Concept2 Forum

Hello All,

I just rowed a 10K last night, and two of my fingers blistered under the first knuckle on my right hand. I sense I am doing something wrong with my hands (although I was sweating quite a bit too, maybe I was just lucky).

I sense it's something more... any advice from those who have blistered before and how to avoid such things?

When I rowed today I noticed I didn't rub the blister spot when I didn't pull teh handle up as high (currently pulling to bottom of my ribs).

Help o' wise ones... I have a MUD SEASON CHALLENGE to complete, I had to put up a 5K today .

Mike from Oklahoma

Mike, I cant imagine you are doing anything technically wrong. I have only recemtly NOT rubbed blisters on my fingers. I used to wear gloves nut now habe been able to take those off. Probably could have just toughend up the hands like Citroen will tell you. I bet its just the moisture. Tape em up and keep going is all I can tell you.

i was thinnking about taping the handle with the normal zinc tape.

i'm afraid im a bit of a girls blouse, when it comes to rowing -
it tried without gloves and i get blisters - ever time. not painful ones, i usually pop em
but i train nearly every day - and missing a day because of bad blisters is not a good option, so i wear gloves (for the moment).

apparently there is one old wifes remedy: urine..

that being said...
theres a funny scene in a german comedy about illfitting cowboy boots and blisters and one guy offers the solution:
you need to pee in them, thats what they did in the army.
the quick response of - but we lost the war? sort of summons it up

my hands are wrecked
blisters on a few fingers and the joint where one finger meets my palm is all cracked and sore. I've rowed 45k this week which is a lot for me......
I've got gloves but only wear them for the last few intervals of a workout or on steady rows if my hands are knackered- as they are today- because i want to toughen my hands up. for example yesterday i did 8k and caused all the damage, today i did 800m intervals and wore gloves, tomorrow i'll do 10k and wear gloves then the session after my hands should be fine to wreck again

hopefully they toughen up soon

these are the gloves i got, seem to be available from a few places, they weren't cheap but they work well.
got both with grips on

Get them on first joint above palm middle and ring finger right hand. Left calluses first joint and at palm mid and ring. Never any first or pinky finger involvement. Assymetrical. From 45 yr. old memories monkey bars outside in winter do a whole lot more damage. Compound blisters thru about five layers of skin are not fun. I sweat too much to use open finger contractor or cycling gloves. They make a worse mess. Have used lifting hooks with hunting sock " saddle blankets" to pad the wrists but not because of blisters.

I will try the tape... Thanks all.

zacclowes wrote:

these are the gloves i got, seem to be available from a few places, they weren't cheap but they work well.
got both with grips on

What is the name and model number of the gloves and where are they available?

Blisters occur and gloves are needed when rowing on the water because the oars get wet. Especially the old days with rough wooden oars to grab onto. But I can't imagine why anyone gets blisters from rowing only on a rowing machine. I put in 20K per week on my C2 now and don't have any blisters and never have since I stopped rowing on the water. Is this because you are doing massive long rows? If it is from sweat, maybe wear wristbands? Or is it possible you are gripping too tightly?

I betcha I have both sweaty hands and gripping too tightly.

MM

I got blisters constantly, and my mistake was using gloves for the first half of the session. Somebody on this board recommended me not using gloves, as this would make my skin soak up sweat and make it more prone to blisters. After I started rowing without gloves, I gradually hardened my fingers, and now I never get blisters unless I cut down the callus on my fingers. I really prefer not having to deal with the gloves

I had wicked blisters for the first few months, moisture was definitely a contributor. On long rows sweat would roll down my arms and make my grip wet, this caused my hands to slip around more. I think it's the loss of friction in my grip that was the issue rather than the sweat, per se. I had some nasty holes in my hands for a while.

More recently I've taken to switching my grip between a loose finger hold and a tighter palm grip. This seems to move the pressure points around enough to keep any one spot from getting too sore. I definitely have some thick callouses now though, I'm reminded every time I put my hand flat on a surface and encounter spots on my hand where I don't actually feel anything. In general, it has helped with hand drumming, the thick callouses help create crisp slaps on congas and djembe and the back strength/endurance has also turned out to be quite helpful.

Just wear finger less cycle gloves and the problem is solved.

If you really want to spend then some of these have GEL inserts in them. Been using the AVENIR brand for years, they are expensive over here so got 4 pairs sent out of the USA.

Dual action, not only do they prevent blisters but they absorb one hell of a lot of sweat. You can alternate gloves and no gloves and eventually your hands will develop some tolerance to blisters. Got a couple of calluses on both middle fingers just below the first joint, but I don't want them all over my hands.

Essentially its about comfort and rowing with your hands ripped to shreds is no fun. Even swimming I tape a couple of toes as after 70 plus minutes in the pool with fins you get blisters.

Assuming you have the latest plastic handle? My hands were getting destroyed by it so I wrapped it with what is essentially tennis racket grip. Made a huge difference for me and it comes off/can be replaced easily.