should narrow down your search so you can begin looking at your sizing.
There are some gloves that adjust to the size of your hand.
These gloves are designed to be versatile and fit custom to whatever hand size they are placed on for use.
Other gloves will be made in a specific size, whether it’s small or large.
The important thing to do is to make sure your gloves fit you in every area of your hand.
You need to make sure your fingers aren’t sliding around, the glove fits snugly without cutting off circulation or having bags in the fabric, and that the adjustable wrist strap actually sits in the right place so it can offer you support.
When gloves are too tight, you will lose a significant amount of your gripping power because your fingers and the way your hand naturally curls will be severely restricted.
Tight gloves limit your range of motion.
You can fight against that, but the result of forcing your gloves to move with your hand is that the seams will rip after just a week or two of use.
Conversely, if gloves are too loose there is too much material between your hand and your weight.
The material pools, which creates an opportunity for the weight to slip and slide through your hands. You will not be able to grip the weight securely.
Are They Comfortable?
As insane as it is to think that comfort should factor into your decision when it comes to buying tools, it does.
If you’re not comfortable wearing your gloves, you’re either going to forego wearing them or forego weight lifting and associate negative emotions with your exercise routine.
Make sure that you feel good wearing your gloves.
Fingers Or Fingerless Weight Lifting Gloves
Some models are full finger gloves, while many others are fingerless and primarily used to cover your palms.
The best brands will allow your hands to breathe while still supporting your wrist and offering some extra traction where you’re gripping the weights in case your hands are sweaty.
Either option will function just as well during a workout, so it comes down entirely to preference.
There are 5 different options when it comes to weight lifting glove fingers.
You can choose from closed, open, half, one quarter, or three quarter fingers.
These are up to personal preference and offer varying degrees of coverage for your fingers.
Most of the best gloves will be either fingerless or half fingers.
This is because they let the air flow into and out of your gloves while you work out, so your hands don’t overheat and you aren’t constantly sweating, which can result in losing your grip on the weight.
They also let you move your fingers better, unlike full fingered gloves, which can restrict your range of motion.
Another reason people like to use gloves that are either fingerless or half-fingered is that you can use your fingers.
For example, if you’re using your phone to track progress or take calls while you work out, a fingerless option won’t prevent you from interacting with the touch screen on your smartphone.
Fabric
The fabric and material of your glove also play a role in comfort.
Find some gloves with materials that have plenty of cushioning and protection for your hands without losing their flexibility or preventing airflow.
The best weight lifting gloves will use a very lightweight fabric. These are usually some type of mesh fabric that allows airflow and breathability.
Neoprene, mesh, microfiber, and lycra are popular options.
These prevent your gloves from adding resistance to your workouts and keep your hands mobile while you lift.
This is one of the most widely varying components of weightlifting gloves, but to a lot of reviewers and weight lifters, it is important.
Whether you use leather or spandex, silicone or neoprene, you will want to make sure that your material is lightweight, includes some type of sweat wicking fabric around the palms, and offers cushion and support.
Leather is a great choice for weight lifters who are worried about grip issues.
It offers extra traction and grip while cushioning your palms against the bar itself.
Sweat wicking fabrics and mesh at the palms, on the other hand, are extremely popular because it also prevents you from losing your grip when you sweat.
Neoprene and silicone at the palms and wrists are also popular because they offer cushion and absorb sweat.
Lifting Heavy Weights: Wrist Support
One of the primary reasons for wearing gloves when you work out, aside from ensuring traction on the bar despite slippery and sweaty hands, is to support your wrists from the strain.
When you’re lifting, even good form can put a lot of strain on your wrists if you’re not careful.
Wearing weightlifting gloves will prevent some of that unnecessary stress because the gloves are meant to support your wrists and lock them into place properly.
The best weight lifting gloves will protect your hands against callouses, prevent your palms from losing their grip on the bar when sweaty, and offer protection and support against unnecessary stress at your wrists.
If you don’t find gloves that support your wrists while you lift weights, you can easily sprain your wrist when you get fatigued.
Moving your wrists back and forth as you lift is going to be dangerous without the right support.
Look for gloves that have adjustable wrist straps. The Velcro strap should be able to adjust to fit your specific wrist perfectly.
The highest number is your grip strength. Normal strength range for men between the ages of 25 and 29 is 37.7 to 57.5. For women, it’s 25.6 to 41.4.
Conclusion
Whether or not to wear gloves when lifting weights has been heavily contested for quite some time.
Many athletes feel that they can’t lift as much weight or work out as aggressively when wearing a pair of gloves.
Still, others swear by them, refusing to work out without their gloves.
It’s clear that you should, at a minimum, wear some protective straps on your wrists to prevent injury.
We highly recommend weight lifting gloves.
If you can’t find your perfect size or fit from among our choices, just remember that you want a glove that is breathable and lightweight.
It should be able to grip the bar with plenty of traction on the bar, even if your palms get sweaty, and offer cushion and support to your wrists.
Above all else, find a pair that fits you correctly and is comfortable to wear.
Our team at The Fitness Tribe often collaborates together to produce content. Many times the content is not written by a single author, instead it is usually a team effort.
Last update on 2023-02-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API