TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Building Calluses Callus Care Taping Hands Skin Hydration Tear Repair Fingernails Chalk Understanding Tendons

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2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Building Calluses Callus Care Taping Hands Skin Hydration Tear Repair Fingernails Chalk Understanding Tendons Tendon Exercises Decrease Inflammation Hand Care Kit

3 INTRODUCTION This guide contains an overview of hand care practices necessary for healthy and strong ninja warrior hands. It will cover topics ranging from preventing skin tears to controlling inflammation. Our specialized Hand Care Kit contains all the products mentioned in this booklet. It comes free with memberships. It is normal for new ninja warrior athletes to tear skin on their hands from doing obstacles. That is why our first step is to explain why calluses are 1

4 crucially important. Not having calluses or having calluses which are too thick, can lead to the same problem tears. Hand tears can be painful and temporarily slow down training. BUILDING CALLUSES If calluses are lacking, it may take up to three months for your skin to fully acclimate to the new demand. The first three months of training should be taken slowly. The key is to limit training time and weekly frequency until your hands are fully adjusted. We recommend training 1-2 times per week for roughly three months before increasing weekly frequency. 2

5 Some hand discomfort, such as general palm tenderness, is to be expected when engaging in grip training. The discomfort will decrease with time and conditioning. Focus on your goals and don t let temporary hand pain dictate your success. Any new sport requires adaptation. CALLUS CARE If you have established calluses, it s now time to control their thickness. If you don t, you will likely tear much deeper than if you had none. If your calluses are too thick, the skin creates a substantial hard mound. In a hanging position, that mound becomes trapped, and when the hand stretches enough from an active motion, the weaker surrounding skin tears. You can identify your palm 3

6 callus mound size by hanging on a bar statically for about one minute. After hanging, the callus mound will become peaked. There are some simple procedures to keep calluses at optimal thickness without much hassle. The key is to use a tool that allows you to remove small layers of the callus. Focus on consistent efforts rather than aggressively banishing those calluses. Use daily. Tools such as a pumice stone or electric callus remover are best. Our Hand Care Kit includes a pumice stone. Use it in the shower or bath. The calluses become puffy and white making them easier to see and remove. Use the stone over the entire palm. 4

7 TAPING HANDS Another way to prevent rips and tears is to use athletic rock tape such as the one provided in our Hand Care Kit. When used on fingers and palms, your chances of a tear are greatly reduced. However, we recommend using tape only when necessary and using appropriate techniques. Ask a coach for assistance. SKIN HYDRATION A recommended practice for those with or without substantial calluses is to use hand cream/balm soon after a training 5

8 session is complete and on rest days. Hydrated skin will repair quicker and stronger. Our Hand Care Kit includes high quality balm made just for climbing activities. Massage into skin. Anyone can train hard and it is tempting to ignore signs of skin fatigue. However, elite ninja warriors know how to consistently prevent tears and therefore effectively train harder and more frequently. Prevention is the ninja method. TEAR REPAIR What happens if you do tear? The first thing you should do is stop! Don t continue to damage the skin and spread blood on equipment. You must notify those around you and have our staff assist you in 6

9 cleaning up the blood. No one, including you, should continue training with blood on the equipment. It is tempting to push on while bleeding, but it s not allowed and it will frustrate others when they have to wait for even more obstacles to be disinfected. Control your injury promptly. We supply a first aid kit in our Hand Care Kit. Ask staff for assistance when using our first aid supplies. You may only return to activity if you are cleared by staff. You should probably discontinue ninja training until you have somewhat recovered (2-4 days depending on depth). 7

10 Apply triple antibiotic ointment (included in our Hand Care Kit) every time you apply a bandage. The key to a speedy recovery is moisture, so continue to moisturize the injury site for about 1-2 weeks. When you are home and the bleeding has slowed/stopped, you should trim excess skin ledges/flaps. This will prevent future tears by creating seamless and smooth skin. You can use a sanitized nail clipper, cuticle clipper or surgical scissor. Do not pull the skin! It will worsen the rip. Depending on the degree of the tear, you should stay off it as long as practical to avoid reopening the wound. If the wound is moderate and it has been at least a day, you could apply some athletic rock tape on the wounded area. 8

11 FINGERNAILS Using ninja obstacles increases your chances of fingernail injury. In addition, you want every last bit of finger space to hang on small ledges, so remove excess fingernails. Included in our Hand Care Kit is a nail clipper and file. CHALK Liquid chalk, chalk powder and no chalk each has its advantages. Liquid chalk goes on as a liquid and dries quickly (about 30 seconds) 9

12 leaving the hands dry and tacky. It also repels water and sweat. A sample bottle is included in our Hand Care Kit along with a coupon for 50% off a larger bottle. Experiment with it to find the correct usage to suit your hand size and skin type. Most Ninjas United facilities do not allow use of powder chalk. The chalk gets on the warped wall surface and causes slipping. It also makes a mess. Note: The TV Show, American Ninja Warrior does not allow chalk (liquid or powder) on most of their courses. There is quite a disadvantage without chalk, so practice without it. 10

13 UNDERSTANDING TENDONS Tendons, ligaments and muscles will be taxed at a new level with ninja warrior training. Tendons connect muscle to bone. Ligaments connect bone to bone. No matter how strong your muscles are, they will always be subject to the integrity and strength of your tendons and ligaments. Muscles and tendons do the majority of the strengthening. Tendons naturally have less blood flow than muscle, so repair and strengthening takes much more time. 11

14 While you may feel your muscular strength improving, you need to take into consideration the slower repair and conditioning of your tendons. Due to the natural lack of blood flow within the tendons, you must spend extra time infusing them with as much blood as possible through methodical hand exercises. Don t skip this step! Spend an extra 3 minutes after group warm-up doing our prescribed tendon exercises. If you have not used your hands for more than 15 minutes, you should do another half set of these exercises to recirculate the blood. Tendon injuries are serious and can be expensive to rehabilitate. Some simple consistent practices will not only make your tendons stronger, but prevent injury. Remember this. 12

15 TENDON EXERCISES Finger Tendon Glides 10 repetitions with three second hold. A) Start with a straight hand. B) Slowly crimp your fingers into a hook fist, making sure that your knuckles stay aligned with your wrist. C) Roll your fingers down into a full fist. D) Transition into a flat fist. Make sure to squeeze. 13

16 Strengthening and exercising the wrist and fingers should include both stretching of the flexors, which are often overused and tight, and strengthening their less used counterparts. We prescribe the use of the FlexEx. The lightest intensity is included in your Hand Care Kit. Read the FlexEx info card for the different exercises. Perform those exercises after each ninja warrior workout to help balance and strengthen the tendons. 14

17 DECREASE INFLAMMATION Your hands will ocassionally throb after training. This is totally normal. Below is a process to speed up recovery time and reduce inflammation. What s needed: two buckets (or sink & tub), ice and some towels. Fill the first bucket with cold water and ice. Fill the other with hot water. Keep some towels nearby as needed. Start with hands in ice water. Submerge them half way up forearms and start moving them around for about 1 minute. Then take your hands out of the cold water and put them immediately into the hot 15

18 water. Move your hands around again in the bucket for 3 minutes. Then pull them out of the hot water and place them immediately back into the ice water and repeat this process three times. The heat creates vasodilation (increased bloodflow) and the cold causes vasoconstriction (decreased bloodflow). Additionally, the lymph vessels relax in response to hot water and contract when exposed to ice water. The lymph system, unlike the circulatory system, lacks a central pump. Alternating hot and cold, lymph vessels dilate and contract to essentially pump and move stagnant metabolic fluid out of the area. This positively affects the inflammation process and naturally reduces pain. Try it tonight. 16

19 HAND CARE KIT (Free with membership or sold separately) 1 Roll of Athletic Rock Tape 1 First Aid Kit Durable Plastic Case 2 Hand Cleaning Wipes Two Packs of Gauze Two 3 Bandages Four 2 Bandages 2 Triple Antibiotic Packets ½ oz Jar of Hand Balm 1 Nail Clipper with File 1 Pumice Stone with Loop 1 Sample Bottle of Liquid Chalk 1 Coupon for 50% off Liquid Chalk 1 Easy FlexEx Exercise Tool 1 FlexEx Guide Card 1 Carrying Pouch 17

20 SAFETY ADVICE Wearing rings or bracelets while using obstacles can potentially cause serious tissue damage. Even rubber rings can be harmful if snagged. HAND CARE GUIDE TEST If you pass the Ninjas United Hand Care Guide Test, you will be rewarded $5 store credit (members only). Scan the QR code below to access test.