Toughening Vs Injury

My hands don't look very nice this week. I've got some garish red spots at the bases of my right index finger and left ring finger. Yellowish calluses stand out a bit on the other fingers, or pinkish craters where I've shaved them off. My palms display little tears and my left thumb has a slightly deeper tear with some red accented skin splits.

And this state of my hands, this not very pretty, rather painful in a stingy way state, makes me happy. I did 85 pull ups (not strict) on Friday and, rather than tearing the skin off of my hands, I only got two blisters.

And some soreness.

But no bleeding! No serious tearing. By which I mean tearing that results in bleeding. It turns out, using the callus shaver and paying attention to my hands has really helped keep them in good shape. Well. In a shape less destructible than they used to be, let's say.

I skipped crossfit on Monday to let my hands heal a bit more before putting them back to vigorous usage, but I went on Tuesday and tested them with kettle bell snatches and rowing. Still, no serious tears. Then I did my day 1 pull up workout, which was a bit more stressful. I ended up using tape on my left ring finger callus to protect it from being torn, but my right hand survived.

Sure, sometimes I end up cutting myself with the callus shaver. Not only does that hurt, but my husband teases me about it. But overall, using it has been a great benefit. 

My hands might look ugly, but I'm feeling good.