Hand maintenance

Callus's are the body's adaptation to repeated friction.  Unfortunately your body hasn't figured out that as a c
rossfitter those calluses aren't protecting anything... in fact they're making things worse.

As a CrossFit athlete one of the things you will have to do with some frequency to avoid gnarly hand injuries is to regularly maintenance your hands - specifically shaving down calluses.  As a coach I see a lot of ripped hands, and I invariably ask the question: "what are you doing for hand maintenance?".  Most time the response is a shrug, a blank stare or worse yet "more chalk".

And no.. more chalk won't help.. it makes it worse.

The only reasonable thing you can do is to shave those calluses down and for that I recommend the Ped Egg.  This little contraption is actually designed for the rough callus buildup on your feet, but works amazingly well for handling the callus buildup on your hands.

Using the device to file down the calluses allows for a lot more control in how much skin you are taking off.  Other methods include using razor-blades to "shave" off the calluses, however this method can be extremely difficult to master and can result in shaving too much and injuring your hands.

With the Ped Egg you do need to be conscious of how much skin it is taking off, especially when brand new to its use.  Gently glide the cheese greater like surface over the callused area in an up and down motion.  Sets of three to four passes at a time pausing briefly in between sets to check the callused area to see how much has been taken down is generally a good idea.

Once you have the bulk of the callus worn down it is time to move onto the finish sanding surface to smooth out the skin and provide a soft touch back to the hands.  The end result should be well manicured surfaces with little callus build up to get caught on the bar as you perform pull ups, muscle ups or other high friction movements and ultimately little to no hand tearing.