Hand Care

There have been a lot of questions about callus rips and hand care in general. For this post, I’ll share some of the stuff I specifically do and recommend. There are quite a few good hand care guides out there, some of which I’ll reference during the post.

Prevention: The Best Medicine
1. Correct grip. Many problems arise from gripping pullup bars and barbells incorrectly. Most people grab too deep and end up compressing a big chunk of their palm. Instead of grabbing w/ the meat of the palm, grab on the knuckles (where you would wear a ring). Coach Rippetoe goes into this in detail in this video.

2. Chalk correctly. Most people overchalk. You shouldn’t have ‘mime’ hands when you get out of the chalk bucket. A thin coat is appropriate. If necessary, use a chunk of chalk to paint in sections of your hand that will get the most wear during the chosen exercise. For example, for deadlifts I usually paint chalk into the webbing between my thumb and index finger, and quite heavy on the first knuckle of my thumb. These get areas get the most wear on a deadlift.

Overchalking on something like a pullup usually leads to your hand being too sticky, and accelerates callus rips.

3. Callus care. You need to think of your calluses like your fingernails. They have to be groomed appropriately. Thick, gnarly calluses are a rip waiting to happen. If a callus starts to pinch together into a peak, you need to trim it forthwith. Toenail clippers work well for this. Clip the callus, then sand it down with either pumice, a nail file, or 220 grit sandpaper.

Caring For Ripped Calluses
1. Caring for the rip. You need to think about this like any other cut or scrape. Wash affected area with soap and water. Then cut off the flap of skin hanging over the ripped area. From there apply antibacterial ointment and some sort of dressing. Band-aids don’t stay put, so I’ll usually use athletic tape to fix 1/2 of a gauze pad in place over the rip. Change the pad and reapply ointment 1-2 times daily.
2. Training w/ a rip. The most basic way is to tape heavily around the knuckles. This works fine for barbell stuff not for high rep pullups. The more elegant solution is to take approximately 12″ of athletic tape, and slice half of it lengthwise down the middle. The top end of the cut goes at the base of the finger (palmside). So the uncut part of the tape will be on the palm, with the 2 cut sections dangling over the back of the hand. Tape at the wrist to secure the two ends. Pictures and other tips can be found in this article from the Crossfit Journal.

Remember, prevention is the best medicine. Cut and file your calluses.