Pic - Eden watching mom & dad from the kid corral! This CrossFit Kid is getting a first hand example of how fitness and community continue long past the team sports years of high school and college!

Rips of the skin and calluses are something that every CrossFitter has to deal with. It is a reality that any person who uses their hands in intense activity on a day to day basis, can rip and will rip their skin/calluses. Although this may sound horrible or painful, if taken care of, can become a less frequent occurrence. So you may ask how do I help prevent this? Well there are 3 scenarios that you must identify when dealing with hand rips/ build up:
 

1. If your hands are new to intense exercise, you need to toughen up your skin by creating calluses(A callus is a build up of tough skin that is created by your body in order to protect from ripping). The more you use your hands the quicker you will build up your calluses and create a tougher, more durable surface. Another way we can toughen up the skin on our hands is by sanding/filing your calluses on a day-to-day basis. You can use a nail-file, a piece of fine-grit sandpaper, or a callus specialty tool such as Mr. Tweezerman callus shaver/file
http://www.tweezerman.com/scripts/item.cfm?gc=T&sc=CC&itemsku=5085R&topmenu=1&submenu=5
A couple minutes a day will keep the surface of your hands smooth but will also build up the callus in order to protect the skin.

2. If your hands have toughen up and have built up large calluses, you are also in danger of ripping due to a non-smooth surface. This non-smooth surface has ridges and bumps that will bunch up and increase your likely hood of tearing. This is another scenario in which sanding down or shaving down the callus will help create a smooth durable surface. With large bumps and ridges,  it is extremely important to shave down that area so that when doing activity, that bump/ridge, does not pinch and create a rip.  

3. Your hands have now ripped and you have open wounds on the surface. When dealing with any wound it is extremely important to keep the area clean. Wash regularly with warm soap and water, then gently pat dry. After washing the ripped area, apply some anti-bacterial cream such as Neosporin/ Aquaphor to keep the area moist and clean. Repeat this process for the first 36-48 hours. After the area begins to heal and harden, begin sanding the area to restore the smooth surface. Also when dealing with a rip, many people tend to shy away from exercises that require their hands or will completely stop coming until their hands heal. We at CrossFit Ethos feel that ripping of the hands is part of everyday life and that you must work through things such as this. However we do recommend and allow taping of the hands to help protect the healing area. We tape our hands in a way that will protect the entire palm, much like a gymnastic strap. This will help the healing area from further damage but will allow you to continue to work out at a high level with no limitations. Gloves are strictly forbidden at Ethos and we do not condone the use of gloves and/or gymnastic straps in a workout setting. We believe that you should strengthen your grip by using your hands, without aid, and toughening up your skin/calluses.
 

WOD

"Death by Clean and Jerk"

Perform one 135 pound Clean and Jerk on the first minute,  two 135 clean and jerks on the second minute, three 135 clean and jerks on the third minute and so on until you cannot complete the number of Clean and Jerks within the one minute time frame.

Post number of complete rounds to comments.

*Follow-up*

There is now a donation box at the gym for the Eric Olson care package. Feel free to throw any items in it that you think he would enjoy having. Any item is welcomed, especially items such as pics/news from Ethos. All donations need to be in before May 7th.