Sweat Management

Sweat Management
Written by Hunter Britt

Many of us have had the pleasure of enjoying Coach CJ’s 30-minute EMOMs. There are some athletes out there that seem to fare well against these workouts, but they are not just cruising through with no issues. There is a common obstacle that just about everyone runs into at some point during these workouts. You may have noticed that about halfway through, especially if you are in a gym full of people, sweat becomes a problem. The pull-up bars, rings, dumbbells, and maybe even your box is beginning to collect a small ocean of sweat and it begins to take a toll.

There are workouts, usually in competition, where you better hold on to whatever you are doing and suck it up – sweat and all. Other times, however, you have the opportunity to decide what works best for you to prevent any moisture from hindering your fitness progress.

Here are some options:

Wrist Wraps: They prevent sweat from sliding its way down to your hands and they will also give you some appreciated support to your wrists.

Sweat Bands: These serve nearly the same function as the wrist wraps without the added support. Even though they do not add support, they will help with sweat management. And sometimes, sweat bands are sold with a matching sweat band for your head as well.

Gymnastic Grips: Most of the time these are used for hand protection to avoid tearing. But, Coach Bryce brought to my attention that he uses them to keep not only his hands dry, but also the bar dry by putting a barrier between his skin and the bar. You have the option of leather or tape – both have their merits.

Dry Hand Towel: There is a disclaimer on this one – do not use a hand towel in the middle of a fast workout. A towel can turn into a worse choice than just leaving the sweat on your hands if you spend too much time drying them. This option is only ideal for that 30-minute EMOM with those built in breaks until the next minute. That is a great time to dry your hands and then apply the chalk as we all love so much.

Chalk: I am bringing this up last because chalk is fantastic, maybe even the best, but it is useless if you are trying to apply it to sweaty hands. Either it just will not go onto your hands, or you will end up with a pasty, mayonnaise-like substance that will just make things worse.

The last bit of advice for sweat management that I have is to find the cool spot in the gym. When you see the veteran of your current gym setting up their barbell next to the door or fan, it is most likely not just where they happened to put their stuff down. Scope the place out and set yourself up for success.