you want Tylergrips!!!!
I was going to wait a while and post a review but seeing as this got brought up I thought I may as well jump in.
I had been using velcro wrist straps wrapped around the bar where I placed my hands and found that was doing a reasonable enough job re:bar thickness.
Coincidentally, after searching around for some form of lifting 'pads' I came across the following:
TYLERGRIP - A Revolution in Strength Training
After reading everything on the website, I ordered a pair from Tim himself and they arrived in London just a few days later.
The grips are a lot thicker than I imagined and feel very solid. I won't go into more detail about how they look etc. because it's all on the website. They fit onto pretty much anything bar handle (including machine handles e.g. machine preacher) and hence are really versatile. On using them, you will find that even the lightest weights are much more taxing to the entire arm and using them in exercises intended for other body parts (e.g. bench press) makes the exercise more taxing for the body part being trained as well as the arms.
The grips are absolutely phenomenal. I hate training without them and have found my overall strength and muscular development (shape of muscles as well as size) improve quite significantly. To be honest though, for some reason, the increased thickness (and I would imagined tapered design) just makes all the exercises so much more enjoyable and satisfying (even at lower weights) that even if I wasn't getting results I would use them. But I most definitely am getting results (welcome to the gun show ladies). Also, I've been using them whilst cutting so obviously using them whilst bulking will provide even more significant gains.
Again, I used to use wrist straps wrapped around a bar (
https://thinksteroids.com/community/threads/134239903) but these grips obviously blows that idea out of the water. Due to their versatility and design I think they are much more convenient than actual thickbars. As an aside, Tim is always happy for feedback etc. and seems very passionate about the grips. He appears to be a great guy (from the little contact I have had with him) and will no doubt be happy to provide any further info etc. you guys may want.
I was extremely lucky to chance upon the website and think that the grips deserve a lot more attention. I highly recommend them to just about everyone here, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.