Tips to speed up the time it takes to build calluses on your hands and ways to harden your hands.

The first couple years in my job as a furniture mover were tougher than the later years. This is partially due to undeveloped muscles which get developed over time and hand calluses. It takes awhile to build hand calluses, sometimes a long while. Many of you reading this post may be interested in building calluses for the guitar, baseball, ect. This easy method can work for all. I have some tricks of the trade, and my own ideas that many might not be aware of. Lucky for you, its likely you haven't read or heard some of what I am going to tell you.

Before I explain my tips you have to know a little bit about calluses and hardened hands:

• Girls do NOT like them!
• Girls do NOT like them!
• Girls do NOT like them!

I hope you got the point, this is usually a turn off to the ladies so keep that in mind before trying to get some rough hands. It is a necessity for my job to have calluses therefore I have no choice and the ladies will have to deal, but if possible try to avoid this method if it is not a necessity because you will get some mean looking paws.
Calluses are the toughened area of skin which has thick and hard as a response to repeated contact or pressure. When you begin adding pressure and continue to dry out the skin it speeds the process of building your calluses. Here is a list of options and materials you can use speed up for formation:

Mild and semi-safe approaches:

• Dry them out with 90-99% rubbing alcohol 2-3 times a day, don’t soak them in it just pour a little in your palm and rub your hands till it dries up.

• Continually rub some powdered chalk onto your hands

.

• Soak your hands in warm-hot water and alum in the morning and at night.

• Urinate on your hands. (Gross I know, I have not tried this and will not but it apparently works).

Harsh and potentially dangerous/unsafe approaches:

Warm up a dumbbell, not to where it burns your hands but just about. Hold on and lift the dumbbell shoulder height and keep it there until you can no longer hold it or it cools down. Repeat this 3-4times in a row and attempt 2 times a day.
CAUTION: This method can be dangerous, and will build scar tissue from the heat and pressure applied to your hands. This could be irreversible so think hard before choosing this path.

There is a trick that martial artists and would use and still use to harden their hands. There are 4 different levels you move up to over time:

Level 1: Fill a 5 gallon bucket full of white rice and punch your hand open straight diagnalloy. Do this 10-12 times in a row and continue this 5 times a day
.
Level 2: After you no longer feel pain fill a 5 gallon bucket with assorted dried beans. Repeat the same steps as mentioned in step one.

Level 3. After you are no longer in pain from level 2 fill the 5 gallon bucket with sand and repeat the same steps a level 1 and 2.

Level 4. It should have taken you quite awhile to reach this level, if not I guarantee injury because you are trying to speed up the process. Once you have no pain from Level 3 and feel your hands are pretty hardened and have skin flaking/peeling off (heavy calluses, scars) you can attempt this. If you are uncomfortable with it just stay at level 3 and be happy with what you have achieved.   Fill 5 gallon bucket with tiny .177 BB’s or small ball bearings. Repeat steps in level 1,2,3  but once reaching this start at 2-3 straight hand punch’s twice a day. Slowly increases your punches and frequency each day.

CAUTION: This method is irreversible, dangerous, and if you ever get in a fight, the police can arrest you with the use of a deadly weapon if your hands are hardened!! I am not joking. Please take a bit before you decide to do this as your hand will be hardened the rest of your life and could limit your finger use and flexibility.
Most of  you readers will not need to harden yours hands or even go to the more extreme measure for building your calluses. What works for me is taking a bottle of 99% alcohol and mixing it in a jar with a small bottle of alum. Just shake well, pour the alcohol/alum mixture on your hands and rub it till it dissolves.

I will wrap up this article with the pros and cons of building your calluses and hardening your hands.

Callus Building:

Pros:
You can grip heavy items like glass or armoires much easier.
Less likely to cause bleeding if you get stuck by nails, staples, or other sharp items.
Can handle rough objects easier due to padding effect on hands which protects your more sensitive tissues from irritation.

Cons:
Ladies are not impressed.
Flaking of heavily callused areas and more prone to hang-nails due to dryness of skin.

Hard hands:

Pros:

• You can really beat the crap out of them without much pain.
• Lots of padding for heavy objects.

Cons:

• Irreversible.
• Risk of losing function of fingers.
• Improved risk of arthritis.
• Ladies will not be impressed.
• Cops deeming them lethal weapons if used in fight.

Check back now and then as I will improve this article and add more, or replace tips with better approaches ect.
If you have any experience in this area please comment and I can add it to the article.

Dislcaimer: I am not a proffessional in this area and provide this in as an informative approach. Any of these tips you choose to apply are at your sole discretion and I take no responsibility for anything you do to youself as a result.

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