Subject: Do it Yourself Hand Care

 

Calluses and stress on the hands are a reality of training. Friction and stress on the skin create thickening, which is protective up to a point. But past that point, it is not only uncomfortable or painful, but it also risks hand tears.


As cool as posting pictures of your torn bloody hands can be on social media (cue sarcasm…), it means lost training time and changes to form that can cause other issues as you try to work around the tear.


Calluses and hand care matter no matter the modality: kettlebell, barbell, or bodyweight. Swings, snatches, deadlifts, pullups, and many other exercises create the potential for calluses. Strategies for handling calluses have varied over the years, but now Kenneth Bolyard, StrongFirst Certified Team Leader, has innovated a technique to handle calluses that is a game-changer.

Kenny details a bit of history about his hand care method and how it came about to be what it is today.

For many years, decades even, I relied mostly on my sharp pocketknives to trim the built-up calluses from my hands. The use of hand cream to moisturize my dry skin was nearly non-existent.

 

My hands and fingers would crack and split, and I often had a ripped callus and/or open wound on my hands. Training and working with tools became a painful chore, and I began spending much of my free time tending to and mending my hands.

 

I then started playing around with different grits of sandpaper, i.e., 80,100, 120, 160, and sanded the calluses on my hands on a daily basis while at work. I started noticing a reduction of callus build-up and my skin was not as dry as it had been.

 

Almost by accident…

CLICK HERE to read more about this innovative strategy and see the instructional videos.

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