Take care of your callouses

Callous care advice (against the grain)

From: Rob Lawrence
Subject: Fitness
Date/Time 2005-02-25 15:14:40
Remote IP: 12.149.13.1
Message

After 3+ years of Kettlebell lifting, I no longer agree with the conventional advice here about how to care for callouses and protect your hands. I see that advice posted here a lot and although it works in some contexts, it doesn't work when you're doing a lot of reps or coping with humid conditions.

If the conventional advice works for you, keep doing it; but if it doesn't, read on.

- "It's all technique" - Yes, but no technique will save you if keep the factory epoxy on your kettlebell handles and try to do high reps. Sand it off to the bare metal and then cover with clear Rustoleum. Not a knock on Dragondoor; in Russia the bells come with epoxied handles too, and they have to sand them off manually as well.

- "Keep your callouses nice and moist so they don't rip." - Totally disagree. A dry callous is your friend and if kept sanded down, isn't going anywhere. A moist callous will stick to your kettlebell handle and come flying off, especially if it gets humid out. Don't moisturize, instead get isopropyl alcohol, apply it with a cotton ball, and dry those callouses out. This advice applies even more if you are chalking the handle and your hand.

- "Sand your callouses down in the shower." - Again, disagree, moisture is the enemy. Do your sanding on dry land. After you dry out your callouses with the alcohol, get a very fine rasp (or even a metal file) and sand them down with long strokes. If you've dried them out properly, the callouses should come off as a fine white powder. Take special care to smooth down the area at the base of the fingers; this is where rips begin.

- "Use Cornhuskers Lotion." Only piece of conventional advice I agree with. Unlike most moisturizers, this seems to heal your hands but not soften the callouses. It also feels "clean" and not greasy. Use minimally and rinse with cold water (see below) when you're done.

Lastly a comment: I always wash my hands with soap and hot water (especially in the winter to avoid colds), but after your rinse hot, you should rinse very cold. This gets all the soap off and helps toughen your hands further. Any soap left on your hands, like moisturizer, will soften the callouses, which is what you don't want.

It's a very different approach, but like I said, the conventional one doesn't work for me.

Rob