Do you suffer from calluses ?

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Calluses, to brag or a burden?

Some athletes, especially in the fitness or CrossFit® industry, take pride in posting photos like this.

They have worked hard….. no doubt about it. But what else does that say?

Are they using the correct gripping technique?
Do they take good care of their hands?

… Very likely not!

How do calluses form?

Calluses arise naturally. It is a reaction of the skin when the epidermis is exposed to a lot of friction or pressure. This makes the skin rougher and will subsequently thicken to better protect itself against friction or pressure.

It is therefore logical that most calluses arise under the feet. But calluses do not only occur under the feet. Calluses also occur on the palms, especially in people who work a lot with their hands, such as construction workers, but also in athletes.

If you do a lot of strength training with dumbbells and barbells, you can also get calluses on the inside of your hands.

Finally, the development of calluses can also be genetically determined. This is mainly due to the growth and position of certain bones. Due to a very small deviation or a deformity, there can be more pressure on the skin in a certain place. This in turn results in a layer of calluses being formed. The cause of calluses is therefore very diverse and can be caused by friction, too much pressure, position of the feet, any sports you practice and the type of work or hobby.

Calluses during strength training

When working with bars (especially Pull-up and Deadlift), most athletes will grasp the bars by taking them in the center of the palm and then closing the hands. This pinches the skin between the bar and the fingers. If you then perform a pulling movement on the crushed skin, calluses will form and in the worst case, the skin will be torn off. Your hands are then, sometimes to the point of bleeding, open and you are out of action for a few days.

Prevent calluses

You can prevent or reduce calluses by holding the bars or barbells in a different way. Grasp the bar at the junction of your fingers with your palm and then wrap your hands around the bar.

As a result, your skin will not be crushed between the bar, which means there is less chance of calluses forming and especially less chance of the skin tearing loose during Pull-ups and Deadlift. In the beginning it can feel a bit uncomfortable because you will have to develop more strength in the fingers.

In brief

Remove calluses

Do you still have calluses? Do not let it thicken and remove the dead skin weekly.

When your hands are dry, you can carefully remove the excess using a special callus rasp or callus file. Make sure that you only remove the excess calluses and do not remove everything. After all, it is an extra protective layer for the skin. When you have removed the callus, rinse your feet or hands well again and dry them well.

As a finishing touch, you can rub your hands with a special callus cream. This makes the skin beautifully smooth and soft. If you do this 1 or 2 times a week, you will quickly see that it will stay away too much.

Tested for you

We have tested various callus files ourselves and this one is very suitable for us.

With this grater from the brand Scholl (we don’t benefit from this brand at all) you can remove all calluses in less than 5 minutes so that you don’t have any problems with the next workout.

This grater is available in every major (online) retail chain and costs less than 10 euros. It is very easy to use and has a rough and a slightly softer side.

A good athlete takes care of his health so that training remains fun.

Hopefully it helped you and you can exercise callus-free

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