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Hand Toughening Tricks

74K views 63 replies 59 participants last post by  leaftye 
#1 ·
OK, I'm a FNG here so go easy.

I like to go mountain climbing when I can, but I do it so rarely that I can't toughen my hands enough and when I get back home my hands are completely shredded. I've heard and read that rock climbers have tricks to toughen their hands in the off season, but I've never been able to find out what they were. I tried posting this question on a rock climbing site, and I got answers like try steel wool, use a cheese grater, battery acid works great, dry your hands with 40 grit sandpaper, all of which gave me the feeling that they really didn't care for FNGs asking questions on their site. I was hoping the folks here would be a little more helpful.

Are there any tricks that will toughen hands quickly or is it just a rock climbing in-joke?

Serious replies, OK? No sandpaper or battery acid.
 
#5 ·
There is a way an old buddy of mine did it.
buckets of sand punch down into them.
few weeks later change the courseness o f the sand to beach sand then gravel .
next stage little polished stones .
next sharper gravel etc etc .
volcanic rock. metal.

When you cook your meats dont use your hands when you spread on the meat tenderizer.
 
#7 ·
Ive done my share of climbing. Basically it's really just as simple as roughing up your hands constantly. I used to thrust my hands into sandbags filled with sand and pee gravel (straight in, open hand, closed fist). The idea is not to just do the palm area but the back of the hand as well, you should no this if you use your hands as cams. YES its gonna hurt for a while until your hands get used to it but it works. Use plenty of chalk and do finger tip pullups like, forever.
 
#62 ·
I agree with Mag. In my teens I worked in a lumber yard carrying or stacking bricks, block, and other items with rough surfaces. By the end of the summer I could pinch out my lit cigarettes, or, to show off, butt them in my palm with no discomfort. You may have seen people walking over all sorts of surfaces barefooted with no problem, but they started at some point walking gingerly. As for battery acid I knew a guy who soaked his finger tips in it to harden them to better play stringed instruments. It's sulfuric acid (dilute). This stuff is hell on clothing but all it does to skin is dehydrate it. The problem is that shortly your skin rehydrates. I don't know if there is any residual toughening. I'd stay with abrasive surfaces.
 
#9 ·
Find a good Chinese martial arts teacher and learn iron hand form him, and all the eagle claw exercises.

I specify Chinese because they use herbal medicines and hit a movable medium like a mung bean bag. Other styles don't use the movable medium, or the herbs and end up with perminant damage, arthritis and deformations.

Karate guys are nuts with the brutal training measures they take. I have seen a lot of those guys who actually brag about how messed up thier hands are. Nice they can break 8 concrete patio tiles, but so can Kung fu guys, without the hand damage from training.
 
#12 ·
Karate guys are nuts with the brutal training measures they take. I have seen a lot of those guys who actually brag about how messed up thier hands are. Nice they can break 8 concrete patio tiles, but so can Kung fu guys, without the hand damage from training.
I dont want to hijack this thread but that's a closed minded statement. I can't speak for the mainland Japanese systems but Okinawan martial arts (origination of Kara-te) use herbs and proper hand conditioning. Actually Kara-te and Chinese martial arts share A LOT of similar training techniques due to the extensive trading and tributes the Ryukyu Kingdom did with China from the 1400-1600s.
 
#15 ·
Do plenty of manual labour......
In all seriousness, doing a good bit of diggin` oughta do it. :thumb:
be a farmhand especially when ya bail hay nine hours of than will do it
+1 and +1 on these comments; there is no substitute for hours in the gardens or fields - even daily light/medium duty will keep your hands from 'softening up'. Also, can't beat the connection one gets with the earth from doin' some good ol' diggin!

I did indoor climbing for about 3 years some time ago, and found that playing guitar was an excellent complimentary activity to climbing - off or on season. Not only do you maintain and develop your left handed grip considerably, but your callouses will improve considerably. Dexterity and muscle memory in both hands are some other bonuses - besides perhaps learning a new instrument and making music.

Another 'trick' (if it can really be called that) are those hand stress-balls - again good for grip - not necessarily for 'toughening' the skin so to speak.

And like MAGFED556 said: do your finger pull-ups.

Hope this helps. Take Care.
 
#13 ·
Tannins are used to toughen up feet before long hikes. I would think soaking your hands in acorn water or tammarack water would work. I've never heard it done for hands but it's been done for feet around the world for centuries. If you plan on doing Everest they'll have you do it before you begin the accent.

shuck
 
#36 ·
That one is not crap.
Not that I've done it but it's not the first time I've heard it.
Those are skin astringents that can be used for prepping leather hides.
I wonder about staining your hands, though.

Use rubbing alcohol, though. It dries out your skin some.
I had a friend that did that for football
The idea is to damage your skin a little so it will build up a callas.

Wash with harsher soaps.
The world has become so much more Metro Man that just about all of the soaps and cleaners are made to keep hands soft and pretty.
Any cleaner that warns it will dry your skin, that's your baby. Maybe scrub up with a cleaning powder.

Away from chemicals
why not simulate climbing with a coarse rope tied around a stick.
Your feet on the stick and do some sit ups, only pull your weight up by walking your hands up the rope.

Do chin ups on a tree limb.
Chop wood.
Pick up a dozen or so cinder blocks (any coarse stone) and just restack them a number of times for a work out.

And now, the one we're all waiting for.
Fondle your rocks.
Pick up a pumice stone from the beauty isle that you can carry with you and just handle it, squeezing it, trying to mildly shape it by wearing it down with your hands.
 
#16 ·
the only thing i can think of is practical manual labour like hauling bales, cutting wood, shoveling gravel, etc. i guess you could do what all the guys in tibet do and punch phone books all day, but thatseems like work, only you get nothing done...the only thing worse than work is doing pointless work.

i have heard about the saltwater trick too, but you're drawing out the moisture, in order to create caluses... if you're going to rock climb, you also need the strength, so just do manual labour. get a side job, get your money too! you don't get paid punching phone books all day.
 
#18 ·
Thanks for the useful advice guys. You know, even though I heard there were "tricks" you could use, I really didn't think there was any fast and easy way to do this, and you just had to scrape and work your palms until the calluses formed. I'll try the sand and gravel trick though, that might speed things up.

But if it's OK, can I pass on the horse-**** soaking?
 
#27 ·
Plus one on this. Won't help with those hand cams that can chew up the back of your hands and knuckles but still a good idea. As someone who has done a bit 'o climbing and and currently turtores my family with attempts to learn the guitar I would also second the poster who suggested that.

-Per.
 
#21 ·
Buy 3" manila rope hang it from the ceiling and while hanging on to it fairly tight run your hands down it for about three feet (do this ten times then increase the number). Your hands should feel raw due to the slight rope burn. It will toughen the palms. Do this at least daily. Also do what was suggested earlier, use a tennis ball for squeezing with each hand. Always carry it and use during any spare time you have.

In a few months your hands should be pretty tough. It will hurt at first until you start to form tough skin.

This is what my uncle had me do before my first "squid" season. :thumb:
 
#24 ·
Reminds me of a flea market I went to in Iowa a few years ago. Bought some pies, etc. from the Amish. I wondered for a moment whether they were really Amish or just dressed up like them. When I paid, the guy handed me my change and I noticed his hands. Fingers nearly twice as thick as mine. No faking the effects of years of physical handy work.
 
#26 ·
Callouses come by abrasion. You must use your hands more, handling things that aren't smooth and polished. Knurled weight lifting bars will work over your palms, and sections of your fingers.

But for your sport, it's something a bit more. Climb more! 2 times a week in conditions you wish to prepare for would be a big help. Put up with the pain while you build them up.

The other post about sand and pea gravel seems like one thing to exlore, since it will expose a large surface area of your hands to abrasion.
 
#29 ·
Whoa, this turned out better than I thought it would. So many good replies here I don't know where to start.

I should have mentioned at the beginning that I'm working my way through school so I really don't have much time extra time for shovel work or blacksmithing. The suggestions abobut the portable hand exercises are great, though. I can sneak in a few minutes of roughening during quiet times in the day.

Thanks for all the time and care you took with your replies. I'll get straight to work on them.
 
#30 ·
+1 on the hand grippers.

Ironmind has the real deal high quality ones. Captains of Crush grippers. You probably won't be able to close the trainer so I'll suggest you start with that level.

They'll tear your hands up and over time toughen your hands up.
You'll build nice grip strength in your hands too to help you in climbing etc.
Not to mention they can be addicting trying to close the one your working on and that makes it that much easier to do.
 
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