At CrossFit, hands are life. Double unders, barbell lifts, and gymnastic movements all require one very valuable thing — your hands. Something so widely used, can also be easily damaged if not given the proper care. So today we’re laying out all the ways to protect your CrossFit hands during and after a workout.
Your CrossFit hands care options
Three main ways to care for CrossFit hands is with grips, tape or regular maintenance. We go into detail about how we personally use each method and our favorite products to use.
1. Grips
Think of choosing the best hand grip for you, like choosing the best CrossFit shoes. Some people swear by Nike Metcons while others are diehard Reebok Nano advocates. Neither shoe is a bad choice but it takes trying some options out to find the one for you. Just like shoes, sometimes you have to try a few different hand grips in order to figure out the best option for you.
What we recommend:
Bear KompleX 2 and 3 Hole Carbon Hand Grips
Everyone has a different hand size and style of grip. Depending on how you grip the rig or barbell, can depend on where you form calluses. With Bear KompleX grips, you have the option to get 2 or 3 hole hand grips so that you can best cover the main callus areas of your hands.
JAW hand grips
I don’t personally like to use grips but if I do, I use these JAW hand grips. This particular brand of hand grips aren’t widely used but I personally love them because I feel like I can get the best grip on the bar. Two or three hole hand grip options are available.
Taview Premium Weight Lifting Wrist Hooks Straps
If you’re looking for a speedy way to take your grips on and off, these wrist straps are the ones for you. The big difference with this style of hand grip is how much more grip they require. Because you don’t put fingers through any holes, the fabric bunches up towards the back of your hand, calling for a different grip.
2. Tape
Hand tape is a good option to keep in your gym bag, especially for grip heavy workouts. Tape is perfect because you can place it anywhere on your hand that may get rubbed extra during a workout. Having tape handy is also great for CrossFit hands because if you’ve ripped, they can help protect from further damage.
What we recommend:
Goat tape
Coming in at an affordable price, Goat Tape works great for thumbs, fingers and even as extra cushion on a rig or kettlebell handle! Made with cotton fabric, this tape is hypoallergenic but still super sticky. Be warned, in extra humid conditions it has been known to start pulling off but otherwise it gets the job done.
RockTape HookGrip
RockTape thought of it all by creating a roll of pre-cut strips for their CrossFit hands tape. While RockTape isn’t as soft as some of the other tapes out there, it’s long lasting and still hypoallergenic. Unlike others, it can also act as a kinesiology tape.
LiftGenie tearable elastic adhesive tape
LiftGenie tape has the flexibility and durability you want during a workout. The secret behind this tape’s durability is that it’s made with both horizontal and vertical threading. With 4.8 stars on Amazon, it definitely has quite a few people’s seal of approval!
3. Care & Maintenance
No matter what you use during a workout, sometimes it’s what you do with your hands outside of the gym that makes all the difference. Keeping smooth, well kept hands may be one of the best things you can do to avoid the pain of ripping. By ensuring you keep your hands well moisturized and your callouses low, you set yourself up for less damage to your hands.
What we recommend:
A callus shaver
While this is marketed as a foot callus shaver, it actually works wonders on your hands. Please, please be careful when using this, as I can say first hand that these blades are sharp. But again, hand maintenance is key to avoiding serious damage to those precious CrossFit hands. By smoothing out those callouses with this shaver, you avoid a lot of unnecessary hand issue.
A pumice stone
Sometimes we just need something front and center in order to remember to do it. Hang a pumice stone in your shower so that you remember to rub off any dead skin and work away at those tough hand callouses. The smoother your hands are, the less likely you are to create a serious rip because your callouses won’t get caught up against the bar.
O'Keefe's Working Hands hand cream
Words really can’t describe how different and effective this O’Keefe’s Working Hands hand cream is from others on the market. Whether a job has you washing your hands a ton or the winter months get them chapped, this hand cream feels like heaven for any severely dry hand. Dry hands is actually the leading cause of ripping with CrossFit hands, so grab you some of this today.
Well, that about covers the best ways to care for your CrossFit hands. If we left out any of your tried and true techniques, be sure to let us know. In the meantime, take care of those valuable hands and keep them rip-free!
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