At WODANDGO, our mission is clear: to offer quality, durable and high-performance Xfit accessories to support athletes of all levels in their training. Specialists in the indispensable potholder since our creation, we design, study and test all potholders before they are released. From the choice of materials to the finish of the stitching, we leave nothing to chance.
Potholders made their appearance in Xfit as the sport evolved, particularly from 2010 onwards. In that year, the level of training went up a notch, and training for access to competitions became more demanding. Indeed, a growing number of increasingly complex gymnastics-inspired movements, such as toes-to-bar, kipping pull-ups and bar muscle-ups, had to be mastered. We’ll let you check out the videos of the games before 2010 – you’ll be amazed at just how far this sport has come in such a short space of time! To compensate for the injuries created by the friction of the bar on the skin, and for a better grip, athletes began to use classic gymnastics potholders in the image of gymnasts, often made of leather, and not always adapted to the demands of Xfit. Gradually, brands developed specific potholders for this sport with different materials, more adherent, more resistant, better adapted to movements and grip on different surfaces. (smooth, rough bars…)
First of all, potholders protect the hands from calluses, blisters and rubbing injuries during gymnastics exercises. Imagine if we had to do all the gymnastics moves that exist today without potholders… Taking into account the volume… A pure disaster for our little hands and forearms, few of which would be capable of it after all, let’s not lie.
What’s more, potholders improve performance, giving you a better grip on the bar for greater safety and strength. They reduce forearm fatigue and increase muscular endurance. They enable athletes to maintain a better rhythm during wods and avoid premature failure due to loss of grip!
A small point that we at WODANDGO feel is important, and which we recommend to all our customers: potholders offer a valuable aid, but should not replace a weak grip! It’s important to work on your “natural” grip in order to improve forearm and hand strength, increase your ability to hold the bar longer and prevent injuries caused by muscle weakness. There are a number of exercises recommended for this purpose, such as dead hangs (passive suspension on the bar), farmer’s carry with kuttlebells or dumbells, or pinch grip with plate. All right, we’ll do an article on the subject!
When it comes to choosing the right potholders, there are several criteria to consider: first, the gym bars you use during your workouts, then comfort, then materials, and finally, durability and maintenance. There are so many Xfit potholders on the market that it’s hard to know which are right for you.
The first important thing to remember when choosing your potholders is the bars in the box where you train. If the bars are rough and not smooth, choose carbon or suede potholders, as they have a better grip on these surfaces. A too-smooth material such as leather can result in insufficient grip and premature wear, whereas suede and carbon microfiber, known to be ultra-resistant, create ideal friction, especially when added to magnesia. Wodandgo currently offers two pairs of potholders for this type of bar: Carbongrip and Gymgrip. On the other hand, if the bars are smooth or even ultra-smooth and painted, then we advise you to turn to potholders with an outer coating of synthetic leather or rubber, which offer unrivalled grip on this type of bar, to be used without chalk to obtain the best grip that these two coatings offer. We offer two models for this type of bar: Powergrip and Blackgrip V2.
The comfort of our potholders depends on the inner lining, which at WODANDGO is made of microfiber. Microfiber is well known for its softness and sweat absorption, and for us, it’s the ideal material for the apple of your hand. Comfort also depends on the level of grip offered by your pair of potholders. In fact, the more grip a pair of potholders has, the greater the support of the strap on your wrists, so it’s a good idea to wear wrist sleeves underneath the straps to avoid them rubbing against your wrists. The fit of the wrist grips is also important for comfort: they shouldn’t be too tight around your wrists, and you should be able to turn them around easily in wod without having to loosen them!
The durability of potholders is directly linked to their care and the amount of gym use they receive. The more they are used, the sooner they will wear out. To maintain your potholders, it’s important to clean them regularly by hand with Marseille soap and a brush. Magnesia and/or dirt deposits (yes, the black you see on your potholders) dry out the materials and can cause premature wear to your pair. Don’t use a washing machine to clean your potholders, and let them air-dry.
It’s time to change your grips when the wear is too great and is affecting your performance. Signs of wear and tear, such as an outer coating that has almost disappeared from the grip, indicate that it’s time to replace your potholders.
In general, it’s easy to see that potholders have had their day, visually speaking. Potholders have a lifespan and are consumables. Their longevity will depend on a number of factors, such as the volume of gym they endure each week, the pull-up bars used, the chalk, the frequency of cleaning, but also on the position of your hands with the potholders on the bar, your weight and the extra use some people make of them for other movements to add grip like on the farmer’s carry.
In short, potholders have become an essential XFit accessory, not only to protect the hands but also to optimize performance in gymnastic movements. They are now widely adopted in boxing and competition, with increasingly high-performance models designed specifically to meet the ever-higher demands of this sport.
To give you an idea of the quality of our products, we prefer to let our customers who have tested and approved them speak for themselves, click!
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