Protection from abraded shins. Any ideas?

Lol

Lol

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Having just revisited deads again yesterday and having scraped the skin off my legs here and there yet again, I wondered whether any of you folks have come up with an ingenious solution to the problem of abraded shins? Tops of my knees get it sometimes too. Long training pants help a bit but I keep wrecking them instead.

I have tried keeping the bar just a tiny bit away from my legs which works fine for about 2 or 3 reps and then I have to just think about getting the bar up. I usually don't realise I'm bleeding until I've finished the set. I have also tried wearing football shin pads but they are too bulky and the bar can catch on the tops of them on the way down. Annoying.

I thought about those leather over-trousers that cowboys wear in the movies. If they weren't too thick and heavy they would be pretty much ideal; thin yet really tough.

On the other hand, should I just stop being a wuss and put up with it? I don't hear a lot of you complaining about this. Hmmm. Hey, perhaps the knurling on my bar is a bit too savage? That would be bound to make a difference. I don't think it's too bad though. I have felt worse.

I am seriously considering buying another bar anyway (as my present bar has a slight bend in it now) in which case, any recommendations for good bars? (No, I can't afford an Eleiko or an Ivanko!) It has to be able to stand up to overhead work as well as 'heavyish' rack pulls (ie. it'll get dropped from nearly 8ft up in the air).
 
Sumos. Or sweats. They work well. Those scrapes are all machomanly and all that, but a total nuisance. I doubt the girls think it's cool anyway.
 
I keep the bar a very slight distance away from my legs, but like you said, that gets difficult with higher reps. I also usually wear somewhat loose jeans when I do deads, or long workout pants. There doesn't seem to be any solution though.
My main problem is tearing up my thumb and the side of my hand from where it chafes against my clothes during the pull. I tried doing a wider grip like you suggested but that seems to make me slightly weaker when it comes to pulling for multiple reps.
 
Yeah, I guess a wider grip means you have to lift the bar slightly further and makes you start a little deeper.

Hey, how about some of these?

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They would do the trick! The knee padding might get in the way though as it runs horizontally on most cricket pads. Probably a bit overkill too. Nice pic though.
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(Lol @ Jun. 12 2008,8:46)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Hey, how about some of these?

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I thought your problem was with your shins...
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(Lol @ Jun. 12 2008,8:46)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">
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I'll take two! Oh you mean the shin guards
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Gates beat me to it...
I just had an idea. My inventor's brain never sleeps, huh?
They make surgical tape to stick to skin. That includes somewhat when you sweat. If you can stop the abrasion, at least you'll only bruise. A strip up the shin may do it.
Have fun pulling it off...
 
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(quadancer @ Jun. 13 2008,8:18)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Gates beat me to it...
I just had an idea. My inventor's brain never sleeps, huh?
They make surgical tape to stick to skin. That includes somewhat when you sweat. If you can stop the abrasion, at least you'll only bruise. A strip up the shin may do it.
Have fun pulling it off...</div>
Ouch... nair!
 
I wrap a foam &quot;shoulder roll&quot; around the bar for RDLs -- the bar just rolls up my legs when it touches.  However, this requires a relatively narrow stance.  If you need something wider, maybe cut a length of pipe insulation to size?  Of course, this almost assumes you work out at home, as it would look weird in public.
 
I get abrasion and bruising not only from deads but also from doing cleans. Yesterday, I had these two massive, red, burn-like, abrasions on my clavicles after cleaning. Oh well, I guess its just one of those inconveniences that go with training.
 
wannagrow, when cleaning try to avoid dropping the bar on the shoulders, you should time your clean to put it there. If you put your elbows forward usually the delts hold the bar.
 
Also if your clavicles are getting jacked up then you need to concentrate more on elbows up so that the bar lands on the deltoids and not your chest/clavicles.

Sweat pants, cloth or nylon, work great for me. I used to bloody up my shins every time I deadlifted. Eventually it just stopped and I just get some minor irritation now. Dont let teh sores fester though. You can keep reopening them and get a nasty infection that will be hard to get rid of. I have no problem wrecking my pants because workout pants are cheap.
 
I do the same thing that Ruthenian suggests but I've found that you can take two of them and overlap them in the middle to get a length that's long enough to have a wider stance without requiring a super wide grip.
 
Of course! Pad the bar! Doh! I'm going to see if that works next time I deadlift. And a bit of tape to hold the pipe insulation together might just do the trick. Thanks.
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Also if your clavicles are getting jacked up then you need to concentrate more on elbows up so that the bar lands on the deltoids and not your chest/clavicles. [//QUOTE]

I do have my elbows up/ upper arm parallel and the bar does land on my deltoids but it also touches my clavicles. I though that the bar had to be like against your throat or something in the rack position?

My shoulders also get bruised from the bar landing on them, except I think that may be due to the bar landing on the bony part of my shoulder. Its so hard though to change the way you rack, since its so fast. How do you manage to keep yourself from bruising your shoulders?

Electric, I'm no expert on the clean, but my impression ws that the bar has to land on your shoulders and therefore I don't see how I can avoid this? Timing the stomp with the rack perhaps?
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(wannagrow @ Jun. 13 2008,6:56)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Electric, I'm no expert on the clean, but my impression ws that the bar has to land on your shoulders and therefore I don't see how I can avoid this? Timing the stomp with the rack perhaps?</div>
I am also no expert, but from the cleans I've done the bar hits the front delts and not the shoulder bone or clavicule. The elbow ups position on the rack helps get the delts above the clavicule. Of course if you let the bar drop too much before the rack it will gain speed and hit hard whatever it hits, so timing the rack helps minimize impact.
 
ah, I see what you're saying. The bar is against your throat, behind the clavicles, so as not to touch the bony part. The weird thing is that my elbows are up perpendicular with my body and the bar is still touching undesirable places.
 
What about just wearing some long socks like baseball socks or soccer (football) socks that you wear over the shin guards?  It wouldn't help much with bruising but should help keep from cutting your skin with the knurling of the bar.

It looks like Benedikt is wearing something like that in this video.  However I have no idea if that is the reason why.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v....search=
 
If it is a knurling issue, like the bars at my gym, you can always wrap a little tape around that section of the bar. I keep a roll of 4&quot; tape in my bag for this reason. It is just the regular old waterproof tape like you would wrap and ankle or something with. I tear off a couple of pieces and put em on before I start. Pull em off and in the trash when I am done.
 
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