# sore hands



## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

i`m currently doing my partial deads once every 4th day.

what can i do to toughen the skin on my hands?

at the mo they limiting my lifting more than back recovery is!


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

Not that you want to hear it but... Gloves/Straps/Chalk

You still squeezing your gripper?


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

lol i want to toughen my hands not baby em dude.

i do use chalk of course tho.

yup closed me gripper with 2 hands for the first time-

its a start.....


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## Nath1466867935 (Sep 4, 2007)

crazycal1 said:


> i`m currently doing my partial deads once every 4th day.
> 
> what can i do to toughen the skin on my hands?
> 
> at the mo they limiting my lifting more than back recovery is!


I know exactly what you mean mate, my grip gives up before my back and ussually rips the callus's of my palms which is annoying. As far as I'm aware there is no quick fix, I'm not a fan of straps or gloves, I think ur better to just persevere and toughen the callus's.

You could experiment with different bars, at my gym we have numerous bars but 1 in particular has a better grip than the others.

Sorry, not a helpful post, more of a show of empathy. I'm picking the shredded skin f my palms as we speak


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

lol nath!

i`m stuck with me trap bar cos of my back altho tbh i`d use it anyway.

its made worse by the fact that ive had a 4 week break from training.

as for toughening them up by perseverance that dont seem to work much either lol

most useful thing ive found so far is to make sure i remove the hard skin that builds up with one of those skin grater things so theres less to rip off.

i was thinking of soaking me hands in salt water or sommat-

trouble is it dint work for the dogs feet so i`m guessing it ain gonna do me much good either.

while my back is holding up to training deads so often i wanna continue altho i guess i`ll drop to once a week again when i near my PB...

thanks bud


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## Guest (Oct 29, 2007)

crazycal1 said:


> lol i want to toughen my hands not baby em dude.
> 
> QUOTE]
> 
> ...


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## Tom84 (Dec 12, 2005)

I can't really think of much aside from chalk or gloves and then extra grip work to compensate


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

crazycal1 said:


> lol i want to toughen my hands not baby em dude.
> 
> i do use chalk of course tho.
> 
> ...


Its whatever gets you over that plateau mate... If using gloves/straps helps you up your weight then thats 'additional grip work' (i.e. you are able to lift more weight, so your grip strength should increase as a result of the increase weight) - you can always back down to lifting 'raw' if your ego needs it.


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

[email protected] you saying i lift with me ego.....

you got your 1000lbs yet heh heh heh!

if i started using gloves or straps shredded would kick my ass!

i have started doing chins with woolly gloves on tho to make them harder...


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## splinter1466867924 (Aug 5, 2005)

I used to have problems with this!

I used to deadlift (raw) and my skin would peel off and my hands would start bleeding, looked like a ****ing nutjob in the gym deadlifting with bleeding hands!

When deadlifting I use a combo of gloves and straps.

Use neutrogena moisturising hand cream as well.

It seems to just be palms now which have say (thicker skin, which is yellow lol)

Quite a few people in my gym use sponges to do exercises with, seems to work for them!

But yeah, fiddle around with different ways of protecting your hands.


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## Pikey1466867920 (Apr 24, 2004)

Hi Cal,

Well you'll be pleased to know I've been there as I guess most have that have deadlifted seriously with out resorting to straps etc. You're already doing one of the best things which is to keep the calluses paired down. Before I knew that I once removed most of my palm at a meet on my second attempt, my coaches were ex miners and as hard as hell so rather than let me wimp out ripped the rest of the skin off and poured surgical spirit over the raw flesh - don't recommend it but got my third lift and what made me prouder they thought I did ok.

What you've realised you need to do is toughen your skin up, so

Keep the callus trimmed down, if it builds up to much your skin will rip which you've noticed.

Soak your hands in surgical spirit, better if no cuts as it will sting like hell

This may not be appreciated by everyone and isn't text book and might be a bit hard core...but being from a mining area, I was advised to do this and it works&#8230;.urine toughens your skin up so you could always pee in a bowl and soak your hands in it - but might not be favourite with the other half etc ;-)

Wouldn't use hand cream until you've built a good thick skin up and then a good quality one as needed to keep skin supple and avoid splitting, but not too much as it will soften the skin too much and you'll be back at the starting point.

Don't use wraps or gloves on anything forearms soon catch up and this toughens the palms up and strengthens the hands.

Chins on an old scaffold bar are very good, the oxide dries the skin and the diameter improves grip, the skin will only rear if the bar moves.

Which brings me on to make sure the sleeves on your bar are well oiled / greased and running freely&#8230;

Hope that helps mate and remember to tell the other half which bowl you've used&#8230;.

Cheers

Pikey


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## Nath1466867935 (Sep 4, 2007)

Pikey, what do u recommend to keep the callusses under control, I let mine build up and coincidentally ripped one of the suckers off deadlifting 2day =( Now it is pretty sore. Do u think a pumice stone would be a good idea?

Thanks for ur help

Nath


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## Pikey1466867920 (Apr 24, 2004)

a pumise stone is ok but I found the best thing is a corn knife - it looks a bit like a potato peeler and is basically the same principal altough a good bit sharper, in that it will take a thin layer of skin off, should be able to get one from boots or any high street chemist.


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

well i am hardcore baby!

so how long does one soak their hands in pee?

(its cheaper than surgical spirit lol)

i know its completely sterile when fresh.

interested you say about chinning from a scaffold pole cos that was precisely what i was about to start doing.(well i was gonna cut short sections and stick them on the chains i chin from-i`m chinning with socks on me hands at the mo and its harder than weighted(altho i guess if i stuck more weight on it wouldnt lol but ya get my drift)

cant rep ya again but good post bud!


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## Getting bigger (Sep 12, 2006)

Cal

I use neoprene gloves for this type of movement, sticks like Sh*t springs to mind, nearly as good as straps. It ensures my hands stay delicate on stockings! Not mine either, well, not lately anyway!

GB


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

nah thanks mate i prefer pikeys idea... wanna shake hands lmao


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## Nath1466867935 (Sep 4, 2007)

Since reading Pikey's post, I started asking a few fellas down my gym and a couple of them also recomended the urine method, seems its a tried and tested solution. Think I'll stick to the corn knife tho, thanks for the advice guys...


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

I've just 'wet' myself reading this thread... Its 'p!ss' funny


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## Nath1466867935 (Sep 4, 2007)

TallHeavyAndSkinny said:


> I've just 'wet' myself reading this thread... Its 'p!ss' funny


don't let it go to waste, wring out ur shorts and get those palms in soak


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

Just asked a mate who used to be a miner about wether he has soaked his hands in pee to get a leather like texture.

He reply was: "Nat that I'm planning on admitting to..."

So if you do soak your hands in wee don't admit to it...


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

just finished training...

hands arent to bad, but i`m now off to find a bowl......

this missus is pulling faces in disgust.....


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## Getting bigger (Sep 12, 2006)

Urine on the hands is a cracker for getting rid of birds eye from cement products. "not a lot of people know that."

GB


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

Getting bigger said:


> Urine on the hands is a cracker for getting rid of birds eye from cement products. "not a lot of people know that."
> 
> GB


How come your pushing your missus face into cement?


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

gotta say its working dudes!

thanks pikey dude!


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## Guest (Nov 7, 2007)

Keep your hands soft bro, the dryer and tougher they are the more chance you have of ripping them open. I know a lot of the Russian lifter's keep em soft and have grip's like steel..

I used to get the same issue with rack lockout's, get a good grip on the bar and close your little finger in last.

As for the pee, its good for healing your hand's. I've try'd it lol!!! Wanna shake hand's?


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

hey chris i actually asked you same question aaaaages ago and lost which thread i asked you on lol.

i do moisturise as well-always have, but the pain is bad pretty much from rep one-

i do close my hands like say say too.

so i`m a lil bit confused now....

gotta say hands are pain free and were ready to lift yesterday(a day early)

usually i pretty much have to psyche myself up just to grip the bar and ignore the pain

let ya know how i get on!


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## Nath1466867935 (Sep 4, 2007)

As per Pikeys advice, I purchased a corn knife which seems to be having the desired effect. I've been soaking my hands in warm salt water first as I havent had the 'balls' to try the urine method. Did some deadlifts this morning and it was ok, a bit sore still but at least no torn calluss' . Would def reccomend the corn knife - a winner.


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