The Unofficial Crossfit Hand Care Guide

If you have been doing CrossFit for more than a week, you know the feeling. You are mid-WOD, the adrenaline is pumping, and then you feel it—that stinging, hot sensation on your palm. You look down, and there it is: a fresh rip.

While bloody hands used to be worn like a badge of honor back in the day, the truth is that a rip is just an injury that keeps you away from the pull-up bar for three days. Not ideal.

Taking care of your hands is a skill, just like a double-under or a snatch. Here is the human guide to keeping your paws soft enough for a handshake but tough enough for Fran.

1. The Enemy is the Callus

We often think calluses are great—they are like natural armor, right? Wrong. In CrossFit, a big, thick, mountain callus is actually your worst enemy. When you grip a pull-up bar and start moving, that bar catches the edge of the callus and peels it back like a lid.

The Fix: Keep them flat. Grab a dedicated hand shaver and sand those bad boys down once or twice a week after a shower. Your skin should be tough, but smooth and level.

2. Chalk is a Frenemy

Chalk is great for grip, but it is a massive dehydrator. It sucks every bit of moisture out of your skin, making it brittle and prone to cracking.

The Pro Tip: Wash your hands immediately after your workout. Do not let that chalk sit on your skin for an hour while you grab a post-workout coffee. Get it off, and get the moisture back in.

3. Maintenance: Shave, Don't Pull

Your body builds calluses to protect itself, but too much armor is a liability. When calluses get thick and "lumpy," the knurling on the barbell or the friction of the pull-up bar catches those ridges, bunches them up, and rips the skin right off.

The Tool: Use the REST+REP Callus Remover once a week—ideally after a shower when the skin is soft.

• The Technique: Gently shave down the raised, hard ridges on your palms.
• The Goal: You want your calluses to be flat and smooth, not thick and woody. Flat skin slides over the bar; thick skin bunches and tears.

4. The Secret Sauce: REST+REP

This is where most people drop the ball. They they wash their hands, they remove excessive calluses and then they leave them dry.

This is exactly why we created REST+REP hand cream. Most drugstore lotions are either too greasy (good luck holding a barbell tomorrow) or too watery to actually heal anything.

How to use it: Apply a small amount before bed. It is designed to sink in fast and actually repair the micro-tears you caused during those 50 toes-to-bar. It keeps the skin elastic. Elastic skin stretches; dry skin rips. Simple math.

4. What if you do rip?

Accidents happen. If you tear skin:

1. Clean it: It is going to sting, but use soap and water.

2. Trim it: Use clean nail clippers to cut away the dead flap so it does not catch on anything else.

3. Hydrate it: Keep it covered with a thin layer of REST+REP to keep the new skin from drying out and cracking (which hurts way worse than the initial rip).

The Bottom Line

Your hands are your most important tools in the gym. If you treat them like an afterthought, they will eventually force you to take a day off. Spend five minutes a week on maintenance, use your REST+REP hand cream, and keep those hands on the bar where they belong.

Stay gritty, but keep the skin smooth. See you at the box!