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Woop woop, welcome to my very very overdue first 2018 post.
I GOTTA do better than that, I know.
So anyways, here it is.
If you are here and reading this, chances are you have either decided to take up on CrossFit, or you are already on the wagon and are no stranger to chalk stains on your shorts.
Either way, the following Crossfit essentials are a must, if you are hitting the CrossFit box anytime soon.
Believe me.
You need this. Thank me later.
Hand grips
Pull ups, cleans, kettlebell swings, snatches – this are NO fun for your hands.
You want to protect your skin from all that friction and prevent any rips.
Not only do they hurt like hell, but they also prevent you from keeping up with your programming.
You know – you can’t keep doing pull-ups with bleeding hands. Well, unless you’re competing and you are a fanatic.
So, do your hands a favor and get yourself one of those. These are the best ones I’ve come across so far – they do a great job of standing in place and protect the whole palm and not just 2/3 of it.
Hand care kit
No matter what hand grips you use, or how much you try to protect your hands, the building up of callus is practically unavoidable.
Not to mention that a lot of the times we skip on the grips and before we know it, we have another hand tear.
For cases like that, I’ve found that the hand care kit extremely helpful. It works both as prevention and as a treatment.
Use the pumice stone to regularly remove the built-up callus and make sure to hydrate the skin.
The stick is a magic worker, as it accelerates the healing of any hand rip tremendously.
I always keep one in my gym bag.
Wrist wraps
I guess it is no surprise to anyone, that there are a lot of movements in CrossFit that put a lot of tension on your wrists.
Especially for someone like me, whose wrists are as tiny as a medium size carrot, they for sure help me a ton.
Weightlifting Belt
If you train regularly and you (almost) every time go full power, you need to make your health and staying injury-free as a main priority.
And here’s where the weightlifting belt becomes your best friend.
Whether it’s heavy deadlifts, squats, cleans, snatches – they all put a lot of pressure on your lower back AND core.
The belt helps you with stabilization and keeping a proper form, thus minimizing the risk of injury.
Stay on the safe side and supply yourself with one of those.
Knee sleeves
Similar to anything said above, all those heavy lifts you are (or will be) doing, are a test for your knees as well.
And yes, nothing prevents injury better than a good form, but the knee sleeves are a good save in case you slip out of it (it happens to all of us).
They keep the joint warm and give it the needed support and stabilization.
The proper size is important, they shouldn’t be too tight, but also not so loose, that they slip down.
As with all the CrossFit essentials so far, I am suggesting the ones that worked best for me.
What about you?
Do you have anything to add?