I Said No Gloves

I'v been told I have the hands of a coal miner.  They are not my hands, they are my tools. To be honest this works in my favour. I spent the last 10 years in hotel management and culinary arts.  As a chef you are always on the look out for the most cutting edge technology to improve your technique.  Only now having left the kitchen and entered the gym - have I found the first class gizmo.

These hands are grating up blocks of cheese and dicing up onions like Gordon Ramsey on steroids.  Who needs fancy gadgets when you have kettlebell hands?

With these ravishing grasps comes the ominous question "Why don't you wear gloves?", "Have you tried wearing gloves?", "Why you being stupid, wear gloves?" I would love to just respond with "Because I'm hardcore like that"

Kettlebells have been around since the 17th century, you would think they would have thought of gloves by now.  The Russians are after all responsible for putting the first man in space.

Kettlebells are used to perform ballistic exercises, which means with constant movement the handle is shifting from your palms to your finger tips.  Unlike using a dumbbell, the kettlebell is constantly in motion and with the continual displacement of the handle, the skin on your hand is being annihilated.  Calluses and blisters are formed as its your body's way of protecting itself.  Using gloves only increases the wear of your hands, the kettlebell forces the glove to dig deeper into your palm and the seams cause more damage than the naked kettlebell.

If you are in fact really hardcore and a bit of a sadist at heart - then I would suggest you wear gloves.

Personally I'm no hero, I say no to gloves.

* Hand care is a whole other blog - stay tuned for updates!