How to avoid blisters without gloves

[matt_martin14]

Hi all,

This is my first post here so I hope it’s well received. I got a c2 rower back in march of 24’ and have racked up about 600km so far. When I first started rowing on it, I got very excited and rowed everyday for about 2 weeks straight and ended up getting some very bad blisters on my hands. To combat this, I got some gloves from Amazon that have worked very well. I typically row distances of 7k or higher 2-3 times a week and have not had any blisters with the gloves.
But I want to figure out a way to lessen my dependency on the gloves. I’m not sure if I’m just gripping too tight on the handle or if I’m just not gripping the proper way.

Any tips on how to get over this hurdle to not need gloves when I row and eventually stop the blisters?

Thanks,
Matt

[Dangerscouse]

Ime, the only way to get past it is to endure the blisters as your hands will toughen up. Although there's definitely things you can do to mitigate the issue.

Use liquid chalk to keep your hands drier. It's not going to stop all of the sweating but it definitely helps.

Only hook your fingers over the handle, and don't grip it.

Use a fan, the bigger the better

Drape a towel over the monorail, just above or below the handle stirrup, as you can then row one handed and grab it to briefly drape it over the handle. I find that using it for too long it then just becomes something else to rub against your hands.

I used some cheap kinesiology tape to wrap my fingers when they were getting too ripped up when I first started my ultra distances, as my hands weren't in any way prepared for regularly doing significant distances.

Don't use moisturising hand-wash, and make sure to wash your hands after using anything like suncream etc. I find my hands are always worse after a week's holiday if I don't wash off the suncream.

[iain]

Interesting take on the moisturiser. When really bad I make sure that I moisturise my hands if the skin gets dry as dry skin comes off and makes the wounds worse. This should not be shortly before rowing as makes fingers greasy.

[Dangerscouse]

Interesting take on the moisturiser. When really bad I make sure that I moisturise my hands if the skin gets dry as dry skin comes off and makes the wounds worse. This should not be shortly before rowing as makes fingers greasy.

Oh yeah, I forgot we had this discussion a while ago. Maybe I'm the odd one out, but it's definitely notably worse for me when I've got suncream on my hands.

I rely on them getting drier and calloused, so I only get the very occasional and very superficial blisters and a sometimes a bit of discomfort that soon fades after a few minutes. I've actually grown to like the discomfort on my hands as it's only happening as I'm working hard enough.

[iain]

I rely on them getting drier and calloused, so I only get the very occasional and very superficial blisters

Yes sorry, what I should have said is that it depends how bad the blisters are. Ultimately we need to develop hard callouses. When I started OTW the experienced rowers recommended outing surgical spirit on the blisters to harden them up. This is possibly great when you have fairly tough skin already. But I endured the pain of surgical spirit on open wounds that then dried and the skin flaked off on my next outing to make the wounds deeper afterwards. It takes time for soft hands to develop callouses and moisturiser will extend the time the skin stays on your fingers, but it will slow the drying of the skin into callouses. So to replace a callous that wears off moisturiser is not the answer, but to protect damaged skin I find it helps.

[p_b82]

As long as the blister doesn't pop then continued usage will eventually cause callouses to form on the contact points.

I still get blisters when my volume drops or a lose a callous - i loosely pop sweatbands on the handles if I'm doing regular 45mins+ until the callouses build up again.

When doing seriously long sessions I still need to protect my fingers regardless though - the material of the handle and my hands just don't get on.

I'm in two minds about moisturising being a help/hindrance; when I used to do a lot of rock climbing, I actually found that regular moisturising helped avoid cracking/splits by keeping the skin a little bit more flexible - but it always came hand in hand with tough skin being generated via usage (and finger tape on the really thin spots regardless - which is where I get my blisters/callouses using the erg)

[matt_martin14]

Thank you all for the tips. I’m curious though on only gripping the handle with my finger tips (like a t-Rex claw). I’ve tried that and get way too fatigued after about 10 minutes. Is this just another muscle I need to build up over time?

[iain]

Thank you all for the tips. I’m curious though on only gripping the handle with my finger tips (like a t-Rex claw). I’ve tried that and get way too fatigued after about 10 minutes. Is this just another muscle I need to build up over time?

I would describe it as hooking fingers around the handle, so majority of the pressure between the first 2 joints from the end, rather than finger tips (thought of as part from end of finger to first joint.

[MPx]

I've got callouses. I wear gloves. If I don't wear gloves I get blisters as well as callouses. The callouses can also get painful and need regular attention. I guess some of us are just softies...but you get used to it after the first 20 years or so.

[KeithT]

My experience in the past was gloves made blisters worse as hand would move some within the gloves.....but sounds like other don't have the issue. I did as many and just got my hands roughened up and I only grip with fingers. Now when I am doing longer rows (one hour plus) I will often do some band-aid type tape on pinky and ring fingers that seems to also help.

[Sakly]

I use thin leather pads instead of gloves. They reduce friction between handle and skin (especially wet skin), this helps tremendously to avoid blisters.
My hands are more or less used to such kind of stress from strength training, but 1500+ strokes are a different thing

[Tsnor]

Time will fix the blister problem. Lots of time. Years.

Gloves get frowns OTW because of reduced 'feel'. I row OTW and think this is BS. I don't wear gloves though, and the difference between a good catch and a bad one is noticeable in your hands.

Rowing in my garage in winter I use gloves (actually glove liners) because the breeze from the flywheel freezes my right hand on long pieces. If rowing is more comfortable with gloves use them. I don't feel anything different erging with or without gloves.

For handle placement, as said above, for OTW the handle in held with a hooked hand, thumb under + fingers over with the handle weight on the finger bones that connect to your palm. It should be the hand position you'd use to hang from a bar. On the erg you can play with this position a little, but your wrist must be flat or you will have problems. You SHOULD also "play piano" with your fingers on recovery every once in a while. It will take a lot of strain off your hands/wrists/forearm and help a lot if you are grabbing progressively more tightly over time.

[Dangerscouse]

Thank you all for the tips. I’m curious though on only gripping the handle with my finger tips (like a t-Rex claw). I’ve tried that and get way too fatigued after about 10 minutes. Is this just another muscle I need to build up over time?

As Iain mentions, this might be an issue of you not using enough grip. I use almost all of my fingers, but none of my palm. The thumbs are completely useless and I'd take them off if I could.

I suspect that using only your finger tips would be tiring for anyone, so try and find a happy medium. Essentially you're trying to avoid leaking power through wasting energy with a hard grip and, within reason, minimising the contact area on the handle

[Joebasscat]

Old school baseball players have a remedy for blisters. It’s where they separate the men from the boys.

[matt_martin14]

Thanks again all for the advice. I’m going to work on the grip some more with some shorter distances and see where I can get