Weight Lifting Equipment
There are a few different types of weight lifting equipment that can greatly assist your efforts in the gym. Each has it's advantages and disadvantages, and you'll do well to consider your purchase before stocking up on every available piece of kit. It's entirely possible to train completely "raw" with simply your body and a barbell, and many lifters believe that's the only way to really lift.
That said, there are some useful pieces of equipment that can really add to your training. Some pieces really allow you to do things you wouldnt otherwise be able. Here's an overview.
The Dip Belt
The Dip Belt is a means of hanging weight from your hips while you perform movements such as dips or pullups. It wraps around your hips, and the weight attaches to a chain that hangs from the belt. This allows you to really progressively overload these movements, which are considered some of the most effective exercises for upper body strength and size. The alternative is hanging a dumbell between your legs, which is awkward at best and becomes very unwieldy once you start using some real weight. A dip belt is the best way to go for weighted pullups and chins.
The Weightlifting Belt
The point of the weightlifting belt is to provide stability to your torso during big full-body lifts like the squat and the deadlift. Use of lifting belts is somewhat controversial – for every advoocate, there is a lifter who maintains that weight lifting belts do more harm than good. Some say it protects the lower back during the big lifts, others say it's a crutch, leaving your lower back and core undeveloped and exposing you to injury by building strength in an unbalanced way.
Others take a middle-ground stance, saying that it's best used for maximum efforts on the squat and deadlift, but best not used in weekly training.
Gloves
The purpose of weightlifting gloves is two-fold – give you a better grip on barbells and dumbells, and protect your hands from calluses and damage. As for giving you a better grip, this is debatable – gloves actually make the diameter of the thing you're gripping larger, which means your forearms have to work harder to hold on. They certainly deliver on their second feature though – they do protect the hands. However, hands do naturally adapt to weight lifting, and if you're OK developing rough palms with calluses, your hands should see you through your training. They made need extra care and attention if you're regularly ripping off calluses with strongman-type exercises though, in which case gloves can keep you in the gym while your palms grow back (!).
Chalk
Chalk is used to decrease slipping on lifts with the hands, and it works very well for this. The only disadvantage, is that it gets everywhere, which might not go down so well in more mainstream gyms. Powerlifting, athletic and old-school bodybuilding gyms should have no problem, however.
Olympic Lifting Shoes
Now these are a brilliant piece of kit. Olympic lifting shoes only look like trainers in their form; their function couldnt be more different. They consist of sturdy reinforced material connected to a strong flat sole with a wooden heel. Wearing them feels like wearing moon boots, magnetically locked to the ground. They are fantastic for any big lift requiring a stable foundation – with lifting shoes you feel rock in your squats, cleans and presses and have a much more solid base from which to lift from. They helped me immensely in building high levels of strength in the back squat and press. For deadlifting, they are no less effective, however they do change the leverage making the lift more quad dominant, which depending on your goals may not be ideal.
Wraps and Straps
Wraps and straps are used to augment your grip during heavy lifts. They attach to your wrists, you wrap them several times over the barbell or bar you will be lifting, then you grip the bar over the wrapped strap. The increased friction means you can hold a lot more than with a raw grip. Again, this may be good and bad – if you use them for everything, your forearms may not get optimal stimulation for growth or strength.
For big lifts where your grip is holding you back though, such as deadlifts or even heavy chinups, straps can be a fantastic addition that keep you gaining whole-body strength without the small forearm muscles being the limiting factor.
