Laura-Ann Chong is a former elite gymnast, who represented Canada in many international competitions before pursuing an NCAA gymnastics carer at Oregon State University.  

Chong has been swinging on bars, ripping her hands, and concerning herself with conscientious hand care health since she was in pre-school.

                                           Laura-Ann Chong competing for OSU 

Today, Chong lives in Salou, Spain, where she’s part of a traveling Cirque du Soleil. Currently, she performs as a bar acrobat in the show Amaluna. 

Being a Cirque du Soleil performer means her schedule includes 10 performances, and two or three training sessions, each week. A day rarely goes by where she doesn’t spend hours a day swinging, releasing, pirouetting around the bars. Her hands take a constant beating.

While acute rips are inevitable, Chong took the time to share her secrets to avoid too many unwanted rips, cracks, and hand pain.

3. Ice:

She hold a bag of ice on her hands for 5-10 minutes when they become acutely sore. 

“If my hands are sore, it’s because they’re inflamed, or feel like they’re burning, so ice really helps,” Chong said.

2. Second Skin:

Her wrists take the biggest beating and tend to be an area where she rips most often. To minimize the pain, Chong puts a layer of second skin—those little blue gel pads—on her wrists. Second skin tends to reduce friction and pain when an acute rip is present.

1. Limit the Callouses:

Some athletes like to keep a thin layer of hard skin—a callous—on their hands . Chong does not. 

“My hands are surprisingly soft and smooth,” she said. She uses intensive hand therapy by USANA Health Sciences to keep her hands soft and callous-free.

If you want callous-free, soft hands like Chong, RIPT's GRINDSTONE will thin those callouses, and DAILY DOSE will keep them soft and smooth, avoiding unwanted dry skin and cracking.