“If you feel like you’re going to tear, come down off the rig and change up your scale to keep your hands in tact!” This is a phrase I am constantly yelling out in classes on days chock full of pull ups, toes 2 bar, or muscle ups in an attempt to save someone from a nasty rip. But if you have never had a tear before, then how do you know what it feels like to rip? And what if you are about to set a new personal best on Fran with just 3 pull ups to go so you throw caution to the wind and end up with a tear for your efforts? This article is here to answer all of your hand care questions to help you in the future so you can swing around on the rig to your heart’s content.
Pre Workout:
As you get more and more volume in on the rig, you will probably start to notice some calluses developing on your palms. The first step to hand care is making sure that these guys do not grow totally out of hand (pun drop). If left unmanaged, your calluses can grow to the extent that they will tear off in giant, nasty chunks. You can simply shave them down in the shower using a razor (super gently) or a pumice stone to keep them under control. If your hands start to feel painful by simply hopping up on the rig, then you probably need to shave them down. I generally shave mine down every other day or so.
Another pre workout trick you can get done is finding a pair of solid grips. There are tons of options out there for gymnastics grips that give your hand some protection. You can go with a more expensive but durable option from a company like Bear Komplex or Victory Grips. One of my personal favorites is the premade tape grips from the Natural Grip. You can go the even more economical route by creating your own tape grips (search YouTube for tutorials).
During the Workout:
Change up your grip slightly throughout workouts with a lot of swinging to avoid wearing out the same part of your hands the entire time (switch it up between gripping with the fingertips and the palms to disperse the friction). If you start to feel hot spots on your hands or feel a bit of separation of the layers of the skin, then you are likely getting close to a tear. I highly encourage people to make a change to the workout at this point. For pull ups, move to ring rows or lower the reps with strict pull ups. For toes to bar, switch to a hollow rock or toes to rig scale.