Liquid Chalk – New Solution For Climbing, Calisthenics And Weightlifting
21
MARCH, 2021
Liquid chalk is a relatively new solution to slippery surfaces. Previously, magnesium carbonate powder was used to solve this problem. The white powder would be used to coat the hands and increase friction by absorbing any excess fluid. Although this old school solution works, liquid chalk is superior in almost every way.
Magnesium carbonate is mixed with an alcohol to create liquid chalk. This chemical mixture provides several advantages: it’s less messy, more convenient and an overall better grip solution.
1. Liquid Chalk Is More Convenient And Less Messy Than Powder Chalk
Liquid chalk comes in handy bottles that can be taken anywhere. This is especially useful for rock climbers that can strap the bottles to their climbing harnesses for easy access.
Powder chalk on the other hand, typically comes in square blocks that need to be crushed before use. The only way to store these blocks is in plastic containers. Often chalk dust escapes and creates a mess, staining anything it touches.
This is especially annoying when you are trying to maintain a clean environment in your gym. Vacuuming chalk is tedious and expensive. For this reason, many gyms have outright banned powder chalk.
2. Liquid Chalk Provides Better Grip
A liquid is better able to coat the hands and gets into every nook and cranny of your palms. Once the alcohol evaporates, the entire hand is covered with chalk. The coating provided by liquid chalk also sticks better to the hands and lasts longer. Powder chalk on the other hand takes longer to apply properly, and despite the effort will not stick quite as well.
3. Powder Chalk Can Cause Asthma
Powder chalk creates a fine powder that is easily aerosolized and can cause breathing difficulties for people with asthma. Liquid chalk does not have this problem as it is not easily aerosolized.
4. Anti-microbial Properties Of Liquid Chalk
Liquid chalk contains alcohol which kills germs, including the notorious COVID-19. It is no replacement for hand sanitiser, but it will provide some minor benefit in combating pathogens on surfaces.
The grainy nature and less than ideal penetration of the alcohol, means that pathogens are still able to survive deep inside chalk grains. However, air transmission of many germs including COVID-19 is enhanced with increased aerosolized particles. This is why powder chalk can actually help spread germs, while liquid chalk is much safer.
Disadvantages Of Liquid Chalk Compared To Powder Chalk
Liquid chalk requires that it is kept away from oxygen – as this will cause the alcohol to evaporate prematurely. Poorly sealed bottles can expose liquid chalk to oxygen and can cause the chalk to dry inside the bottle before use. This makes it difficult to get out.
Who Can Benefit From Liquid Chalk
Grip is extremely important for many sports such as rock climbing, crossfit, calisthenics, gymnastics, olympic lifting and weight lifting due to the high stakes involved. Not only does poor grip prevent peak performance but it can directly and indirectly cause injury. Namely, reduced grip forces us to engage our forearms and hands more, causing faster fatigue and unnecessary muscle tension.
Metal surfaces are notoriously slippery and can definitely benefit from chalk. Gymnastics and calisthenics bars, as well as the poles used in pole dancing are the best use scenarios for liquid chalk. Slipping while performing skills in these sports can be disastrous, hence liquid chalk is a necessary safety measure.
Liquid chalk can also be used on wooden, plastic and rubber surfaces. Wooden surfaces provide the most grip with the application of chalk due to the coarser fibres of the material, but metal surfaces receive the most benefit from the application of chalk as they provide the least grip without it.
Other common applications of liquid chalk include on gymnastics rings, parallel bars and kettlebells.
Written by Vic
Related Posts
![Complete Guide To Building Strength For The Handstand Push Up [VIDEO]](https://www.streetworkoutstkilda.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/handstand-pushup-tutorial-400x250.jpg)
Complete Guide To Building Strength For The Handstand Push Up [VIDEO]
Handstand Push Up - Complete Guide [VIDEO]3FEBRUARY, 2021The handstand push up is the ultimate bodyweight shoulder exercise and requires exceptional strength and body control. Not only does it push the deltoids to their limits, but it tests the ability of the lower...
Complete Guide – Calisthenics Chest Workout (Bodyweight ONLY)
Calisthenics Chest & Tricep Workout (Bodyweight ONLY)23MAY, 2020Want a big chest and triceps but don’t have access to a bench press? Well good news, because you don’t need it! A calisthenics chest and tricep workout, when done correctly, can more than suffice. You...
Top 10 Calisthenics Bodyweight Leg & Glute Exercises
Top 10 Calisthenics Bodyweight Leg & Glute Exercises3November, 2020Whether you’re a gym rat or not, many people often skip leg exercise in light of maintaining a strong and powerful upper body. Ab workouts give you chiselled abs, chest workouts build a wider and...
Develop Real-World Strength Through Natural Human Movement
Have you ever wondered why, we as a society seem to be getting less and less adept, capable and fit? If you are reading this, I’m guessing you have and in noticing this trend, have decided to remove yourself from it by engaging in training and the development of...
Human Flag – Calisthenics Static Hold Complete Guide
The human flag is an icon in calisthenics, and is perhaps one of the few unique static holds not found in gymnastics. There have been similar variations in pole dancing, however it’s likely that calisthenics founded this isometric hold. In calisthenics the human flag...
Street Workout For Beginners
What is Street Workout?Street workout is an emerging fitness discipline; forged in the fumes of chaos. It hails from Eastern Europe and Russia, where street workout stations are as commonplace as alcohol selling kiosks. Slavs embraced this style of workout due to the...
