T Nation

Sandbag Tearing Flesh Off Knuckles

Conditioning
#1

I recently got the Ultimate Sandbag that Mahler was talking about in an article from a while ago and it’s been great so far. My forearms are sore like they’ve never been sore before and it’s starting to beef up my grip strength. The only problem is that it’s tearing skin off, especially on the first knuckle on my middle fingers. It’s mostly on doing explosive lifts, like high pulls or cleans. I used it again today and just focused on pressing movements, and still managed to tear skin off the two knuckles doing floor presses and military presses.

I also managed to tear skin off on the side of my pinky and first knuckle ring finger prior to this, so it’ll probably be a recurring annoyance unless there’s a way of doing explosive lifts that doesn’t involve tearing up your fingers.

#2

wear gloves?

#3

Callus should form eventually but you could wear gloves.

#4

Same thing happens to me. I also pop blood vessels.

My hands look pretty gnarly lately.

#5

I think it might have been an issue of grip strength. I’m not ripping up my hands anymore but they are still looking nice and pretty, especially from doing Kroc rows with the center strap.

#6

I put duct tape on mine, works good