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If you have a wrist injury or suffer from weak wrists in general, keeping your upper body strength can be challenging. The trick is to learn how to work out without inflicting pain on your wrists or causing damage. Completing a normal training session with weak or injured wrists is doable, with some minor adjustments to your routine.
Firstly, any movement that causes pain should be avoided. This will only damage your wrists further. However, not moving your wrists is not a good option either. This will decrease mobility in your wrists and make them weaker. So, keep your wrists moving. To begin with, try small circular rotations and build up from there. Training with weak or injured wrists is possible. Try adapting your workout by using the exercises below and keep pain free!
The Half Push Up
Training with weak or injured wrists can be done easily if you know how. First of all, swap your normal pushups for half pushups, these are great for working the chest, biceps and triceps. Start by placing your hands and forearms on the ground, shoulder width apart. Stretch your legs and place the balls of your feet on the floor. Contract your ab muscles and lower yourself to the ground by bending your elbows. Don’t forget to exhale. Bring yourself back up and repeat.
TRX Training
TRX Training or suspension training is a great way to train with your own body weight. Not only does TRX training give you strength, but also helps improve your flexibility, stability and muscle endurance. By keeping your arms and wrists in line you can choose your level of resistance without strain or pain, just lean forward! There are 100’s of exercises to explore with TRX training so you vary your workout. In Amsterdam try TRX Total Body Workout at Squash City or TRX at Fitness Zuidas for professional TRX training for all abilities.
Resistance Bands
Resistance Bands are simple but effective for training with weak or injured wrists. The power of resistance is literally in your hands. Keep your wrists straight and try exercises such as chest presses and shoulder presses. Hold the band around your back and pull forward or place it under your foot and lift upwards. Remember to always keep your wrists aligned with your arms. Simple exercises but effective results.
Indoor Cycling
Of course, you can make the most of training your legs. If your wrists are still painful, avoid cycling outdoors and get in the gym. Any indoor cycling machine will give you the stability you need to cycle effectively, even with one arm! Mix up the resistance, increasing it for a few minutes and lowering it back down, so you work up a sweat and increase stamina!
If you start to exercise without putting strain on your wrists, you are likely to recover quicker. However, if you continue with your normal workout your wrists may get worse. Therefore, it’s always good to add something new to your workout routine. Who knows, maybe you’ll even find a new favourite exercise.
