Liquid Chalk

[quadancer]

Heads up on the liquid chalk guys. If it's not magnesium carbonate, I'm thinking it's not gonna hold up to the test of grip. I bought the liquid, being at a yuppiefitnesscardioclub type gym, and after the bar slipped easily from my very dry hands, I checked the label. It is made of isopropyl alcohol, aluminum chlorhydrate, propylene glycol, vitamin E acetate, and glycerol.
Next, looking at the front (I bought this on Amazon as a chalk substitute) it says "Keeps hands dry without the tack!"
I didn't see that one coming.
I'm next taking a washrag and some spray in with me to just clean up the chalk until they run me off. Oh, and I do have one of those $4 chalkbags. It's called a "sock".

[JCavin]

I'll second (or third?) the climber's chalk.

I just happened to have a chalk bag from my climbing days. It's awesome.

I tried out the chalk blocks first to see if there was a difference. There wasn't except that it gets EVERYWHERE.

I felt like an asshole just using it because it is so hard to clean up with just a pinch of chalk.

Seriously consider going to a hippy, outdoorsey type store (Lewis and Clark, Packrat, etc.) for this stuff. I would recommend calling a few rock climbing gyms first though. If they don't have their own "proshop" with better deals, they can tell you where to go to get them for the best price.

[quadancer]

Which one are you talking about? the liquid, the block, or the bag?

Also, another note is NOT to use straps or chalk until you need it. Having damaged hands from work and play, I use pure grip until things start slipping in order to develop more grip, and it's worked fairly well. Any pulling over 350 I usually see the need, so that leaves a lot of gripwork coming up the pyramids. Or when I want a lot of reps with a medium weight.

[JCavin]

Oops, my bad.

Regular chalk = Big mess
Climber's chalk w/ bag = Little to no cleanup and pretty damn convenient.

[Sal Webber]

Also, another note is NOT to use straps or chalk until you need it. Having damaged hands from work and play, I use pure grip until things start slipping in order to develop more grip, and it's worked fairly well. Any pulling over 350 I usually see the need, so that leaves a lot of gripwork coming up the pyramids. Or when I want a lot of reps with a medium weight.

Interesting, I hadn't thought about it as an extra way to work your grip. Do you find that you have to manage your callouses more?

[elVarouza]

Block chalk will of course be messy if you just whip out the block and rub it all over your hands. I bring block chalk to my gym, which explicitly disallows chalk, and I just keep it crumbled up in a tuperware container in my gym bag. I've never had any issues with people complaining, and I don't make a mess since it's in the container.

[quadancer]

Webbie: My hands are allready calloused from work, but the bar will do it too, I'm sure.
I'm next going to try chalk in a sock that is in a large baggie, with a wet facecloth in another bag for cleanups. I'm sure there won't be a problem that way.

[Mr.City]

Just got the eco-chalk/climber's chalk. How often do you guys need to brush your hands with it? It doesn't seem like I'm getting too much chalk on my hands.

[quadancer]

Can't answer that, but my experiment with a tupperware container and chalksock, with a wet facecloth in a ziplock baggie to clean the floor with was okay. The sock doesn't put a lot of chalk on the hands (me being careful not to make a mess) and the grip was a bit less than when you really slather it on.
Still, I got away with it, having the baggie/cloth nearby as insurance.

[Benthic]

Just got the eco-chalk/climber's chalk. How often do you guys need to brush your hands with it? It doesn't seem like I'm getting too much chalk on my hands.

I use mine (the climber's chalk, not the eco-chalk) before each work set, and sometimes before the heaviest warm up set. I've never used block chalk, so I don't really have anything to compare to there.

Brian