The other day a client asked me what our thoughts were on lifting belts. And soon the conversation moved to the use of lifting straps, gloves and other gear people use when lifting. There are a number of different tools and gear used when we step inside the gym to train. If training means some light stretching and going for a run this doesn't require a lot of special gear or equipment. However for those that are into Olympic or powerlifting there may be more tools used. Below is a brief description of some of the more common things lifters may use as well as our take on them. Gloves, Chalk and StrapsWhen you see someone get to a certain level of strength in deadlifting you'll typically see them fail in a particular area. And this tends to be the grip. I remember a colleague sharing that the grip serves as a governor for the body. In other words when the body has reached it's capacity strength-wise the nervous sends a message to release the grip and we let go of the weight. This is to protect the body so we don't do harm. [caption id="attachment_5642" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The governor prevents the golf cart from going too fast downhill. Our hands serve as governors when we pick up heavy items. If the object is too heavy our grip releases. To get around a weak or slippery grip you'll see people use a variety of tools including gloves, chalk, straps and towels. And not a tool but a common method to get around a weak grip is alternate the hands when doing a deadlift. In this situation one hand would be overhand and one would be underhand. So what do we think of the use of each of these? Well if you've...