Before beginning to chalk up grips or use them at all, you must first designate which grip goes on each hand. Grips are made so they can be worn on either hand, but after you designate one grip as your left hand grip, it has to always be your left hand grip. Mark with a Sharpie or pen the letter "L" or "R" on your left hand and right hand grip so you know which grip to put on each hand.
Stretch the finger holes. Your grips will have two finger holes if you are female, and three finger holes if you are male. If you have never worn grips before, you might find that the grips are uncomfortably tight in the fingers when you first wear them. This is normal, and will be fixed as you wear them more often, but there are ways to loosen the finger holes quickly, like sticking the hole on the bar adjustment knobs (if you are at the gym) and twisting. This will make the grips easier (and less painful!) to wear.
Put on your grips and wristbands. Be sure that they fit snugly, but they aren't too tight. If you feel like the grips are too big or are extremely small, you may have ordered the wrong size. If you believe you ordered the wrong size, you might be able to return them but they must be in factory condition! Sometimes grips might feel too small at first, but this usually goes away as grips are broken in and the finger holes expand.
Chalk up. Spray your grips with water and then use a block of chalk to make them chalky.
Grab the bar. Grabbing the bar with grips on is a bit different, because grips have dowels in them. Dowels help you to stay on the bar easier. When grabbing the bar, there should be a fold in the grips where your dowel will go over the bar.
Swing! Tap swings are good for breaking in grips. Your grips will feel uncomfortable at first, especially the first time you use them. This is a normal part of the process and should be expected for the first few days of wearing your new grips. As you work with your grips more, add in other skills as you feel comfortable. This even includes "basic" skills, like back-hip circles, casts, and kips.
After each workout, store your grips in a way that will make them more broken in. When you take your grips off, take one grip and face it like it would go on your hand. Fold the top half of the grip down, so the dowel is hidden and the finger hole flaps face you. Fold the grip in half again the other way so you now have a zig-zag or "S" shape. Fold the grip down one more time towards you, so that the whole folded up palm part of the grip is inside the wrist area. Buckle or velcro the grip closed, as if your wrist were inside the grip. Repeat to the other grip. Store your grips like this after every workout, even after the grips are broken in. Storing grips like this will make the part of your grip where your palm goes more folded, so you can properly grip the bar with the dowel grip.
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