I was going to write a little article about the issue of hand tears from high rep pull up or barbell workouts. But with a little (very little) digging I came up with a nicely written piece to help us out. Don’t re-invent the wheel, right? So check this out from FITBOMB:
Want the highlights?
Don’t be too soft. If your hands have the suppleness of a newborn, you’re gonna get shredded.
Don’t be too hard. You will need to do some maintenance on your calluses if you want to keep your skin. Read the article already.
Grip the bar correctly. Pinching and bunching of skin with the added torque of movement is going to bite you. Learn the correct grip here.
It’ll heal faster if you do this… oh for crying out loud, click on the article already. I’m not going to spoon feed this to you.
Gloves, tape and grips can help. But are you always going to have them? I find that I rarely need them unless I’ve got a ton of pulling volume or a spot that’s close to ripping. Your best bet is to get them on before you have a problem. In many cases, taping over a tear that has started just makes it worse during the remainder of the workout.
Cut your losses. This little nugget is just from me. If you’re shredded at 50 pull ups in Angie, maybe you should move on. What do you think the next 50 will do to you? How will your training be affected by the devastation you’re rendering to your manos? This is after all just that- training. Live to fight another day. If you’re in a competition, that may be a different story…
Here’s to keeping all your skin! Happy WODding!