Wrist Pain and Lifting

jagodfrey08

What am I doing wrong? We started a new workout plan two weeks ago. This past Monday, we did bent over barbell rows, which we do Mondays and Thursdays, followed by barbell curls. Thursday, I had so much pain in the outer part of my right wrist that I could not close my last 2 fingers around the bar and lift without pain. Then, I could not finish my barbell curls because it hurt. During deadlifts Friday, I noticed the right side of the bar angling down instead of being parallel to the floor. What have I done to my wrist? I can barely pick up my 3 year old without tenderness.

I am taking a break until Tuesday and popping Aleve for inflammation. There is no noticeable swelling, clicking, popping...or anything to indicate that it's anything other than inflammation. If it's not better Tuesdsy, then I am going to the doc.

crackpotbaby

Obviously assess the injury and treat as indicated.
.........

Other than that, the things I have found help prevent wrist pain/injury during lifting are:

- wrist wraps
- hook grip
- if you feel PAIN (injury pain) don't work through it; stop and sort yourself out!

jagodfrey08

Wrist wraps. I'm going to give that a shot. I'm not even lifting heavy, but it is a fairly new exercise for me. Just RICE-ing the crap out of it and taking Aleve for the moment.

Ironically, last week, a fellow lifter asked me if I got wrist pain from doing this exercise, and I was like, "No. I haven't experienced that." Then, boom....wrist pain this week. Smh.

Thanks for the tips. I might cut out the two exercises that I feel pain when doing until the pain subsides.

elopez1998

I sprained my wrist lifting as well. This was over a month ago and I still feel tension. Make sure you rest it, ice, elevate over the heart and wrap it.

KassLea22

Wrap it.

I have to wrap my left wrist during heavy lifting workouts since it's slightly weaker than my right. Since I started doing that I quit having pain in it.

ninerbuff

Betting it was the curls and not keeping your wrists straight and letting them "break" downward. Time will heal them, but learn from the mistake. Wrist wraps will help, but don't become too dependent on them.
Also personally, I wouldn't have you do curls after back work. While some will claim "pre exhaustion workout" for the biceps, IMO you aren't getting the best out of them that way. I would have had you train TRICEPS instead.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

SonyaCele

are you sure its not just doms from starting a new exercise? it takes time for all those little muscles in your arms to toughen up . the fact you said you can't close your fingers sounds like grip muscles, which starts in your forearms. Unless you suspect an injury, take it easy and recover and ease slowly into any new exercise or workout. if you suspect injury see a dr.

jagodfrey08

It's not DOMS. I have felt that, and this isn't that. This reminds me of my carpal tunnel pain, except worse. It's still tender today, but not nearly as bad.

I'm going to take you advice @ninerbuff ! Thanks for that!

Grabbing some wraps, too.

anzemail

I've done that several times over the past few years. I discovered, like Ninerbuff above said, it was "not keeping your wrists straight and letting them 'break' downward." Time did heal them, but I learned from the mistake to keep the proper position and not use a heavier weight until I was ready for it.

dbhuff369

So, my experience here is that grip strength might be your culprit. Really squeezing the bar in all these exercises is how you stabilize the wrist. Deads and carries are a good way to work on grip. I think wrist wraps would be a bandaid for this problem, not solving it. As for rehab, RICE is not the latest approach, look into voodoo bands and flossing (youtube/Kelly Starrett), but pay attention to your body to make sure you aren't re-injuring. For me, this works like magic sometimes.

Chieflrg

Were you squatting like Wednesday or any day of the week?

jagodfrey08

I do squats on Tuesdays and Fridays. Since I have some knee trouble right now and have to wear this weird rubber web brace thing with hinges, I am using the hack squat machine to get lower. It's hard to keep my knee stable. Seeing an ortho surgeon, and he gave me the thumbs up on that one. But yeah. Doing squats. Just not with a barbell.

jagodfrey08

Hey. I spread my hands further out and concentrated on not bending my wrists down today. It really seemed to improve things, and there is no tenderness today. Hubby had surgery yesterday, so I had to push my days out this week. Thank you guys for the tips!