How to Avoid Calluses When Lifting Heavy Weights

Image credit: cronfeld

Getting calluses while you lift weights is normal, but a lot can be done to reduce the number of calluses that form on your hands.

If you’re getting calluses while lifting, you’re doing some things right. You’re training hard, using a heavy weight, and doing plenty of pulling movements. Just a few changes will help to keep your calluses down to a minimal level.

Why You’re Getting Calluses:

Grip: The biggest reason for getting calluses on your hands is how you grip your bar on pulling movements. On a pulling movement, you are attempting to move the weight toward your body while gravity (or a cable) pulls the weight into your fingers. Gripping the bar in the wrong part of your hand will squeeze the skin beneath the bar.

• Wrong: Don’t place the bar in the palm of your hand directly above your knuckles on the other side. When you wrap your fingers around the bar, the skin below your fingers will fold around the bar.

• Right: Place the bar in the spot where your fingers connect to your hand. This helps to make sure that your skin isn’t folded beneath the bar. The weight in your hands will pull the bar to your fingers anyways, so it’s best just to start with the bar there. If this is your first time using this grip, it will feel a bit odd, but you’ll get the hang of it quickly.

This grip applies to the following pulling movements and their variations:

• Deadlifts (all variations)
• Rows (all variations)
• Lat Pulldowns
• Pull-ups/ chin-ups
• Powercleans
• Shoulder shrugs

Sweaty Palms: Hey, you’re really working up a sweat, I know. But moist hands aren’t the best for preventing calluses. If you’re wondering why this is, just think about what your skin is like after taking a shower. Wet skin is softer and forms calluses more easily.

• Dry: Wipe your hands before doing heavy pulling movements.
• Chalk: This helps to keep your skin dry and tight. Not all gyms will allow it, but chalk will also improve your grip on heavy lifts.

Sharp Knurl: Each bar has knurling (grips) to help you hold onto the weight better. Some bars have knurling that’s a little bit too strong and it feels like sandpaper on your hands. Choose a bar with decent knurling that’s not too sharp for you.

How to Treat Calluses:

Ok, so you’re doing everything right and you still get some calluses. That’s fine; it happens.

Just as your muscles adapt to increased resistance and become stronger, a callus is really just your skin becoming tough and hard because of the resistance you are placing on it. If you get a callus, keep it in good condition.

• Don’t peel, cut, or bite: Your callus is attached to the skin around it. Trying to remove the callus will also remove some of that skin and cause bleeding. Plus it’s disgusting.
• File: Use a regular nail file to thin it down if it’s becoming a problem. Keep it in place though, because calluses are a natural way for your skin to protect itself.

Not Bicep Curls:

The grip described above does not apply to bicep curls. At the top part of each curl, your forearms are close to vertical and gravity will pull the weight down toward your thumbs. There’s no avoiding this.

It’s ok though, because you’ll be doing much less weight on bicep curls than on heavy pulling movements, and the weight is only pulled toward your fingers for a moment at the bottom of the movement.

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Related posts:

1. Why Lifting Weights is Key To Your Health- New Year Approaching
2. 8.5 Reasons Runners Need To Lift Heavy Stuff
3. Barbells, Dumbbells, Weights and Plates

Tags: back, callus, pulling, Training Tips