A Guide To Treating Weightlifting Calluses

Seeing a woman lift weights at the gym is way more common than ever these days. However, although we love the inclusivity in gyms lately, weight lifting does have its pitfalls, such as calluses.

There is nothing sexier than a woman who lifts weights until she gets calluses on her hands. Sure, calluses are not the worst thing ever, and they actually aren’t that bad, but many women can’t stand them.

While many may turn to gloves to avoid calluses, several experts warn against them because they hinder technique. Therefore, we have found a few tips that will help you get rid of your weight-lifting calluses easily.

Do Not Pick

Although it may be tempting to pick and pull at your calluses, this action is counteractive. You may cause them to bleed or rip, which will only affect your grip, or they may just grow tougher instead.

“Pulling, stretching, and picking at calluses basically tells your body to make them thicker and tougher,”

Says Dermatologist Dr. Tyler Hollmig

If you do happen to pick at a callus and it rips, you should not try to soldier through a workout with it anyway. Rather treat the wounds properly and wrap your hands up in bandages before lifting again.

Epsom Salts Soak

An Epsom salts soak is fantastic for exfoliating the skin, thus softening the dead skin cells on calluses. Add three tablespoons of Epsom salts in a sink filled with warm water and soak your hands for ten minutes.

Once your hands are dry, you can use a medical file or pumice stone to file away the soft dead skin. Be sure to stop if the skin starts to feel tender and continue the process the next day instead of hurting yourself.

When you are done with the filing process, you should ensure to moisturize your hands. A vitamin E-rich moisturizer will work best to moisturize and protect the freshly exfoliated skin on your callus-free hands.

Preventions

We have already mentioned that workout gloves can be used as a preventative measure for calluses. However, trainers do recommend staying away from the gloves if possible to maintain a great technique.

Other preventative measures one can take against calluses include grips, lifting straps, and chalk. Hand grips are worn like workout gloves, except they are mostly useful for pull-up bar exercises instead of all workouts.

Lifting straps may not look useful, but they redistribute tension into the forearms and wrists, thus protecting the hands. Lastly, chalk helps by keeping the hands dry, thus reducing friction from sweat.