Have you watched those huge guys strutting across the platform on an Olympic weight lifting contest? They step up to the chalk pedestal and the smoke starts flying. They chalk up their hands, slap some on their chest, and it all looks like a big show. When you start lifting heavy you quickly begin to realize weight lifting chalk is not a smoke and mirror show after all.

There you are laying on your back, 350 pounds on the rack above your chest. You have already been pounding the iron for a while and the sweat is flowing easily across your body. Your palms are damp from all the effort. The bar feels slick, cool, and smooth in your hands. Do you see a problem developing?

Heavy weights and sweaty palms do not go together well at all. You can choose to wear gloves, but even gloves can get slick with all the sweat you produce in a workout. You can keep a towel handy to dry your hands before each set, but the sweat is still flowing rapidly from your effort. Weight lifting chalk is the surest way to increase the power of your grip, make sure it does not slip, and to increase the safety of your lifts. It may look like a silly little adventure, but it plays an important role in keep you safe.

Those Olympic weight lifters know the simple fact, if their hands slip even a little the lift will fail. The weights are extreme and the danger is high. The chalk on their chest makes sure the weight does not slide when it touches their shoulders and chest before sky rocketing overhead.

The same is true for your power lifting. If your hands begin to slip your spotters better be awake and read to grab. You are wanting to workout heavy and your grip must be strong and secure. One little slip and weights go flying and no one knows where they will land.

Weight lifting chalk is one of the lowest priced accessories you can own. If the gym you love to workout at does not keep a supply on hand, bring along your own. You may suddenly become the center of attention as other lifters saunter over to borrow a little chalk. Even if your workout is at home, having chalk handy to coat your hands before you handle heavier weights is important.

It is not always about the heaviest weights, either. Many times the hardest to grip item in the gym is the cable handles. The handles may be smooth and our pulling pattern allows the sweat to flow right down onto your hands. You can risk injury easily on a cable pulley system, too. Imagine you are doing a lat pull down using both hands and suddenly one hand slips off the handle. Suddenly the other arm is dealing with rapid and intense weight change risking potential tears. Using weight lifting chalk made from magnesium carbonate makes sure your grip is strong and the handles dry. Safe lifting does not require fancy gear, just a little chalk dust flying up in the air.