I’ve been lifting for a year now with pretty good results. Yesterday, on bicep day, I noticed that on my curls, my left wrist (no pain felt) started collapsing way before my bicep became fatigued.
The resident big guy at the gym happened to be next to me during my workout so I asked if this was natural. He recommended some straps and athletic tape and told me that all joints take a beating when you lift consistently. He also told me to never work through the pain when your joints aren’t 100% as you will only add to the problem.
So
Could you talk about whether you’ve had a weak wrist and how long did it take to get back to normal, and what you did in the meantime?
Recommend a good pair of gloves or wrist supports which will offer the wirst adequate support.
[quote]badman926 wrote:
I’ve been lifting for a year now with pretty good results. Yesterday, on bicep day, I noticed that on my curls, my left wrist (no pain felt) started collapsing way before my bicep became fatigued. The resident big guy at the gym happened to be next to me during my workout so I asked if this was natural. He recommended some straps and athletic tape and told me that all joints take a beating when you lift consistently. He also told me to never work through the pain when your joints aren’t 100% as you will only add to the problem.
So
Could you talk about whether you’ve had a weak wrist and how long did it take to get back to normal, and what you did in the meantime?
Recommend a good pair of gloves or wrist supports which will offer the wirst adequate support.
Thanks [/quote]
ok #1 in 2003 I had a shattered wrist,they performed a bone graft from peices of hip and used pins and screws to secure it.casted to the shoulder for over a year then smaller casts to braces now its healed. it was not “normal” up untill about a year ago almost so took me 2 years of extreme pain and work to get it back I found the wrist to be very slow to strengthen up
I do alot of physical therapy type things
gripping gell training grips
crush grip trainers
dumbell wrist curls
I also read the toothpicks to timber artical on here and those exersises are great for building forarm and wrist strength
my right wrist isnt weak its strong as it was before the injury now but i have extreme pain in that wrist and will for rest of my life.
I have to go in for regular x-rays to make sure I am not damaging it anymore
I an working on forarm strength to off set the weak bone in the joint
decent priced they are thick not too thick they hold up well to everyday washing
and also the wrap part isnt a real hard type of support
they give very subtle support you can still bend your wrist if needed but it does hold the wrist very well.
if you use wraps and stuff then the wrist will never get strong and always remain a weak point but these are great I think I use them also with forearm work and still can move and twist and bend
I have had no pain what so ever in my wrist since I got these gloves I bought a second pair to follow up for after these wear out
oh ya the cheaper ones the “pro series” didnt work for me at all they were too flimsy IMHO
if this is not from injury, i would suggest a little time off for the wrists then start doing grip work. your going to need that wrist and hand strength a lot more as your weights go up. wrist wraps and hooks are just going to take them out of the picture, leading to other issues later like injuries and small forearm syndrome if grip work is not done when using these. beware the sfs.
there is grip info around here to search, but i suggest the www.gripboard.com faq pasted beginner wo by david horne.
[quote]
This is what I would advise to the pure beginner to start with, for a good few months before he/she decides on the path they want to choose. I think this will stop a lot of injuries that are happening due to imbalances between certain areas.
Exercises
Two Hands Pinch Lift for holds, also use work gloves to protect your skin.
Finger curls with an Olympic Bar, overhand grip. Hold it on the last set when you can’t do anymore finger curls.
Two Hand Wrist Curl. Normal, with a comfortable range of motion. Do not let the bar go into your fingertips like some bodybuilders do, also do them with your thumb under the bar as you are training your wrists and don’t want to fight against the thumb digit on top of the bar.
Two Hands Reverse Wrist Curl.
Do the Pinch holds for 10-15 secs, and the other exercises for 15-20 reps.
How often?
I would do them 3 times a week if you can, but twice a week if struggling with this.
How many sets of each?
I would say 3 sets per exercise, which you should easily do quickly. If this is a struggle then go down to 2 sets.
What about crushing?
The ‘crushing’ exercise is Finger curls with an Olympic Bar, overhand grip. This is an easy exercise to learn for the beginner and doesn’t have the techniques of setting, etc. Grippers can be brought in later when they want to excel at this implement.
Why the gloves with pinching?
You can easily tear the skin in between the index finger and thumb, which would put you out of action, especially since you will be pinching 3 times a week. This initial program for the beginners is all about strengthening, and the gloves will make it a tougher exercise, but safer for the skin.
Should you do all these exercises on one day?
Yes. In the order I stated.
I’ve had a problem with my wrist a few months ago from doing preacher curls with the EZ bar. I suppose I developed a tennis elbow, even though the majority of the pain was localized in the wrist.
A few days ago I began curling my usual load and my wrist would flop, which would interrupt the motion of my arm.
I’ve began to feel some pain in the center of my wrist since then (opposite side of the plam)closer to my hand.
Any indication of what this could be the result of, and how can I avoid it in the future?
Is this a consequence of weak wrists?
For now I better take a few days off or at least take it easy
[quote]badman926 wrote:
thanks nichaaron, I’ll be sure to try on a pair. In the meantime, I should let my wrist recover and read up on more exercises to strengthen it.[/quote]
ya you should do grip work but use some good gloves while going heavy…
there only a crutch and you should get away from that.
toughing through with wraps would likely make things worse so see a doctor. pain in the wrist like you described can be a symptom of a tendon or bone problem some place else along the same nerve path (been there). it could be as simple as needing a month off with some anti-inflamation meds or something more serious as mentioned above. both are easier to treat the sooner it is found.
prevention depends on what the doc says is wrong with you when you see one.
we also dont know how hard was that last rep for you (we all do too much too soon at some point) or if you had previous injuries. i will say that grip work is something every routine should have in some form and is sadly lacking for most and may have contributed, but without the info above, non of us can say.
