CrossFit First Aid
Blisters, bruises, cuts, and strained muscles can happen in any sport (I mean, check out your palms after a rowing workout—ouch). But CrossFit beats up on your body especially hard. With constant contact with the bar and rushing to get from one movement to the next (AMRAP, anyone?), roughing up your skin is inevitable, and your body’s bound to need a little TLC post-WOD. Keep these nine items on hand to help treat the most common CrossFit injuries.
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1) Aquaphor Healing Ointment
Applying a thin layer can help prevent the chaffing that results from being in constant contact with the bar. Before a WOD, it works to protect vulnerable skin from friction, burns, and blisters. After a WOD, it will help to sooth and heal dry, cracked or irritated skin. (cvs.com, $6)
2) Strength Wraps
These reusable cloth wrist wraps offer support for a myriad of lifts, including front squats, overhead squats, and cleans. The best part: they can be worn throughout a workout without hindering other non-lifting movements. If you are doing Fran, for example, you don’t have to remove the wraps between the thrusters and the pull-ups. An athlete can also adjust the tightness (i.e. level of support) with just one twist of the wrap. (strengthwraps.com, $25-$30)
3) Tweezerman Safety Slide Callus Shaver with Rasp
Calluses are inevitable for CrossFitters, and the best way to keep them from disrupting your WOD is to shave them down and smooth them out. This particular callus shaver is the perfect two-in-one combination tool for removing calluses and smoothing skin. (tweezerman.com, $12)
4) Purell Advanced
You probably leave the box without thinking twice about what your hands just touched. Truth is, several sweaty, germy paws have been on the medicine balls, bars, and kettlebells you just set down. When you’re done with a WOD, make a habit out of using a hand sanitizer, like Purell Advanced, which is alcohol-based yet gentle on skin. (drugstore.com, $2)
5) Biofreeze
Quads in pain from squatting? Lower back sore from deadlifts? Within seconds of applying Biofreeze, you’ll feel a cooling, tingling sensation deep in your muscles. (performancehealth, $15)
6) Lacrosse Ball
Use this inexpensive sports ball to work out tough knots in just about every area of your body. With a combination of circular movements and your own body weight, run the ball over your shoulders, quads, back, and arms to loosen up stiff muscles. (dickssportinggoods.com, $3)
7) Foam Roller
To cover more ground than you would with a lacrosse ball, invest in a foam roller. Roll tight muscles, like hips, hamstrings, and calves, over the dense foam cylinder to loosen them up after an intense workout. (optp.com, prices vary)
8) Rock Tape
This multi-purpose product protects hands during pull-ups, guards wrists and shins during muscle-ups, and promotes blood flow to help delay fatigue. Rock Tape can also help correct tracking issues in shoulders and knees, reduce swelling in joints, and stabilize weak spots such as your lower back, hamstrings, and calves. (rocktape.com, $20)
9) Band-Aids
They’re simple, but necessary. In CrossFit, there’s bound to be blood. Ever miss your mark on a box jump? Yeah, that’s a messy situation.
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