Dust for Chalk

It's like that old Beastie Boys song, “I'm going far and dust is what I'm using.” Except we're saying “I'm slipping off the bar and dust is what I'm using.”

Pull ups are one of the most fundamental movements we can do in the gym and, along with any compound pulling movement, it should always have a place in our workout regimen. However, not every Joe, Jack and Nancy are carrying around a bag of lifting chalk with them to the gym. It's just not necessary all of the time. So what can be done for the times that the average Joe finds his or her self struggling to complete the last one or two sets of pull-ups due to sweaty, slippery palms? It's an age old question, although we didn't have to worry too much about it when we were pulling ourselves up on trees because the bark and wood itself provided ideal conditions for training ones grip and likely afforded the opportunity of never grabbing the exact same spot more than once (no slippery palms). This leads to variation in training and overall better results. We can easily carry this into the modern day by utilizing different grips on the pull up bar and different pull up bars and things to grab onto and hang from all together. Additionally, we can use things at our disposal to make sure that our failing point is, in fact, muscle fatigue. For example, you want to breathe deeply to make sure that you're not running out of oxygen before the end of a given exercise because your muscles aren't failing just your oxygen intake. The same goes for when you're doing a pull up. If your grip goes first then you're not at the point of musculature exhaustion and therefore you’re not at the point of maximal growth for your forearms, back and biceps; and really you’ll be missing the total body engagement that comes from going to failure. We have a solution for you.

Next time you're in the gym do yourself, the gym and other members a favor. When you find yourself starting to fail on pull-ups or rows for example find the dustiest place in the gym and run your hands over a nice eve surface, collecting the particles. You may often see basketball players do this. It’s a trick to wipe the bottom of their shoes to make sure they don't lose grip on the ball as well as keep the rubber dust free and grippy on their shoes. You can take the same trick into the gym and not only clean the gym but give yourself the sets and reps you deserve. You're already there, so make your efforts count.

A note when doing this is to wash your hands immediately afterwards in order to avoid contamination on your face or anything else you come into contact with because you're effectively cleaning with your hands. Give it a shot and until next time, make it a habit.