Hi guys a few weeks ago i had some blisters open up during deadlifts and I’ve worked through it for the last couple of weeks but today they opened up again and it looks like I have blisters on top of blisters.
I read some where that training with straps with blisters is meant to help them heal up but that didn’t work as I’ve been using straps for the last couple of weeks and they have opened up again and I only got 5 of my 7 sets in of deadlifts today. So is there any secret to either training with blisters or is it just one of those things you need to deal with. And does the temperature have anything to do with blisters as its 40 degrees here today and the gym dosnt have aircon so it it was prob closer to 44 in the gym maybe hotter.
How long have you been lifting for?
Over time your hands should harden but they can still open up from time to time especially if the bar rolls.
Alternate grip or straps fix that problem though.
Not sure why they would open up with straps. That doesn’t make any sense.
Having sweaty palms is most likely why this happened to you again. Using chalk will help although a lot of gyms don’t allow it.
I find liquid chalk works well if your gym is fussy about having chalk powder everywhere. It also seems to last longer when sweaty (my gym is the same!). You could also try sticking a piece of zinc oxide tape over your blisters when training, then otherwise get the air to them to allow them to heal.
You can also use surgical spirit to toughen up the skin - not on open wounds though… smarts a bit!
Do you mean to say you’re ripping open your callouses? The best thing to do to let it heal is to not stress your grip.
You can prevent callouses by gripping the bar more in your fingers; this will also help a bit with letting them heal if they rip:
I don’t think this position is as a strong, however. I generally don’t do this unless I’m having callous problems or I’m lifting relatively light weight (e.g. just doing rows).
If it’s hot in your gym, you’ll have sweaty hands. As others mentioned, chalk will help with the bar sliding, which can cause callous formation/ripping.
You should also be cutting down your callouses. If they get big, they’re going to rip. I actually use nail clippers. You could use a knife. Rough sandpaper. Your teeth. Whatever. Just do it.
It’s still going to happen, but you can minimize it’s impact.
As a rock climber, I know about tearing up my hands. Your skin gets tougher over time. Also, the stronger you get, the less you damage your skin because when you’re strong the weight isn’t moving around in your vice-like grip. I’m almost certain you need to do some grip work because you don’t get blisters unless the weight is sliding around.
Thanks for the feedback guys, my gym dosnt allow chalk but ill look into the bottled stuff.
I am new to lifting an since they opened up they have recovered a bit it only seems to happen on deadlifts but I’ve taken more care in drying my hands with a towel before every set and this seems to be helping.
I’ve found that using straps really helps I think i’ll stick with straps while i deadlift.
The downside to straps is that you will improve your pull but your grip will stay weak (relatively). This means that when you do decide to try without straps, this will be your limiting factor. I trained this way for a few years and found, to my horror, I was not able to pull properly without straps.
Best advice - ditch the straps, take the pain and build your grip.
[quote]Airborne88 wrote:
The downside to straps is that you will improve your pull but your grip will stay weak (relatively). This means that when you do decide to try without straps, this will be your limiting factor. I trained this way for a few years and found, to my horror, I was not able to pull properly without straps.
Best advice - ditch the straps, take the pain and build your grip.[/quote]
Is grip strength important? I don’t want to be a power lifter i just enjoy doing compound movements so in that case would training with straps be fine?
and or if i do all my other movements like pull downs rows etc with out straps will that build my grip strength to the point where it dosnt matter that I use straps with deads.
[quote]Airborne88 wrote:
The downside to straps is that you will improve your pull but your grip will stay weak (relatively). This means that when you do decide to try without straps, this will be your limiting factor. I trained this way for a few years and found, to my horror, I was not able to pull properly without straps.
Best advice - ditch the straps, take the pain and build your grip.[/quote]
Is grip strength important? I don’t want to be a power lifter i just enjoy doing compound movements so in that case would training with straps be fine?
and or if i do all my other movements like pull downs rows etc with out straps will that build my grip strength to the point where it dosnt matter that I use straps with deads.[/quote]
Well, having good grip strength isn’t going to hurt. You’ll also rarely find someone who is strong with a weak grip.
But, if you’re just doing it for fun and don’t really care, sure, straps are fine.
I’d say your best bet for the moment would be to use straps for DL, and all other pulling without. If you can, add in some specific grip work - farmers carries, suitcase holds, hanging from a bar for time, etc.
[quote]Airborne88 wrote:
The downside to straps is that you will improve your pull but your grip will stay weak (relatively). This means that when you do decide to try without straps, this will be your limiting factor. I trained this way for a few years and found, to my horror, I was not able to pull properly without straps.
Best advice - ditch the straps, take the pain and build your grip.[/quote]
Is grip strength important? I don’t want to be a power lifter i just enjoy doing compound movements so in that case would training with straps be fine?
and or if i do all my other movements like pull downs rows etc with out straps will that build my grip strength to the point where it dosnt matter that I use straps with deads.[/quote]
Well, having good grip strength isn’t going to hurt. You’ll also rarely find someone who is strong with a weak grip.
But, if you’re just doing it for fun and don’t really care, sure, straps are fine.
I’d say your best bet for the moment would be to use straps for DL, and all other pulling without. If you can, add in some specific grip work - farmers carries, suitcase holds, hanging from a bar for time, etc. [/quote]
Sounds like a great Idea I’ll add some of that stuff in.
