Get A Grip!
A Guide to choosing the best Grip Aid for your Pole and Aerial Training
There’s nothing worse than the feeling that you’re about to fall. Whether it’s 5 minutes into class and your palms are pouring with sweat, or you’re at the end of an intense session and your fingers are fatigued. The solution… enter grip aid!
So what is grip aid?
It comes in many different shapes and sizes from balls of chalk and dry rosin to liquid chalk and rosin sprays. Grip aid can be a controversial subject among the pole and aerial community, so we put together this short guide to choosing and using grip in our studio.
Choosing your grip aid
Which grip aid you like can be a really personal preference, and it often depends on how sweaty your hands get, but choosing the right product for the discipline is equally important.
For Hoop, Trapeze and weightlifting: chalk is my go to. It dries out sweaty hands and gives me confidence that I’m not going to slip out of a move due to sweaty palms. If a Hoop or Trapeze is freshly taped, chalk can also help dry out any sticky residue on the bar. Because dry chalk is messy and leaves residue behind pretty much everywhere you use it, we recommend using a liquid based chalk in the gym.
If you’re looking for more ‘stick’ on the bar then a rosin grip spray is fine to use in these disciplines too.
For Silks, Rope & Hammock: for these disciplines chalk is too abrasive and can damage the Silks fabric, so I recommend a rosin based spray like our own Grippy AF.
Rosin sprays help you grip by making your hands more sticky. Rosin can be harder to wash off than liquid chalk though so use sparingly as you don’t need a lot.For Pole: it very much depends on a variety of factors. Studio humid and clammy? I go chalk all the way. Trying a new trick where I need a body part pretty much glued to the pole? I’ll take the Rosin please!
Should I use it? Isn’t that cheating?
Olympic gymnasts and champion rock climbers use chalk… So if it’s fine for elite athletes to use in competitions, then why would you want to restrict yourself from using a tool which is helpful?
ALT co-owner Caitlin likes to refer to her grip spray as ‘liquid confidence’! As sometimes the act of putting on grip can make us feel that much more mentally prepared to push ourselves to get into a trick that has been challenging us.
Yes we want our muscles to provide the core of a strong grip, but this is something that will develop over time and you’ll eventually notice your hands and skin getting stronger (hello callouses!). And while your grip stamina may improve with regular training, sweat will always be a factor in any type of exercise class, so please don’t feel bad for using it if you need to.
Gloves off
One grip ‘aid’ that we don’t really recommend using are gloves. They prevent your skin from building up those natural callouses during training and can also create more accidents as slips and rips can occur.
Studio etiquette
We encourage our members to use grip if they like, but make sure you follow our studio etiquette when doing so.
If you’re unsure- check! If you have a product which you’re not sure if it’s suitable for use in the studio, or on a particular piece of equipment ask one of your instructors as they will be happy to advise.
Borrowing a friend’s grip? Offer to lend them some next time and don’t be the guy that always shows up to class looking to borrow grip.
Sharing a Pole? Ask the person you’re sharing with if they mind you using grip (especially if it’s a particularly sticky one).
Clean Up Afterwards: After class, clean your Pole so that the grip is removed for the next user. If the regular cleaning sprays don’t shift the residue left behind, then speak to your instructor and they can grab something stronger. (Alcohol based cleaning products are normally required to shift rosin based grip from the poles). Similarly if you’ve used chalk and there is a halo of white crumbs around your Pole or mat, be courteous to the next class and wipe your debris away.