Hand Care for Weightlifters and CrossFitters

While ripped calluses may be considered badges of honor amongst CrossFitters, the reality is that they can also lead to sub-par and limited training sessions soon after. Taking care of your hands in advance can help you to avoid these injuries and keep hitting PRs. Here are some tips to keep your hands in good shape:

Pre-hab/Maintenance

• Never wash your hands immediately before training, this will soften the skin on your hands and predispose it to tearing. If you do, chalking up your hands before your warm-up can help to remove some moisture before lifting heavy.
• Wash off your hands after workouts and apply some Corn Huskers Lotion. Corn Huskers Lotion acts to help heal, moisturize, and toughen up your skin. Bag Balm works too, but not as well.
• Trim your calluses down to make sure they aren't too thick and have no rough edges. Don't completely remove them though. A pumice stone works well for daily maintenance, but if your calluses have grown way too thick, try using a callus remover like this one.

*Corn Huskers Lotion and callus removers can be found in most drugstores.

Taping

• Often it is useful to tape the thumb before olympic weightlifting. The thumb takes a lot of abuse using the hook grip with heavy weights, so taping it can help avoid painful tears. See Donny's video below.
• Applying a hand drying agent like Tite-Grip before taping your hands can help the tape stay on better throughout your training session.
• Using an elastic athletic tape may help it stay on better during training. A good place to buy tape is Findtape.com(good prices and great variety).
  
  Quick Taping for Pullups
  
  Another Method for Taping

Hand Rip Care

• Mid-session: Check out Donny's method for taping your hands in the video below at 7:30.

• End of session: Wash your hands, apply antibiotic ointment to the torn skin, cover with a bandage overnight. In the morning, remove the bandage, wash your hands again, and apply Corn Husker's Lotion if dryness is an issue. If needed to train, tape your hands using the method described in Donny's video.

Donny Shankle Talks Hand Care