I practice trapeze a couple times of week. So much bar work turns your upper hand into one giant callus. This has never been a problem for me in the past (I started three years ago), but lately for some reason when I am on the trapeze my calluses are ripping off. This is very painful and bloody. Is there a way to stop this? I tried to trim them down, but there are still edges that get caught. They never heal in time before my next session, which then makes the problem worse. No one else in my class seems to have this problem, but I’ve heard it can be an issue for weightlifters and bar gymnasts.
Does any one have any tips to prevent this from happening?
Don’t you have grips? This is the sort of thing gymnasts use on bars.
If you don’t have grips, but you need to protect your hands after ripping, you can fashion some temporary grips out of tape. First, wrap a piece of tape around your hand where all the calluses are. Second, take a 12 inch strip of tape and fold it in half with the sticky sides facing one another, so that you have a six inch strip. Maybe an inch from one end, cut two slits in the tape. Put your middle finger through one and your ring finger through the other. The short end should be on the back of your hand, the long end should go down your palm. Use a third piece of tape around your wrist so that the end of the long piece is secured. The tape will feel different against the bar than direct contact with your hand, so you’ll want to experiment to figure out what the right amount of chalk to use is. (You do you chalk, right??)
That’s hard to explain and it’s been a long while since I’ve done that, but maybe it will help! FWIW, I never did anything with my calluses when I was a gymnast, other than wear grips, of course. I think some people are just more prone to ripping than others.
Thank you for the reply! I have never seen anyone using grips in my studio, but I will ask about them. No one else really seems to have this issue. We don’t use chalk either, but if we use fiberglass instead of wood bars sometimes we do use a sort of spray-on adhesive (this actually makes the tearing worse for me). I guess I should mention this is static trapeze & aerials, not flying, so that may make a difference.
I will definitely try the tape as a way to protect my already torn hands. Thank you for the tutorial! I appreciate it. I do wonder if it will affect my grip friction or flexibility, but I need to try something. I’ll test it out low to the ground.
I wasn’t familiar with static trapeze, so I had to go visit YouTube. Very cool! I can see, though, why grips wouldn’t be as necessary. And, while I was on YouTube, I discovered that there are a couple of “how to tape your rips” tutorials, although the ones I watched used a fancier technique than I described above.
I will search youtube for those videos! It still hasn’t stuck with me how much information youtube holds. I think in general our studio may be a little unaware of available grips/tools etc. since it seemingly started from a group with modern dance backgrounds, not gymnastic ones. Thanks again!