The Best Weightlifting Glove Alternative —Meet the Gym Skin

People who are serious about weightlifting, CrossFit, and fitness look so easy, but what they don’t show are the behind-the-scenes challenges, like injuries and the occurrence of calluses, bruises, and blisters. So they are continually on the lookout for products and services that would alleviate these obstacles to their performance. Some of these come in the form of devices that offer hand protection.

The best weightlifting/fitness glove alternative is the Gym Skin because it is lightweight and unobtrusive, yet 100% effective in banishing the customary skin, callus, and blister conditions prevalent in the field of weightlifting and gym life.

Read on to find out more about this useful product and how it can save your hands the next time you're at the gym.

What is the Gym Skin?

It is a minimalist pair of gloves that offer full-coverage protection against the debilitating effects of blisters and skin damage common during workout sessions.  

It safeguards the most vulnerable areas of the palm while leaving the fingers free to grasp weights and hold onto equipment. It ensures 100% dexterity with unrestricted movement for the fingers.  

Gym Skins are meant to be worn anytime you are participating in a fitness activity that could be abrasive to your hands.  Use them at the gym or any other fitness facility.  Of course, this includes your home gym or even your backyard.  In fact, they are so versatile they can be used outside of the gym when you are participating in various sports activities, like CrossFit, biking, water skiing, wakeboarding, jet skiing, paddling, rowing, and more.

The Gym Skin is just one product from an extensive line of functional, innovative solutions under STKR® Concepts, a registered trademark of BISS Product Development, based in Mooresville, North Carolina. 

The two other glove specific models in STKR’s glove series are the Tough Skin (for broader purposes like DIY projects, working in your yard, construction, etc.) and the Sport Skin, marketed to the broader outdoor sports that wreak havoc on your hands. For more information about STKR Concepts and their product line, visit their website or call them at 704-508-1031.

Specifications

Each order comes with one pair of Gym Skins with the left and right hand clearly marked on each glove. Sizes available are small/medium (model # 00183), large (model # 00184), and extra-large (model # 00185). The gloves are made of neoprene with a silicone grip. It covers the entire palm and has holes for the fingers.

Where to Buy

You can buy the Gym Skin online from the STKR website or Amazon, as well as in-store from STKR partner gyms.  If your local gym doesn’t offer Gym Skin, ask the manager at the gym to contact STKR and get them for you.  STKR offers great gym and retailer options.  

A pair costs $7.99 and they are very durable for the price.  A small price to pay to save your hands.  They can even be washed right alongside your other fitness clothing.  

Equivalent products are more expensive on Amazon. Steel Sweat’s gym gloves, for instance, cost $16 and ventilated weightlifting gloves from Fit Active Sports cost $18.  Not only are Gym Skins more cost-effective, but they are much more comfortable.

Gym Skin Benefits

The engineers at STKR train, work, and play hard so they know what people in the sports and fitness industries need. They developed the Gym Skin to improve performance. This innovative product helps people who indulge in demanding workouts, weightlifting, playing tennis, or any other activity where blisters can slow them down. These are its advantages:

Hand Protection 

With Gym Skins, you can work out longer and harder, knowing you are protected against blisters, calluses, and bruises that form during workouts. They’re like armor for the most vulnerable areas on the palm, as well as the saddle area between the index finger and thumb. 

Pressure Reduction

The gloves reduce pressure from handling sporting equipment, lifting weights, and exercise activities. Although the material is super thin, there is just enough cushioning effect to make grabbing weights and fitness equipment comfortable.  

Durable Structure

STKR engineers researched, designed, and tested Gym Skins. They created a sturdy construction that slips easily over the hand, meant to minimize the intense friction, rubbing, and generation of heat and moisture associated with weightlifting and using sports equipment. They developed Gyms Skins for performance and reliability even in tough environments.

Lightweight Composition

The Gym Skin’s ultra-thin, yet strong, protective layer covers the whole palm. Its breathable neoprene stretch-to-fit material conforms to the user’s hand. Unlike a traditional pair of gloves, it does not retain heat or moisture.

Gym Skins weigh about .5 oz a pair, yet are capable of defending against the extensive rubbing and friction that cause blisters. Use them without gloves, but if you need extra protection, wear them under heavy-duty gloves for maximum comfort and safety.

Odorless

Gym Skins don’t generate strange smells over time, unlike regular gloves.

Reviews from Actual Users

Owners of the Gym Skin have raved about it. These are just some of their positive comments:

• They’re great for the rowing machine.

• Allissa claims that they’re great for weights not rubbing on your hands. The aggressive texture on some free weights would callus her hands.  Great protection if you’re doing high-impact exercise, cross-training, or attending a boot camp.  She claims she no longer has “man hands!”.

• They’re great for blister prevention. One gym owner says he uses Gym Skins for pullups and rope exercises and has passed them out to his best customers.  Having the Gym Skins keeps his customers in his gym getting exercise more often.  Before Gym Skins it wasn’t uncommon for a customer to miss a week or two due to “ripped hands”.  Now they don’t need to miss out on their fitness goals due to recovery.  

• Another thought the palm would be a bit stickier for pull-ups, but the product definitely helped prevent some tearing.

• Eve gives Gym Skins away as presents and claims all recipients love them.

• Rachel bought them when she started getting calluses on her hands from weight training. She loves them for heavy deadlifting.

• Madonna uses them to prevent skin damage: “They keep my palms from developing rough spots and calluses.” She initially thought they felt a little thin but was surprised that they hold up well during her long workout sessions. She said they were better than she thought they’d be: “I’m happy with them.” She uses them for every workout.

• Karen, who has a cyst on the palm of her hand, appreciates the fact that they are lightweight and not obtrusive. They help her hold a tennis racket despite her affliction. She finds them easy to use.

• Susan actually benefits from Gym Skin for her daily use.  She finds them very useful for her wheelchair. They don’t take up much room in her bag so she takes them everywhere she goes. She likes that “they do their job as advertised.”

• One customer uses them for CrossFit. She finds that, after her workouts, her hands are much less sore than usual. For some reason, she ended up with large Gym Skins but found that despite her hands being of medium size, the gloves fit her well and stayed in place.

• Anna and her spouse confirmed that their Gym Skin did the job, but advised would-be buyers to “watch the sizes.” They bought only one medium-sized pair (for sharing between them) but later regretted their size choice, as Anna’s husband discovered he would have been better off with an LG pair. Luckily the low cost allowed them to get a pair for each.  Her husband now has a pair of his own.  His wore out quicker, but admits he is much more aggressive and thought he got good value from the lightweight glove.

• A Kindle customer found them “unique and effective.” Uses them more than he thought he would.  Even outside of the gym.

• Chris viewed them as a great solution for competing in endurance fitness events. He claimed he normally gets blisters, but when he started wearing Gym Skins under his original full finger fitness gloves, he stopped getting them.

• Philip, a manual laborer who suffers from Dupuytren’s Contracture, said he initially thought his Gym Skins felt flimsy, but later found them “surprisingly fantastic and very easy to use. No more sore hands at the gym or on the job site!”

• After using them a few times, Mr. Cruickshank found that they do make a difference. He recommends them for people who need to protect their hands but don’t like to use full gloves.

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Takeaway

Working out in the gym should be a 100% beneficial experience for the body.  You should do all that you can to prevent injury, especially to your skin and hands.  Blisters are obvious injuries and prevent athletes from continuing with their fitness goals.  Calluses however are also damaging.  Many people believe that they just need to tough it out and build calluses, but they should be avoided for healthy hands.  Gym Skins are the perfect fitness glove to keep your hands healthy.  

Whether you’re in or out of the sports or fitness arena, the possibility of acquiring blisters and bruises is always around the corner. To ensure you avoid getting them, invest in a pair of Gym Skins. Not only do they feel great at the gym, but they will also allow you to work out harder and longer while being a preventive measure against injury.