Deadlifting with Palmar Hyperhydrosis

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hello,

For about as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled with having very sweaty hands. They don’t sweat all the time, but they’ve always seemed to sweat whenever I’ve started to do anything that involves focus, whether it was working on a paper, playing a video game, even reading will cause my hands to sweat. I’ve always had to keep a napkin of some kind around to shake hands, especially for interviews; it’s definitely created its fair share of stressful moments. I haven’t been formally diagnosed with palmar hyperhydrosis, though I have difficulty imagining I would not fit the category.

It hasn’t had too much of a negative effect on my life, but I’ve noticed I tend to struggle with keeping my grip on the barbell. Even when using chalk and hookgrip, the bar starts to feel like it’s slipping away from my hands, even when my body doesn’t feel very taxed. In the past, I’ve been able to get around this by breaking up the block of chalk and practically caking my hands in it, but it doesn’t always work. Since I lost that old chalk, I recently bought some higher quality chalk that doesn’t break easily and rubbed it on my hands. It seemed like a light layer, and something similar happened where my grip failed 3 reps in on 235lbs; I tried at the same weight by caking my hands in a different liquid chalk and was able to make the lift for 6 reps at less than RPE 8. However, not even the liquid chalk has been so consistent at keeping my grip tight; it always seems to me that I “sweat” through the chalk when I check my hands afterwards (and I really have to add a lot for it to work, just the dime-sized recommended amount results in failing grip for me).

This seems like a really uncommon issue, whenever I try to Google it, but I end up thinking there must be someone out there who’s struggled with this. Are there any popular recommendations for this sort of issue? Or maybe some special kind of chalk that I just won’t be able to sweat through? Is there hope to escaping my deadlift purgatory?

Thank you!

2

CB,

Thanks for the post. I’m sure this is very frustrating for you, but admittedly this is interesting to me from both medical and coaching perspectives.

In the immediate term, I’d first have you try an alternate grip with chalk to see if that fairs better than the hook grip. I don’t think caking your hands in chalk is likely to improve your grip security, but it’s hard for me to know what you mean exactly without seeing it. I’d also be wondering if the bar you’re using has a good knurl or not. If you’re at a commercial gym, I have a low level of confidence that the bar’s knurl is doing you any favors, but this may be out of your control.

If that doesn’t work, I’d using straps, a double overhand grip, and a bit of chalk on your hands. That should get you by, though if you find the straps still slip due to the sweat, the bar, and so on, lifting hooks may be better.

I’d also plan on seeing your doctor about treatment of this condition, which would ultimately be the preferred long term solution if available.

Just my 0.02. Let us know how it goes!

-Jordan