Kit Chat – Full Fingered Gloves

There is a huge variety of different kit out there in the fitness industry, in kit chat I want to give you some personal recommendations based on my experiences.

(Obviously, no incentives have been taken!)

For me, gloves with fingers are hugely important in my gym training, and I had to search high and low to find some that did the job.

Whether or not to wear gloves at all in the first place is an issue of debate in fitness circles, with different arguments being made on both sides.  I’m not going to get into those arguments here because the reason I wear gloves is nothing to do with performance and everything to do with the fact that most of the year in the gym not wearing gloves makes my training notably less pleasant!

Personally though, I suffer from a condition called Raynaud’s Phenomenon, which for me basically manifests in the fact that I have reduced blood flow in my hands and feet.  In practical terms it means if my hands get cold it is really difficult to get them warm again!

In the past, all of the gym gloves I could ever find were finger-less, which for me was meaning that the tips of my fingers became like little icicles, especially when touching cold metal bars.  I spent ages trying different full fingered gloves, mainly aimed at cyclists, but they were either too stiff and unyielding, or too flimsy.  Eventually, searching down through pages of Amazon listings, I came across these gloves by Bionic:

I took a chance and purchased a pair - and I love them!  Initially I was worried I had gone too tight on the sizing, but after a couple of uses they moulded to my hands and I’m glad I didn’t get a larger pair.

My first pair lasted a good couple of years of regular use, and although they are battered now I still keep them at home when I want to swing around a kettle bell in the training room.  My new pair are going strong in my gym bag, and worn every session i’m going to be moving something heavy around.

They are leather so I don’t wash them every workout, but they’ve been through the machine number of times and come out smelling of roses (or other fabric softener).

As a side bonus, even though they don’t mention this, I find I can use my iPhone touch screen while wearing them, useful if you want to skip that song on the playlist.

You can get a pair directly from Bionic, or from Amazon if you prefer.