Keith Kirkwood: I used bare hands before BBGs. I didn’t like feeling I was loosing grip strength with my hands; to meet the demands of training the rest of your body, you need a strong, solid grip on the bar. Straps, etc., are kind of a crutch and actually weaken your grip strength. BBGs bridge that gap – they hold the bar in place but still engage your forearms. Plus, they keep your hands nice and smooth – the ladies like smooth hands.  Gloves do keep hands smooth but they don’t give you the really solid grip you need. I train for 2 hours a day when I am not training for a fight. Now if I am training for a fight I train in gym in and out all day. At this point in time I am training to put on some lean size so I train 1hr 30mins with free weights and MMA Train the last 30 mins.