My hands were torn to pieces from the WOD. Under the middle finger and ring finger of each hand lived craters of scorched skin that gushed blood with every pulse. Do a pull up the first minute, two the second, three the third, and so on until you can go no longer; twenty two rounds and some change. When it was finished, the adrenalin from the intensity began to diminish and the pain in my palms increased by the minute.
Any intense crossfitter has probably torn their hands or will at sometime. It generally happens with pull ups with some sort of kip but is not limited to. The hand get so much friction from the bar that the skin gets torn off. The worst ones are when there is a thick callus and it gets ripped off exposing a few layers of the dermis. There are a few things that can be done to eliminate tears or drastically reduce them.
- Callus Hygiene. This is the most important one. Not only will it help with tearing your significant other will actually want to hold your hand now! There are a bunch of ways to remove the extra skin but my preferred choice is using a pumice stone in the shower to shave it off. Here is a great tutorial on a few different methods: Removing Calluses. Here is a list of tools that will work.
- Dremel Tool
- Sandpaper
- Pumice Stone
- Microplane grater
- Callus shaver
- Scissor tool on a Swiss army knife
- Chalk. Chalk is meant to control sweat from the palms and you do not need to cake it on there to do that. By doing so, it creates more friction. If you need to use chalk (which you probably don’t) just put a light layer on.
- Time. Your hands need time to adapt. After months or years eventually you will get accustomed to it and it wont happen as often or at all.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post and perfect timing… i just ripped my hands open (again) today doing pullups…
Ryan’s last blog post..Back to the Basics
As an extra add on, some friends I have in the CF world swear by the PedEgg. You know that crazy thing they advertise on the infomercials for your feet? It has a sandpaper edge on it, and also a dead skin remover inside. (And the handy egg shape is ergonomically designed for your hands PLUS it catches all your dead skin!
)
Katie’s last blog post..Clean and jerk
Katie,
Thanks for the tip! I didn’t even know that existed.
Hey, thanks for stopping by my blog. I use Burt’s Bees Hand Salve on my hands, works pretty well and isn’t so greasy that it will affect you later on in a WOD.
Nice fill someone in on and this enter helped me alot in my college assignement. Say thank you you on your information.