Training with hyperhidrosis.
By Veronica Waite — performer & teacher, Melbourne ·
Hyperhidrosis — clinically excessive sweating — does not rule out pole or aerial training, but it does mean ordinary grip advice undersells your problem. What works is a layered routine: medical options discussed with your GP, an antiperspirant-class hand product applied well before training, a drying agent for top-ups, and studio tactics that stop sweat getting ahead of you. No grip product cures it, ours included.
First, the thing nobody says plainly: if your palms drip while you sit still in a cool room, that is not “being a bit sweaty” and no bottle from any grip company — mine included — is going to solve it alone. Palmar hyperhidrosis is a recognised medical condition. It is also, in my direct experience teaching, entirely compatible with a serious pole or aerial practice. Students of mine train and perform with it. The difference is that their routine has more layers than the average dancer needs, and they stopped expecting one product to do the whole job.
Start with a GP, not a grip aisle
I teach movement; I don't treat conditions, and this guide won't pretend to. If excessive sweating affects your daily life — keyboards, handshakes, paper — see a GP. There are established medical treatments for hyperhidrosis in Australia, and the right starting point for them is a doctor who knows your history, not a blog. What I can offer is what happens in the studio after that conversation.
The layered training routine
The day before and the hours before: the dancers who manage this best treat grip as something that starts the night before — antiperspirant-class hand products (the pole world's example is Tite Grip II) are designed to go on early, often the night before or 30 minutes pre-training, so the active ingredient can work before you ever touch metal. Applied as you walk in, they underperform and get unfairly written off.
At the studio: wash with plain soap, dry completely, and keep a dedicated hand towel on the mat — used every rotation, not when things get desperate. A drying agent handles top-ups: liquid chalk earns its place in this routine as the fast between-combo layer, and clipping it to the pole base or rig means the top-up happens the moment grip fades instead of three slips later. That timing habit matters more than the brand.
Apparatus choices: warm brass grips better than cold chrome for sweaty hands; fabric apparatus (silks, hammock) interacts differently with sweat than metal does — the apparatus guide covers that split. Some students with hyperhidrosis actually find their sweat less punishing on fabric than on metal; bodies differ, and it's worth testing rather than assuming.
Studio tactics that cost nothing
Book the earlier class before the room heats up. Claim the pole near the fan without apology. Warm up thoroughly but stop short of overheating — for you, the line between “warm muscles” and “sweat cascade” is thinner than for the person next to you. Tell your instructor. A teacher who knows will re-order combos so your grip-heavy work comes early, and will never read your towel breaks as slacking. Any teacher who rolls their eyes at a medical condition is telling you something useful about the studio.
What progress looks like
Not dry hands — managed hands. The goal is a routine reliable enough that you plan training around your body instead of cancelling around it. That is achievable, it is being done in Melbourne studios right now, and it deserves better than the miracle-cure marketing this corner of the internet is full of. Train well.