Sensitive Skin Help.... Poll

[18i]

hey guys, i just got my first grippers, they are great, fun, but hell do they hurt my skin after a while, i even teared a little piece of skin on my pinky....!! Is this normal? i do have sensitive skin... but still, right now, everytime i try to close it, i struggle every bit of second because of my SKIN only, I cant focus on the strength, and grip... i ordered some chalk and liquid grip a week ago, should have them soon... would they solve this problem? or the oil-based training thing? or even the tuf-foot?

right now i put some cheap winter glove for reps, it feels a lil better but still feel its gonna tear up if keep doin them, the texture on these gripper is pretty raw!

thoughts, anyone have the same problem? please share, i really wanna get my grip goin

[hiteck88]

When i first started grip training a year ago, i suffered from senitive soft hands just like you. I could close a trainer, but the nr. 1 was in range. My hands would get REALLY sore after endlessly repping the grippers through out the day. Today I have my focus on singles on lighter grippers and now i can close a 3, the skin on my fingers is thick, so i can do neg. on my 4.

just take your time, let your hands adapt to the rough handles, and dont do too many reps.

[Koura]

Just train. Your hands will toughen up.

[Malice]

They will toughen up with training and use plenty of lotion when you're not training.

[Cannon]

I voted OTHER. Just put some tape on the bad spots. Electricians tape is my favorite.

[daniel reinard]

Use lotion on days off. If you have a sore/torn spot use electrical tape (helps glide of handle over that spot). Do less reps and more heavy singles. Don't use grippers everyday. When my hands needed to toughen up I DIDN'T use chalk on the fingers. Sweaty fingers helped the handle slide over the handle. I just chalked the palm to keep that handle in place. Some people wrap electrical tape on the finger handle for when they do negatives since that motion does most the tearing.

[Shoggoth]

Skin toughens up over time. On a side note I eat a ton (2-300 grams) of sunflower seeds everyday and I think all of the vitamin E has helped my skin a lot as well IMO.

[Autolupus]

Climber said it best, this is not verbatim:

Keep your skin supple and strong from the inside out, not from the outside in.

This means eating right and taking in enough oils to keep your skin flexible and strong.

I've found fish oil supplements like cod liver oil help a lot. If you do find you are starting to get tearing then stop and rest, aloe vera gels can help as can moisturising, also some glove or towel training, to give your hands time to adapt but time is the key factor, as with muscle and tendons your skin heals, repairs and toughens when you're not training.

[Autolupus]

...also if you do develop callouses, shave or sand them down to keep them smooth and similar in thickness to the rest of your skin.

If you let them build and then they go, you'll know about it...a large hard lump of petrified skin and half your hand!

[Autolupus]

...oh yes and to say focus on the grip and not the skin is just damn stupid!

[18i]

thx for the advice guys, i just got some chalk and it does help, but not much... i tried something out, got inspired from Cannon, I wrapped the handles of the grippers with electric tape, and it is amazing now, no tear wat so ever, its smooth, it does get slippery sometime , but its good with chalk, amazing idea! i just training for a while with them; my skin is happy and my forearm is tired! ill try to train without the tape from time to time to get my skin used to the roughness, but for now, ill keep it like that !

thx

Edited October 23, 2010 by 18i

[Forever]

thx for the advice guys, i just got some chalk and it does help, but not much... i tried something out, got inspired from Cannon, I wrapped the handles of the grippers with electric tape, and it is amazing now, no tear wat so ever, its smooth, it does get slippery sometime , but its good with chalk, amazing idea! i just training for a while with them; my skin is happy and my forearm is tired! ill try to train without the tape from time to time to get my skin used to the roughness, but for now, ill keep it like that !

thx

Good luck, your hands will be alright in time