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Record-holding gymnast reveals secret behind her insane bar grip is unexpected beauty item

Record-holding gymnast reveals secret behind her insane bar grip is unexpected beauty item
Lucie Colebeck

It takes a lot to become a world-leading athlete: Strength, determination, discipline, and apparently, a drawer full of beauty products.

World record-holding gymnast, Lucie Colebeck, has been taking fans behind-the-scenes and sharing her secrets to being successful in her field, and one thing no one can quite wrap their head around is the unexpected item that helps her grip onto the bar for her routines.

Colebeck, 28, currently holds the world record for doing 36 handsprings in 30 seconds.

She previously won the British tumbling title and a World Championships medal, before retiring in 2018, and instead turning to becoming a Cirque du Soleil performer.

"If you didn't know, some gymnasts use things like honey and syrup for better grip on the bar", she told viewers in a video posted to TikTok, showing them her training routine.

But, she reveals the most highly-recommended product she'd been told to try wasn't chalk or a dowel - but Elf's best-selling Power Grip Primer.


@luciecolebeck Trying elf power grip primer for a better grip👀🫣 credit: @Ian Gunther│Gymnastics Daily #gymnastics #luciecolebeck #gymshark #olympics ♬ BIRDS OF A FEATHER - Billie Eilish


The beauty item has gained viral success over the past few years for helping keep makeup perfectly in place, but as it would turn out, it's pretty handy for other things too - like being a gymnast.

Showing how it works, Colebeck puts five pumps of product on her hands, before rubbing them together and revealing it helped turn the product into more of a paste.

"It smells like grapefruit!" she told viewers, while waiting for it to dry into a stickier consistency for around three minutes.

And sure enough, as she peeled her hands apart, the product had developed a glue-like texture, perfect for gripping onto the bar.

Putting it to the test, she hopped on the bar, and managed to grab on with no problem. "That's really sticky! I can't believe that!", she told the camera, shocked that it had actually worked.

While it's an impressive hack for any Olympic hopefuls out there, we're not sure it's going to improve our chances.

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