The crossfit hands

I am sure someone has suffered from the crossfit hands at some point in their life. We all know how it happens. If you're not strong enough to do proper pull-ups, you have a huge kip, which usually ends up with this kind of results:

My hand after pull-ups, handstand push-ups and snatches. Photo taken by Rachael DeYoung.

Or perhaps you managed to complete a 11:41 Angie, like Jon Robichaud

Jon's hands after the WOD "Angie". Photo credit Element Crossfit

Or maybe a friend of yours asked you to do a really sh*tty workout for a school project and you agreed to.

Liz Cummings' hand after the Beast 12 WOD.

Regardless of what you did, having torn hands is incredibly annoying as well as very painful. I know that when I tear my hands, I am off of pull-ups and bar work for at least a week, but usually more.

I try to take care of my hands. I had bought a pedicure egg to use on my hands, but that didn't get the calluses in the crease of my fingers, where I got them the most.

A couple of months ago, my friend Michelle Uba arrived at the gym as excited as a kid on christmas. She had found the solution to our calluses problem!

A Dremel is great to use on those calluses! Photo Credit Viewpoints.com

A Dremel! That thing sands down calluses like nobody's business! It gets absolutely everything. It is fantastic!

No more calluses = no more hands tearing during WODs = more pull-ups please!

Using the Dremel once a week will keep your calluses in check. I also recommend using hand moisturizer to keep the skin nice and supple.

What are your tricks to keep your calluses in check?

Beauty in Strength

There was a spread posted in the Crossfit Journal this past december. It was of pictures of women working through the 2009 Crossfit Games.

It was truly inspiring.

Fashion magazines constantly push the image of beauty as being stick thin, petite and delicate.

But look at these women!

They are all beautiful. They are strong. They have legs that can backsquat at least 175lbs. Their backs have felt the strain of a 200lbs deadlift. They know what failure feels like. They also know how to overcome it.

They know how to dig deep to find the strength to throw that 95lbs bar over their head one more time to get just one more rep out of their 15 minute time allowance.

Every rep counts. Every second counts.

These girls don't give up.

To me, they are much more beautiful then the women posing and smiling on fashion magazines.

Photo courtesy of the Crossfit Journal.