I tore today. It’s certainly not anything nearly as significant as what Rachel did to herself over the weekend, and it probably doesn’t even hold a candle to any of the rips incurred by those of you that took on Angie last Friday. The tear in question is on the ring finger of my left hand though, and today’s mine and Lesley’s anniversary. I don’t know if that means anything, but it’s been a while since I’ve torn, and since Mandy was sharing some of my favorite tips for rips and tears last week, I thought it was time to put them up on the blog again.
- Wash the affected area with soap and water (the most painful part of the process, as long as you don’t decide to try New-Skin)
- Leave uncovered, let dry, and cut off the dead skin
- Apply Neosporin, fish oil, or vitamin E to promote healing
- If possible, leave open at night, but definitely keep covered during the day until healed enough to leave exposed
- Drink water, eat clean, take your fish oil, and enjoy superhuman-like healing abilities
While working out with a rip, I prefer to simply cover it with good ol’ white athletic tape. I haven’t had a lot of success with the aforementioned New-Skin. Applying it isn’t a particularly enjoyable experience, and it doesn’t remain adhered to my skin as well as I’d like for day-to-day activities, let alone working out, but it may work for you, so if you don’t mind a little bit of a sharp, burning sensation, give it a try.
This is my routine, and depending on the size, depth, and location of the tear, I can usually have it healed to the point that I no longer need to cover it within a few days. Hopefully it works for you, but other suggestions are definitely welcome in the comments. Now if only we could figure out a fool proof, guaranteed way to prevent rips and tears altogether…
June 26, 2012
Skill/Strength:
Split Jerk 2-2-2-2-2-2
WOD:
Fenway Park Spartan Sprint on November 17th, 2012 the creators of the Spartan Race series are turning Fenway Park into a 1 mile Spartan Sprint obstacle course. It’s in our backyard, and rumor has it another local box is putting a team together, so let’s represent! Kevin Kittredge has agreed to lead the CrossFit Fenway team, so please contact him in the next week if you’re interested. More race details are available here.
Hyannis Hyball Invitational is a charity softball game being put together by CrossFit Fenway’s own Sean O’Connell to benefit the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization. The event is July 28th at 10 AM in Hyannis, MA, and all of CFF is invited. Please check out HyannisHyball.com for more information.
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Happy Anniversary Eric and Lesley!
Whoever does come up with a sure fire way to avoid rips will quickly become my new favorite person. Especially if it carries over to rope burns.
I would make a killing if I could figure out why I’ve never gotten a rip in trapeze OR CrossFit. I was thinking about it earlier today while doing some pull-ups and made an interesting observation.
Yes I work with my hands a lot (trapeze, etc) so I have an advantage, but I suspect my lack of rips may have more to do with the fact that my hands don’t slide on the bar.
I have a strong grip, which allows me to “hold” the bar instead of just hanging on my hands, which is an important distinction (if it makes sense!!). Think of how we need to keep our backs engaged for lifting – similarly, I tend to engage my whole forearms and hands in the grip. When I come down from a pull-up, the muscles stay engaged enough that my hands don’t slide at all. The pull-up bar stays squarely in the palm of my hands and I don’t slide down (possible with kipping too). Usually sliding = friction = blisters & rips.
Strengthening grip & forearms might be helpful – full-arm strength instead of just shoulders and upper arms. Woo farmer’s carry!!!
Not sure if I’m explaining that all too well or if it will work for other folks. If anyone has any thoughts, please weigh in!
Happy anniversary Eric and Lesley!
Split Jerk: 80kg (failed @85kg)
WOD: 11:04 @55kg
Hang cleans felt better than they normally do, but they’re not where I want them to be. Great job 6am!
Wow! That’s an impressive split jerk!
Thank you Scott! Nice speed on today’s WOD!
Split Jerk – 120kg
WOD – 10:27 @ 70kg – this was brutal!
Nice work 5:30
Happy anniversary Lesley and Eric
Split Jerk: 65KG
WOD: 7:57 @42.5KG
Split Jerk: 70kg – definitely could’ve gone heavier, but I haven’t done them in such a long time, I had no idea of what weight to shoot for.
WOD: 7:01 Rx @ 53kg
I love a good split jerk, and I like jerks, which is something I’m working on changing. AMEN.
After 3 days of polluting my body, I failed the second split jerk at 134 lbs (60 something kilos?) and my goal was to do more than 135, which was from 5/31′s WOD.
Today’s WOD: 11:19, 40 kilos and I have a lovely bruise to show off!
Happy Anniversary, Eric and Les!
Hi Mandy!
Caroline is correct: strong grip, maintained throughout the ROM, is the key to avoiding rips entirely. However, working to exhaustion/failure is a thing we do; therefore the tradeoff becomes “work past failure” or “prevent rips”. Your call.
Happy anniversary, Eric and Lesley!
Ideally a little of both :)
Thank you all for the kind words. I feel very lucky to have Les.
Split Jerk: 90 KG
WOD: 6:23 @ 60 KG – probably should’ve gone 70
Happy Anniversary Eric and Lesley!
Split jerk: 52 kg
WOD: 11:26 @ 35 kg
Happy anniversary Eric and Lesley!!
SJ: 40kg PR
WOD: 9:15 Rx
I was amused to find I hadn’t done HPC or press jerks in ages, so I was technically doing my 1 rep max for those in the WOD. Ha!