GRIPAD ® Blog

The Ins and Outs of Proper Gym Etiquette

The gym is like any other place of business…  There are rules to be followed.  Safety, common courtesy, and cleanliness are no different here than any other establishment.  It’s just people here are lifting hundred pound weights in close proximity of one another with potential for injury, or worse.  So, here are three common sense tips on proper gym etiquette that may help to make the community experience a better one…

Re-rack the weights – This sounds like common sense, but leaving free weights lying around after a workout can be a tripping hazard for others in the gym.  As well, after loading the bar – on let’s say the bench press or dead lift – and completing your reps, return the plates to their original spot.  You may be a 230 lb. behemoth, but the next guy coming in to use the press may be a 16 year old kid looking to bulk up from 115 lbs.  And they might not be able to unload the weight, leading to an injury.  Be courteous of others and return the weights to their proper positions after use. 

Clean up after yourself – We’ve all picked up weights or sat on machines that haven’t been properly cleaned from the previous user.  It’s not an experience we want to keep reliving.  So, use a towel to separate yourself from the machine and use the gym’s disinfectant wipes after use in order to completely clean the machine.  This is about cleanliness and common courtesy for the next user and is important for the gym goer who wants to actually enjoy their gym experience.

Share the machines – For the cardio machines, it’s a good rule of thumb to take about 20 to 30 minutes on the machine if there is a line behind you.  If no one else is waiting for that particular machine, then don’t worry about the time limit and work until you’re reached your capacity.  For weight machines, a similar practice will help you do your sets, keep to your routine, but move on to the next machine when done so others can continue their workouts.  To keep things moving, it may be as much about flexibility as it is about your set rep total and common courtesy for your fellow workout king.

Can I Get Some Cardio with That?

Sometimes we can become so focused on weightlifting, we forget to add a proper cardio regimen – Or are too tired too.  Cardio can be anything we want it to be…  A jog around the park, a walk, cycling classes at the gym, dance, swimming, or sports such as basketball, tennis, or soccer.  Here are three reasons to add a cardio slant to your overall workout, as it benefits not only your mind, but also your body…

Improved heart health – One of the main parts of your body that will benefit from a cardiovascular routine is your heart.  Experts – namely the American College of Sports Medicine, among others – say that most people should work at about 55 to 65 percent of their maximum heart rate during their workouts.  And they should operate at this level for a good 20 minutes to an hour at least three times a week to see the effects.  To find your target heart rate, one must take 220 minus your current age and then multiply this number by .55 or .65 to find your target rate for the 55-65% range of your maximum heart rate.

Cuts down recovery time – For bodybuilders and novice weightlifters alike, a cardio regimen can actually help to cut down recovery and repair time for your muscles.  The cardio that is necessary to receive these effects tend to be moderately paced, less intensive forms of exercise, such as a short jog on the treadmill or light elliptical work following an intense weightlifting session.  In essence, this will bring more oxygen rich blood to the muscle tissue and help you to rebuild, reinvigorate, and repair much more quickly than if you’d just done weightlifting by itself. 

Increases metabolism – High intensity cardio can help the user to get to an “anaerobic zone” of training.  What this does is it will create what’s known as oxygen debt.  Your body will then work hard to increase oxygen intake after the workout is complete in order to restore the proper oxygen levels to the body.  Thus, the stronger your cardio workout session, the more oxygen your body will use.  Eventually, your cardiovascular system will improve, and along with it, your metabolism rate will increase in order to help sustain it for the long haul. 

The Age Old Question: Neoprene or Leather?

Weightlifters have been pondering over the question of whether to choose Neoprene or leather gloves since the beginning of time…  Well, not that long, but you get the point.  Here are three reasons for you to ditch the smelly, hot, and uncomfortable leather gloves and head over to the more comfortable Gripad side of things…

Leather stinks – Here are your options with leather workout gloves that maybe smell so bad you have to replace them every 6 months just to keep people from dying around you in the gym…  Soak them in vinegar and detergent, which will unfortunately bleed them of their color.  Try an Oxi-Clean – or bleach – bath for your leather gloves.  Or spray them with athlete’s foot spray or wash in a mixture of water and baking soda…  Or an easier answer: Just buy Gripad’s Neoprene weightlifting gloves and you won’t have to worry about any of this extra hassle.

Leather makes hands hot and sweaty – Many leather gloves work as a confinement apparatus to your hands.  In doing so, they can bunch up and provide your hands with a fit that isn’t ideal.  Your hands will sweat and become hot and at the end of the workout you may need the help of the largest bodybuilder in the room in order just to pry those suckers off.  The Gripad Neoprene infused gloves, on the other hand, will effectively wick away sweat, cut down on odor, and allow for you to keep the strongest of grips. 

Leather gloves break down – Many users have complained about having to spend a fortune on new gloves every time their old leather variety breaks down.  For many using leather gloves, the stitching where the mesh part of the glove intersects with the leather gets loose upon repeated uses.  Many of the cheaper leather gloves wear-through where there isn’t enough padding, leaving you with a useless and incapacitated piece of leather that is soon for the dump.  So why don’t you try a glove that will be with you for the long haul and will actually push you to be better..?  It will allow you to lift more weight, increase your reps, and get you bigger, stronger, faster in less time. That’s what Gripad weight lifting grips are there for and that is why many people are coming to find out that the Gripad workout gloves are the best weightlifting gloves in the world.

Glowing Gripad Reviews for Men’s and Women’s Workout Gloves

The reviews are in…  The Gripad weightlifting gloves are a unique and inventive twist to the age old weightlifting glove.  They provide the grip you need, the sweat protection you desire, and the comfort level that will allow you to push harder – and longer – in your workouts.  But don’t take our word for it…  Here are two reviews that help to illustrate why Gripad just may be the best – and most affordable – weightlifting gloves in the world!

FitJerk – FitJerk is an unapologetic fitness site full of reviews, tips, and the like from a fitness professional who says what he wants, when he wants.  And this is why his review of the Gripad gloves is so sweet…  He’s giving a positive review and you know there is no sugar coating going on.  The fitness blogger states the Gripad gloves do an excellent job of preventing odors and preventing wet hands during the workouts.  The workout glove gives the user a perfect grip on bars and weights, and in doing so, allows the user to push past their lifting limits and even add weight to their regular routine.  FitJerk writes that there are literally thousands of weightlifting exercises for which the Gripad weightlifting gloves are perfect.  To check out FitJerk’s review, click here. 

Your Happy Hearts – Your Happy Hearts is a blog for women’s health.  Blogger Angie Christine writes from a perspective of someone who had hit rock bottom, but found relief in exercise and eating right.  Angie had an opportunity to take the Gripad women’s weightlifting gloves for a spin and she found them to provide breathing room for her hands, extra movement, and a strong grip, among many other positive attributes.  Mrs. Christine explains in her review that the comfort level while doing such exercises as the bench press, barbell curl, push-up, and pull-up is extremely high.  On her machine cycle, she found that the Gripad weight lifting gloves worked well, and come to find out, weren’t just for free weights.  She rounds out her review with a discussion of her friend’s thoughts on the gloves – Her friend loved the Gripads more than even Angie.  In the end, both women decided to continue to use the Gripad gym grips in their workouts. 

Best Natural Weightlifting Supplements

There are many different supplements out there…  From the untested to the outright illegal that can do more harm than good.  Let’s focus on three simple supplements that are natural, effective, and safe to use – And can help to build muscle and keep you healthy as you do so.

Creatine – Creatine is a nitrogenous organic acid that is found in the muscle tissue of vertebrates and which supplies much needed energy to muscles.  It can also be found in small doses in meats and fish.  What Creatine as a supplement does, it provides the user with a verified boost in performance for the short term weightlifting and provides faster muscle growth for the long term.  According to most medical experts, Creatine has little or no short term health risks associated with it.  Now, that’s not to say there are no possible long term effects, as they have not been adequately studied.  But for the most part, when taken in regular doses and to specific guidelines, Creatine can be a safe alternative to some of the other supplements out there.  A regimen of 20 to 25 grams per day is what’s called for in the loading phase, as you start in five gram increments.  The loading phase lasts for five to seven days and then the maintenance phase begins, with three to five grams per day for a set number of weeks.  For further safety concerns, go to the Mayo Clinic site to get all your Creatine questions answered.

Protein – Protein is one of the most effective natural weightlifting supplements available.  It can be found in foods such as beef, soy, cottage cheese, eggs, fish, milk, chicken breast, and tuna, as well as whey protein shakes popular with weightlifters.  Protein is essential to both the growth and repair of tissue and is a necessary component in building muscle.  To get enough protein in your day – in many cases – taking in a 30 to 50 gram protein shake immediately after a hard weightlifting session will be enough to foster proper muscle growth and synthesis.

Multivitamin – Weightlifters are usually too busy lifting and consuming the right amount of calories per day to stop and figure out how many vitamins and nutrients that are actually getting per day.  By taking a multivitamin, the pill can act as a sort of insurance policy to make sure the individual is actually getting each and every nutrient their body craves in order to live a healthy life and effectively build muscle mass, even after your workouts are done. 

Proper and Improper Weightlifting Techniques

We know about the injuries, the tears, the sprains, the breaks.  We know about all that.  Weightlifting can be a task that pushes us to our limits.  But we do it for the health benefits, the way it makes us look and feel, as well as the challenge it presents.  For those of you out there who are new to the sport, or are just starting to find out the benefits of weight training, here are three simple solutions to potential pitfalls you may face during your workout…

Lower the weight – Experts agree that one should start with a weight amount that they could comfortably lift 12 to 15 times.  In terms of proper sequence of events, the weights should be done in a way that moves from larger muscle groups to smaller ones – The most demanding exercises are done when you are still at your best, at your peak.  Don’t rush either…  Take the exercise slow, which will allow you to focus on the muscles you actually want to work.  As well, no matter what the weight you are actually lifting, don’t overdo it.  If you are in pain, stop, take a break, and come back another day to conquer the lift.

Use proper form – Exercise through a full range of motion.  In doing so, you will strengthen the agonist muscles – which are muscles that cross over the skeletal system and joints and cause movement to occur through its own contraction – such as the biceps during the curl.   As you can’t have one without the other, the antagonist muscles – muscles that act in opposition to the movement and thus return the limb back to its starting position – are stretched effectively by a full range of motion during weightlifting.  For example, the triceps would be the antagonist to the biceps during your curls.  This full range of motion in your lifting session will help to enhance muscle building and overall joint flexibility.

Breathe – Breathe out during the lift, and in as the weight comes back down.  If you hold your breath, you may actually be increasing your blood pressure to dangerous levels.  So remember, breathe.  And everything will be alright.  We promise.

Proper Pre- and Post- Workout Nutrition

Come to find out some of the most important meals of the day involve what you put into your body before and after your workout…  So for those looking to both power themselves successfully through a workout and build muscle before, during, and after, we have some helpful tips for you…

For the pre-workout portion, look to consume foods that are low in both fat and fiber, but also aren’t incredibly glycemic – The Glycemic Index ranks carbohydrates as they pertain to effects on blood glucose levels.  So, if you’re taking in a high glycemic food source prior to your workout, you may get a jolt of insulin, unfortunately followed by a mood and energy crash as the effects wear off.  A low GI carb – such as breads with whole grains, fruit and vegetables, pasta, oats, barley, and bran – will produce only a small change in blood glucose, but will give you the energy you need to attack those weights.  So, the pre-workout (small) meal should focus squarely on complex carbohydrates and protein intake.  A proper timetable for this would be 60-90 minutes prior to the start of your exercise.  This will give you time to digest the fuel properly and provide that energy boost for your upcoming workout session.  

If the pre-workout is the second most important meal of the day, the post-workout meal is numero uno.  The meal should be eaten as soon as possible after the workout – ideally only 30 minutes after exertion, with 90 minutes being the closing of your window on nutrition that will still help to build muscle.  You will focus on both carbohydrates and protein, while staying away from food containing fat, as it effectively slows down digestion of the aforementioned carbs and protein.   What you want is speed in this process – You want the food digested quickly, thus transporting the necessary nutrients to where they need to go.  Items such as whey protein shakes, as well as high glycemic carbs – they’re okay after the workout, just not before – like potatoes or white rice will fit the bill.  It is important that the body receives these nutrients to their glycogen starved muscles as quickly as possible, which will jumpstart the all-important muscle rebuilding process.  This will allow you to get bigger and stronger, faster. 

Why Gripads are the Best Weightlifting Gloves for CrossFit Training

CrossFit training takes gymnastics, weightlifting, rope climbing, running, and all manner of sports, and combines them together into one all encompassing carve-your-body-out-of-stone regimen of an ever changing fitness routine hand crafted for each particular user.  To fully experience everything the CrossFit training program has to offer, adherents will need access to an Olympic weight set, gymnastic rings, plyometric boxes (or jump boxes), medicine balls, dumbbells, kettle bells, climbing rope, Concept II Rowers, and Gymnastics parallettes, which are similar to push-up bars or dip bars.

These workouts aren’t going to be your run of the mill gym exercises – The CrossFit program will be about as demanding as you have ever seen and has been known to test the will and endurance of some of the world’s most renowned athletes.  So – you ask yourself – how can you get the most out of this rigorous and taxing training without suffering injury or early defeat..?  And the answer:  Use the Gripad weightlifting glove to save your hands, your body, and your mind as you embark on maybe the toughest training you will ever endure…  Period.

You’re going to be sweating…  A lot.  There’s no getting around that.  And for a good portion of the workouts, you’re going to be lifting weights and other odd shaped extremely heavy objects.  With Gripads Neoprene layer of protection built into every workout glove, the sweat will be wicked away and your grip will stay perfect – Every time.  Your hands will stay dry and your grip won’t slip…  Ever. 

These types of weights, bars, and objects you’ll be dealing with may not be all that hand-friendly.  And by that, we mean, you may be facing blisters, calluses, and sore hands from the get-go – The type of activities in CrossFit training will all but assure you of that.  So you need some kind of glove to protect those hands of yours.  With Gripads weightlifting grips, there are no worries.  It’s not a big, bulky gym grip that is going to interfere with your workout.  It covers the palm of the hand and provides protection against wear and tear, while still giving you the grip you need to accomplish even the toughest of tasks. 

With an exercise regimen this intense, you need the best weightlifting gloves around to protect you – And Gripad’s got you covered.  With your hands protected, you can focus on what’s important – Carving your body into stone, being physically and emotionally fit, and most important, being healthy. 

What Comes First..? Weightlifting or Cardio?

Glycogen is a polysaccharide that is the main carbohydrate storage in people and animals.  It is found mostly in liver and muscle tissue and what it does is convert glucose (sugars) into energy for our bodies.  By following a regiment of strength training, followed by a serious session of cardiovascular exercise, the body uses the aforementioned glycogen as a fuel source.  So a 30 minute strength training workout effectively attacks the sugar stores in your body, thus preparing the cardio process to hit the remaining fat stores. 

With the sugars effectively curtailed in your body – you go straight to the source, which are the fat stores.  The strength training knocks down the glycogen levels in your muscles and the cardio comes in and uses the fat as your new energy source.  This will trim and increase the leanness of your body, while also providing the necessary steps to build “lean” muscle mass while at the same time increasing metabolic rate – Thus, you will burn more calories throughout the day when working on weights first, and following that up with your cardio burn.

On the other hand, if one is trying to solely build muscle mass, the body may use too much protein with a helping of cardio after the strength training.  For weightlifters, a repair and rebuild mode may be the best, with a meal – instead of cardio – following your weightlifting session.  For a person looking to build muscle, a light cardio workout would be better before lifting in an effort to get bigger and stronger.

Different experts have differing opinions on what is the actual proper routine.  Many will recommend weightlifting one day, followed by cardio the next.  Or they will tell their clients to break up the different exercise methods, one in the morning, and one at night.  For many busy people, though, this just isn’t feasible.  Still other experts will offer a different starting point each day – whether it be cardio or weightlifting – with the variety helping to fuel them through their respective workouts.  In the end, what it comes down to is what you want out of your workout and the effort you’re willing to put in to get those results.  For big muscle, try light cardio followed by strength training.  For those looking to cut fat and get leaner, try weightlifting followed by an intense brand of cardio exercise. 

Why Women Need to Use Workout Gloves

GRIPAD offers both men and women’s workout gloves for the casual gym attendee to the fitness guru looking to add a few more pounds of muscle to their already stacked frame.  And just like men, women need to protect their hands and body while working out.  So here are three reasons women need GRIPAD gym grips just as much as men do…

Allow you to lift heavier weights and do more reps – GRIPAD women’s weight lifting gloves allow the user a firmer grip and a lessening of pressure on the wrists due to the padded nature of the glove.  Women who use gloves can work out longer, do more reps without feeling tired, and can generally lift more weight by comparison.  When the workout is done and the results are showing, it will be nice to still have the feminine, untouched hands from before you ever picked up a dumbbell.  With GRIPAD lifting grips, this is not only a possibility – It’s a reality.

The GRIPAD gloves can be used in activities other than weightlifting – Weightlifting gloves aren’t necessarily just for weightlifting.  They can be used for elliptical work, Pilates, rowing, yoga, spinning, and much, much more.  And with other gloves – such as those made of leather – you can’t wash them due to shrinkage, leaving a smell and odor that doesn’t come off after your workout.   With the GRIPAD gloves, they effectively wick away sweat and keep moisture away from your hand.  They are much better than leather – Not only for weightlifting exercises, but for cardiovascular work as well.

Protect your hands from forming calluses – The weights at the gym can be taxing on anyone’s hands.  With the chrome and iron dumbbells available at many gyms – as well as the ridged weight bars for the bench press and any number of other exercises – the same thing that helps you get a grip will also cut into your hands and cause irritation to the skin.  Women’s hands are usually more susceptible to sore hands, blisters, and calluses than their male counterparts.  With one million nerve bundles in your hand – and after one round with the GRIPAD gym grips shielding you from pain and discomfort – you might never go back to bare-handed weight lifting again.