Best CrossFit Gloves: Protect Your Hands and Train Harder

Looking for the best workout gloves for CrossFit?

In this Athletic Muscle guide, I’ll be covering:

  • What are the different types of workout gloves?
  • What should you look for when buying workout gloves that are best for crossfit?
  • What are the benefits of training with these workout gloves?
  • And my top 5 workout gloves for crossfit.

Click here to skip to our top pick

best gloves for crossfit review
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Mechanix Original Gloves
  • Designed for CrossFit
  • Two-Way Stretch Spandex Material
  • Durable against all lifting gear
View on Rogue Fitness

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Mechanix Original for Women
  • Same as Men’s Gloves
  • Made in Women’s Sizes
View on Rogue Fitness

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GloFit Freedom Workout Gloves
  • Double Layer Palm
  • Anti-Slip
  • Lifetime Warranty!
View on Amazon

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Boburacn Workout Gloves
  • Wrist Support
  • Terry Cloth Back
  • Non-Slip
View on Amazon

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Atercel Workout Gloves
  • Lightweight and Flexible Material
  • Innovative Palm Design
  • Towel Back
View on Amazon

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Day Wolf Full Finger Workout Gloves
  • Palm Protection
  • Silicone Gel Palm
  • Breathability
View on Amazon

Overall #1 Pick

Mechanix Original Gloves for Men & Women

  • Specially designed for CrossFit
  • Synthetic Leather for snug fit and easy movement
  • Durable against rugged equipment
Best CrossFit Gloves

Mechanix is a name synonymous with high quality work gloves. In recent times Mechanix have brought their expertise to bear on the functional fitness market, to the benefit of Cross-Fitters around the globe. The Rogue is a full fingered glove that is proving very popular among Cross-Fitters.

The synthetic leather palm to fingertips provides for a snug fit and a tight grip on pretty much any barbell, dumbbell, or a pull up bar. This material also does not restrict any type of flexing, which is a must have for any high quality CrossFit gloves.

The inner material has been tested by various CrossFitters by sliding down a rope several times. Each time they have come through the test with no wear and tear whatsoever. The material did not pinch, or stretch and no burn marks were left on the user’s hands.

The material also somehow soaks up sweat like a sponge in case you want to use these with your jump ropes doing double-unders.

The spandex with thermal plastic rubber hook and loop cuff closure provide for a really snug fit.

These gloves feature a velcro strap which is uniquely situated on the palm side of the hand. This is a great innovation for CrossFitters. Traditional gloves are prone to coming apart when you are performing such moves as handstands.

These gloves look simple but have a very well thought out design. The snug fit also make them good for other activities like going for a warm up jog in cold weather.

Unfortunately for men they only come in one color, but Rogue Fitness carries two different colors for the women’s version. There is really no difference between the Men’s and the Women’s version except the sizes. So if you have smaller hands, you can go with the black Women’s version also.

Top 5 Best CrossFit Gloves

Check out our below list for a summary of our results. Keep on reading to learn more about your CrossFit Gloves options!

  1. Mechanix Original Gloves for Men
  2. Mechanix Original Gloves for Women
  3. GloFit Freedom Workout Gloves
  4. Boburacn Workout Gloves
  5. Atercel Workout Gloves
  6. Day Wolf Full Finger Workout Gloves

Welcome to another installment of Athletic Muscle’s Best Of series. This time around we’ll be answering your question “What are the best gloves for crossfitters?”

We’ll touch on what are CrossFit gloves, should you even worry about wearing gloves for a CrossFit workout, what are the different kinds of gym gloves, and so on. We’ll even answer the question “are hand grips and gloves the same thing?”. The answer! No… but we’ll cover what those are in a different article.

So enough talking and let’s get our hands dirty with the topic already.

Read Also: What are the best hand grips for Crossfit?

What Are Crossfit Gloves?

Crossfit gloves are a workout glove that covers your entire hand or most of your hand, sometimes leaving your fingers exposed (fingerless gloves). These workout gloves offer protection for your palm and fingers if you go the full glove route, from abrasions and overall wear and tear on your skin.

They do so by keeping the barbell, kettlebell, dumbbell, and especially the pull-up bar from rubbing against your skin.

If you’ve been doing Crossfit even for just a week, you know that the skin of your hands get tender, sore, or may have even ripped a little due to the gripping the pull-up bar.

Should You Wear Gloves during workouts?

The Pros of Crossfit Gloves

Improved Grip: When you’re training hard, sweat will be dripping from your body. This can make your palms slippery, which makes it difficult to sustain your grip on the bar or dumbbell handle. This is especially a problem when it comes to maintaining your grip on such movements as pull ups. Gloves allow you to maintain a secure grip. The palm area of the glove is constructed of a thick leathery material to allow you to hold stronger for longer.

More Comfortable: Gloves make the experience of holding a bar more pleasurable. Gripping cold steel first thing on a frosty morning and enduring calluses and cuts all over your hands will do nothing to either build muscle or embolden your manliness. You don’t have to prove anything by not wearing gloves. And let’s face it; the more comfortable an activity is, the more likely we will be to keep doing it.

Depending upon the particular brand of glove that you purchase, you may get considerable wrist support with the comfort that comes with your gloves. Anyone who is a regular lifter of weights will inevitably have a degree of wrist irritation. When you perform overhead lifts such as snatches, clean and jerks where you have pronated palms, this will be especially the case. The positioning of your hands on the bar, forces your wrists back in an unnatural position. This will cause the wrist to hurt more and more. The right gloves can allow you to lift longer now, and enjoy a longer lifting life for years to come.

The Cons of Crossfit Gloves

Gloves can actually make it more difficult to grip some bars. Some bars are thicker than others. Clearly the thicker the bar, the harder it is to grip the bar. Workout gloves add an extra layer of padding, essentially making the bar thicker. If the bar is especially thick to start with, gloves may actually make the job harder.

You can become reliant on gloves. However, there will be a day when you find yourself in a gym without your gloves. If you are dependent upon them, this can put a psychological barrier in front of your workout.

You would be forgiven for thinking that gloves prevent calluses. The reality is that they actually make the situation worse. Gloves have the potential for creating extra friction in the hand. And friction is the underlying cause of calluses.

Some gloves offer additional padding on the palm area. Not always great. This makes the bar thicker making your once strong grip weak. Your forearms will fatigue much faster causing which is the exact opposite of what they’re intended for.

In addition, in the real world when you are lifting heavy stuff you are probably not going to be wearing gloves, right? So, not wearing them in the gym is actually providing you with more functional training.

Clearly there are arguments for both sides when it comes to workout gloves. It really comes down to personal preference. If you are unsure which way to go, the best thing to do would be to try a pair. Train with gloves for 1-2 weeks. Then go for another 1-2 weeks without them. You’ll soon discover what works best for you.

What Are The Different Types of Crossfit Gloves?

There are essentially two kinds of gloves either fingers or no fingers. It comes down to how tough you wanna look. Kidding. Maybe.

Fingerless Gloves:

Fingerless gloves are what they sound like. The gloves don’t close around the end of the fingers. Typically, the fingers are exposed from the first knuckle.

There are some minor benefits to a fingerless glove though. They allow for airflow, allowing your hands to air dry. That way your hands won’t be sitting a wet glove for the entirety of your workout.

There is a minor drawback to having a fingerless glove, that really only arises during workouts involving ropes. Your fingers will be exposed to the fiber of the rope.

Not the end of the world, unless you slide down the rope and get a wicked rope burn. Luckily most WoDs won’t involve climbing a rope unless you find yourself in a sanctioned event. Or maybe showing off to your gym bae.

Fingered Gloves:

Now we’re on to fingered gloves. I’m sure your deductive skills have kicked in, but in case they haven’t I’ll break it down. They’re closed gloves, your hand and fingers are entirely protected from the outside forces.

The only true benefit they have over fingerless gloves is the full hand protection. So, if you find yourself and the top of a rope climb and need to slide down the rope like Rich Froning from the 2010 Crossfit Games; your hands will be unscathed. But that’ll be it.

The drawback of the full glove? No airflow and sweaty palms. Only a deal breaker if you find it unbearable to be the least bit sweaty.

Now there a few variations with these gloves, but both kinds of gloves can have these features. So we’ll tackle that topic in the next section. Read On.

What Do You Look For When Buying The Best Workout Gloves for CrossFit?

It’s 2020 and we’re truly blessed with all the high tech, new age, sophisticated, just plain futuristic Crossfit gear we have available. But at a cost.

There are just so many materials and features that make up a high-quality pair of gloves. What makes the best glove for you? Take these three areas into consideration so you’ll fall in love with your next pair of gloves.

Grip:

Many of the gloves have silicone padding or dots on the palm of the glove. Silicone adds a sticky like quality to the glove for an increased grip by increasing friction between your hand and the bar.

The benefit of this increased friction is to save your grip. You won’t have to squeeze as hard to maintain the same level of grip as you would if you were barehanded.

Some gloves have a suede (or another leather variant) palm, this offers a similar benefit as the silicone, but there is a downside.

With a leather palm, the breathability is cut drastically. On the other hand, silicone can be added to any material, one more breathable. But after repeated use, both materials will wear.

workout gloves did you know

Padding:

The majority of the gloves out there offer some kind of padding. Padding is good by putting distance between the bar and your hand.

Padding decreases the amount of friction on your hand. Why should you care?

Increased friction on the skin of your hand can lead to calluses. Now, calluses are pretty much harmless, but they can pinch and even tear once they get too big.

It’s a buzzkill to tear a callus on the first set of pull-ups in a WoD. Not only that, but it can affect your workouts for a few days. The padding of the glove can help prevent calluses.

But you know what they say about too much of a good thing? I hope so. Too much padding will actually hinder your grip.

Having too much padding between your hand and the bar will fatigue your grip quickly. Leaving you hanging by your fingertips. Essentially making you workout with a thicker bar, making that tacky silicone lining of your gloves pointless.

It’s best to leave your heavily padded gloves for a burpee WoD.

Material:

We’ve already touched on this topic briefly, but now it’s time for a deeper look into the realm of the material your gym gloves. Many of the gloves are made from a combination of different materials, both synthetic and natural.

The material that the palm area is constructed from is important. You should select a glove with a leather palm, as it will provide you with the best quality of grip.

Leather gloves also do the best job of reducing friction in the palm, helping to alleviate calluses. Second to leather is neoprene. Neoprene is a synthetic material that is very durable but also extremely breathable. Nylon gloves just don’t cut it.

Another material, Lycra, is used in many sports performance gear due to how well it fits the wearer. It has enhanced breathability helping to keep your hands dry. Suede on the other hand, helps your palm increase the strength of your grip and is a tougher material when compared to synthetics.

While neoprene and lycra may be great materials to make cross-training gloves out of, you should also consider the features built into your gloves. Gloves that are fitted with neoprene inserts that can absorb the sweat and are a good investment.

For instance, the GloFit freedom workout gloves have a soft towel back sewn into the back of the thumb, allowing you to wipe away sweat effectively. I don’t know about you, but I find sweat running down from my forehead into my eyes just as bad as sweaty hands.

Make sure that your glove has a Velcro strap that will enable you to securely hold the glove in place. The glove should fit deeply enough that the Velcro goes over the wrist. If it doesn’t, the glove may still be prone to slipping.

There is a wide variation in pricing when it comes to workout gloves. As with most things, it is always the best policy to pay a little extra to get the quality that will give you the result that you need.

Conlcusion

Whether you decide to use gloves in your next Crossfit wod or not, does not indicate what type of a man you are. Simply put, gloves are a tool to help you get the most out of your training and can help prevent tearing your hands. Whichever route you decide to go, TRAIN HARD!