I remember within the first few weeks of On Ramp I was like “look at what I have” to anyone who would care. It wasn’t long before I was picking at them in work meetings or in the car. I felt good about them. Heck, I felt bad a$$ for sure.
The prouder I became the more I talked about them and started to hear stories of people tearing them and the pain and impact on training that came with it. I also started to hear about caring for them and how people would file them down with a pumice stone or a little “cheese grater like shaver”. Now when I first started hearing this I thought these people were nuts. I couldn’t understand why I’d want to do anything that might make my guys smaller. Bigger was better right? More bad a$$ for sure…..right?
A year went by and I never had any problems with my calluses so I figured I was good to go. Then I got my kipping pull-up. In a few weeks I went from 1 to 6 in a row without coming off the bar and was excited. Still no issues with my calluses and again I figured I was good to go. I was wrong.
There was a WOD on a Saturday where if I had completed the entire thing as prescribed (RX) I would have done 100 pull-ups. This was the first time I did pull-ups in a WOD. I felt fine during the entire WOD through round 7. The thrusters were easy, the sprinting fine, and the pull-ups I was able to do in groups of 4 or 3 in different combination's to get the 10 in each round.
I didn’t feel anything at this point but I looked at my hands during round 7 and saw skin and blood. I wanted to bang my head on the wall. This is what everyone was talking about when they told me to be careful about my calluses and be careful if I was going to rip them. Oops, I should have listened. Why didn’t I listen?
With a big sigh and lots of frustration I thought if I ignored it and just powered though I’d be fine. I finished round 7 and made sure I didn’t show anyone my hands. I knew if anyone knew I started to rip they would want me to stop to prevent more ripping.
I started round 8 and got through the thrusters and was in the middle of my set of 10 pull-ups when I started to feel it in my hands. I looked at them and they were getting worse. I finished round 8 and then went over to my husband and showed him my hands and begged him to tape my hands up so that I could finish rounds 9 and 10. He looked at me like I was nuts. I asked him a few times, begging him to just tape me up. “Just tape my hands Brian, please I feel fine. I can finish this WOD, just get the tape!”
I asked around everyone said to stop. I didn’t want to stop. I looked at the bar to start round 9 and because we were doing thrusters without a rack I had to clean it up to start. I looked from my hands to the bar a few times and couldn’t bring myself to clean it. I stopped and it was good I didn’t go any further but in looking back I should have stopped sooner.
Oh heck in looking back I should have listened months ago and took better care of them. After all the people telling me about the cheese graters and pumice stones were more experienced and doing more high volume bar work then I was. I should have also stopped when I first noticed they were ripping. I guess I am stubborn. This shouldn't be news to anyone who knows me!
My hands took about 2 weeks to really heal, during that time I wrapped them for bar work in the gym and stayed away from the pull-up bar. It took another 2 weeks for me to get back to the pull-up bar. My pull-ups as not as strong as they were before the rip and my confidence is not there yet either. This was setback for sure, but also something that I think you have to go through and will go through at various times when training and competing.
In the weeks that followed this WOD two awesome ladies in our gym got their first pull-ups! Elizabeth jumped on the bar one day and not only did 1 kipping pull-up but did 2 and 3 in a row and multiple sets.
Tracy skipped right over the kipping pull-up and got her strict pull-up. This was awesome to watch!!
Right after I took them aside and told them that now it was time to get serious about their calluses and hand care! Trust me ladies!!!!
Some of the better tips out there can be found here (these are the quicker and easier reads on the topic of callus care...just goggle it and you can find more information, videos, and more!):
http://www.crossfittheclub.com/how-to-minimize-callus-formation-treat-ripped-calluses/
http://bodyandfuel.com/blog/2011/02/28/callus-care/
Also I found that using Burt’s Bee’s medicated lip balm on them during the healing process works wonders! Thanks Cory!!!
I still love my calluses but now I check them in meetings to be sure they aren’t getting too big!!!
(*dates on pictures are not accurate..sorry, camera/date thing wasn't set correct)
Look at those ladies, making it look easy. Well done girls!
ReplyDelete