Wrist Instablilty While Benching

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
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Hello all about 10 weeks ago I wrecked on my motorcycle and partially tore some my Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex (TFCC). I had to take off 6 weeks from lifting to let it heal and now that I am back in the gym most of the pain is gone from that wrist but it feels very unstable when benching.

I have been doing a generous amount of grip and flexor/extensor work but can’t seem to solve this problem.

Would wrist wraps help? I plan to compete on Dec 13 NorCal Open; USPF so I can’t use any wraps longer than 1m or wider than 8cm

Anyone have some suggestions?

Thanks guys.

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u dont need 3 foot long wrist wraps lol, get convict pro wraps 12’’ i have them they are crazy stiff and cheap, it would help keep ur wrists straight, if they are bending back it should solve that

things to consider:

isometric holds in the curl position: this really bruns the forearms u have to keep ur forearms and wrists parallell for a hold i think that will help strengthem even more, also do reverse curl holds:)

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Thanks for the reply bignate; I read your review of those convict wraps and they sound pretty solid for the price. I’ll give em a go and also try some of the isometric holds you mentioned, thanks again.

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Can you elaborate on the sort of “grip and flexor/extensor work” you’ve been doing?

I tore something in my wrist several years back (don’t even remember exactly what now) and it was loose/unstable feeling for awhile. A lot longer than six weeks.

Maybe time is still a factor at this point. I remember doing things like making a fist and rolling it around, resisting with the other hand and stopping to focus on places in the range of motion where it felt like things were “slipping”.

Kind of like ironing out the sticking point in a lift, if that makes any sense. I also did stuff with Thera-bands looped over my knuckles, then fingers.

I don’t know if stuff like this would help you or hurt you, though, honestly. I confess to being totally out of my depth here. This was stuff I did, going by feel and instinct, for the injury I had, which might have differed a lot from what you’ve got now. My wrist did eventually get a lot stronger/more stable, but it took awhile.

Good luck with your recovery and at the meet.

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Sorry you wreckd your bike man, glad your still with us. My bro in law has broken both wrists doing motorcross and he uses straps with great success. I’d get the best ones you can afford. You only get one wrist right??

I don’t know what your insurance deductible for a blown out wrist is but I bet you could get some sweet gear for the same price…

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[quote]StrengthDawg wrote:
Sorry you wreckd your bike man, glad your still with us. My bro in law has broken both wrists doing motorcross and he uses straps with great success. I’d get the best ones you can afford. You only get one wrist right??

I don’t know what your insurance deductible for a blown out wrist is but I bet you could get some sweet gear for the same price…[/quote]

dont we have two wrists:)

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maybe I’m an amputee…ha.

I cant type for crap…

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That meet is in our gym. Where do you train?

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Hey Jim I was training out at powerhouse gym in rancho cordova this summer…they’re putting the finishing touches on a powerlifting/strongman room which has some nice equipment that I was lucky enough to use. This will be my first meet and I’m looking forward to what will no doubt be a learning experience. As of this labor day weekend I am moving to the napa area and so will be training at my college gym there with a few friends.

Quick question for ya: Do USPF members get any sort of discount on INZER gear? I currently am training raw and want to start getting used to wearing single ply. As a broke and in debt college student, every cent counts.

EDIT: Oh and Feist, most of flexor/extensor work was simply wrist curls in all directions, crush and pinch grip work, and some light sledge hammer stuff.

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I don’t know about any but I would check with Steve Dennison about whether there are discounts with Inzer for USPF. Here is his email: pwrlftrs@msn.com

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[quote]HeavyD916 wrote:
Oh and Feist, most of flexor/extensor work was simply wrist curls in all directions, crush and pinch grip work, and some light sledge hammer stuff.[/quote]

Well, it sounds like you’re trying to be thorough, anyway.

I hear ya on that, being broke, in debt, and in school right now myself. Do you have health insurance, though? I’m asking 'cause I wonder if you ever got any physical therapy. I’d guess so, when you say you took “six weeks to heal,” but I’m not sure. If you did, what kind of stuff did the PTs have you do in there? If not, try getting your doc to write you a scrip for PT – if you have insurance, you should only have to pay 10% of the cost or something similar – and when you go in, explain to the PTs the exact nature of your injury (doc should already have given them a heads up, and they should screen you themselves) and what you’ve been doing so far to try to treat it. Tell them you lift seriously and that it’s important to you to get it back. See if they can show you anything new.

Other than that, all I can say is that the couple of times I’ve injured something badly enough to require PT, the PT was enough to get me “decent” but not great. Not that it didn’t help or that I didn’t learn things from it – it did and I did – but that last 20% to go from “I can walk around like a regular guy” to “I feel solid and athletic again” took me experimenting on my own, feeling things out, reading, and then applying the corrective exercises that felt like they were helping. When I tore up my knee, for instance (being stupid) and then had surgery on it, PT got me okay, but it never felt good running and I couldn’t lift for shit. I ended up doing all kinds of single-leg squat and dead variations and deep lunges in every direction and monster-walks with bands around my ankles. That’s what got the knee stable again.

Obviously the above doesn’t apply directly to your wrist – and like I said, I don’t know shit about your specific injury – but I’d try the PT and keep experimenting with different stuff, see what seems helpful (random ideas: knuckle pushups, sticking your hand in a big bucket of rice and twisting it around). Stop if it makes things worse.

Again, good luck. Hope your wrist continues to improve with time and work.