Auto Body Paint - Iowa City, IA - Chuck Smith Body Shop

Auto Body Paint - Iowa City, IA - Chuck Smith Body Shop

A hard flat sole is the most appropriate choice for most novice trainees.

Spongy trainer / sneakers are not suitable since force needs to be applied through foam before a reasonable amount of solid contact can be made with the ground. Until this contact is established the ankles remain un-stabilized too posing potential for injury.

Converse All Star Chuck Taylors are the most popular and most sensible shoes to wear for this application.

Gloves

When you are interested in a "sport" it's natural to want to wear the associated kit, however in the world of lifting the associated kit isn't necessarily functional kit.

Whilst people may claim that gloves protect the hands and / or improve their grip we could claim the opposite since the hands only require protection whilst they are vulnerable. What makes hands vulnerable is the soft skin. If the hands aren't subjected to lifting bare they will remain inefficient at lifting bare. The body's response to toughing the hands is callouse growth which occurs on each pressure point of palm, finger and thumb. These callouses allow the trainee to lift with more efficiency and less pain. The severity of the callouses can be controlled if need be by sanding them down with a nail file. To some this may sound like less than desirable but there are other benefits to convince you to make the move into bare hand lifting.

In some cases gloves can encourage callouses in places where they are required in relation only to the glove itself. This usually occurs when material clusters and folds down onto the fingers during the grip. These folds are likely to remain a permanent fixture of the glove too depending on the material so you are constantly encouraging growth of hard skin when it is not required in relation to the bare hand. With this in mind by using gloves you encourage the further use of gloves since skin can remain soft or it can harden in un-necessary areas.

Grip wise, having a layer of material between hand and bar can actually demand more grip in comparison to a bare hand since the material is free to move similar to a second layer of skin, there are the aforementioned folds to compromise in the grip and the material (especially gloves with padding) adds a small amount to the girth of the bar which in turn demands more from the grip.

Belts

Belts usually come hand in hand with gloves (no pun intended) and are popularly worn in situations where they aren't necessary.

The belt supports the lower back by re-enforcing the abdominal muscles which are pushed into the belt during the lift. The abdominals prevent the lumbar spine from swaying forwards under load.

Whilst this is all well and good, whilst the belt is providing support it leaves the trainee with less need to utilise the abdominals during the lift - to allow the muscle to do the job it is intended for. The trainee essentially trains their body in accordance with a foreign piece of equipment.

Wrist Wraps

Wrist wraps prove useful for those who have weak and / or skinny wrists but only play a significant role where the wrists receive considerable stress. A clean for example places stress upon the wrists which may demand for support to avoid injury. Like all support equipment, whilst they are used natural development of the wrists may be hindered so they should be used sparingly.

Chalk

Chalk or "Magnesium Carbonate" is a useful natural training tool. When applied to the hand chalk soaks up moisture and creates an element of friction between hand and bar.

Chalk can be purchased in loose powdered form or in blocks or balls from your local sports shop for no more than a couple of dollars.

Whilst there is chalk there is no excuse to wear gloves in a bid to improve grip.

Knee Wraps

Knee wraps are fabric bandages worn around the knees to provide support to the lifters knees. When wrapped tightly they also create a spring when the legs are bent. This allows for the lifter to push out of the bottom position of the squat with slightly more ease.

Knee wraps should not be worn throughout a session unless they are being worn for injury support since it is best to encourage the knee joints to work within their natural capacity whilst allowing the muscles alone to bring the lifter out of the bottom position of lifts.

A knee wrap which is applied and worn incorrectly can result in the knee shooting out from between each layer which makes the knees lose support abruptly causes detrimental effect to the lift.

Knee Sleeves

The knee sleeve is a tube of fabric which is pulled over the foot, up the leg and onto the knee. They are similar to knee wraps though their primary function is to heat the knee joint to allow it to work more efficiently, though there is an element of support - the degree of which depends upon the tightness and thickness of the sleeve.

It is said that if a lifter isn't comfortable enough to wear the sleeves throughout the entire session (regardless if they are used or not) then the sleeves are tight and therefore providing a considerable element of support.

Sleeves are more convenient since they don't need to be wrapped around the joint and they don't pose risk to the knees shooting out.

Padded Bars

There are a good amount of people who squat with a padded bar. This is particularly true for those who squat in the Smith Machine since I believe it's a standard added feature.

If the Smith Machine could talk it would say; "Here you go, here's your bar. Don't worry I'm holding it for you and it's all nicely padded so it won't hurt your boney shoulders. Would you like a cup of tea?" Okay, so the tea on the robotic arm is maybe a feature in the next version but you get the idea.

Training isn't meant to be comfortable. It's meant to be uncomfortable. It's all about forcing your body to perform demanding actions in order to respond by strength and growth. For the beginner there are several new circumstances in which the body will be introduced to. This is inclusive of having a bare bar on the back to perform the squat. When a hand is subject to gripping it grows callouses on the pressure points of the fingers. The same principle applies to the upper back and shoulders. Whilst there is pressure within the area there is potential for growth to cope with the stresses. Boney shoulders aren't treated by padding the bar. They are treated by being exposed to the bar.