Sunday 10.02.11

For those of you who are Paleo fans, Robb Wolf is going to be on a show on Discovery Channel today.

And for a completely unrelated topic to the video, Tearing our hands doing pull ups or other exercises are considered an injury, and we have definitely seen less injuries of this type at the gym.  That is good, because many people in CrossFit consider torn, bloody hands a mark of honor.  I consider it a hindrance on my next workout and a danger at my full time job.

With just completing "Fran" and more pull ups sure to come, Matt sent me this blog post to remind us all about basic care to the hands and other parts:

Rough hands are the result of hard work, but if you tear, you need to take some precautions to prevent infections.

The best cure is prevention, and the first step in the gym is basic hygiene. Infection is only possible if an organism is present. If a bar or other piece of equipment is especially dirty, clean it. If it is bloody, disinfect it. Standard household or commercial cleaners should be sufficient for general cleaning. Use something containing an antiseptic like bleach or iodine for blood.

If you haven’t had a tetanus shot in 10 years, get one. Ask your care provider if you should get the pertussis vaccine. Try to have at least somewhat clean hands when working out. Some workouts might make that difficult if you’re carrying sandbags, flipping a tire or doing bear crawls, but I try to at least wash my hands before exercising. Please don’t hear that I recommend against these movements; I don’t. The idea is to use what reasonable precautions you can.

Do your best to avoid injuries, especially to the hands. Use one of the many taping techniques to protect yourself if you know you will be doing a lot of pull-ups, or tape your wrists for false-grip muscle-ups. If you tear your hands, scrape your shins or suffer some other abrasion or cut, assuming it doesn’t need medical attention immediately, wash it with soap and water. This step alone—cleaning the wound carefully—will dramatically reduce the risk of infection and is my single most important recommendation.

If it is a wound of any significance, bandage it, ideally after applying some antibiotic ointment. Really try to protect it during your next workout. If you start to notice redness or worsening pain and tenderness, get it checked.