As part of my Online Training packages, I communicate a lot with my clients. Lately, I’ve been noticing a bit of a trend, and I figured that if this was coming up over and over for my clients, it was time to add it to my “Two Minute Tips” Series of videos on YouTube.
So the topic that I’ve been getting a lot of questions about is wrist pain during some of the exercises. This is coming up for some of my clients when I give them exercises where they are using their wrists to bear their weight. This includes burpees, push ups, mountain climbers, and planks.
If you are finding that your wrists are in pain during these kinds of exercises, I don’t want you to give up! There is a simple solution that can help you take some of the pressure off of your wrists, while still giving you the benefit of the exercise.
What you can do is grab some dumbbells. The dumbbells will work to support your wrists, taking some of the strain off of you. Be sure to grab dumbbells with a flat side. The reason I recommend flat dumbbells is for safety! If you have round dumbbells, they can roll away on you. Not sure what I mean by flat sides? Here’s a picture to help.
How do dumbbells help?
If you are doing a plank, or a plank row, using dumbbells is a great way to support your wrists because they keep your wrists in a straight up and down position. When you get into plank position, and your wrists are not feeling right, or are causing you pain, you may be lacking some range of motion. By using the dumbbells for support you might find that you feel a lot more comfortable.
SAFETY NOTE: Ladies, please DO NOT wear flip flops when you work out! This video was made as a quick demo for my Facebook group. If I was actually working out, I would definitely be wearing appropriate footwear, and you should always wear appropriate footwear when you work out too!
As you can see from the picture below, when you are using the dumbbell, your wrist is in a very different position than when you are resting entirely on your wrist.
You can see how your wrists are also supported during other exercises below.
Look, ladies – the key takeaway message I want you to leave with is that you can often modify exercises to give you the support you need without losing the benefits of the exercise.
Of course, you should always listen to your body, and if the pain is keeping you from even doing the modified version be sure you check with your trainer or a health professional. But for many of you, this easy modification may be exactly what you need to keep going!
I’m always happy to help, so if you have questions, you can email me or comment below.
