Suggestion for weakness in wrists

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hothodgie
hothodgie Posts: 258 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have been working out since May of this year. I started with straight cardio, then after about 2 or 3 weeks I added strength training with weight machines at the gym. I have made good progress, but want to move on to free weights. I have a set at home that are my husbands from his younger days. Now here is the problem.

At the gym I can bicep curl and tricep push down 35 pounds with ease. May not sound like much, but my strength has always been in my legs and back. I started with 15 lbs and it was a struggle, lol. I am making progress. So at home, the one dumb bell has 15 pounds on it. Decided to try it as it was. I cannot properly curl with it unless I use my other hand to support the lifting hand. I have no problem with it hurting my muscle in my arm. The arm can do it, but the wrist and hand cannot. How do I fix this? Am I doing something wrong? I have not attempted the bar bell yet since just the dumb bell is giving me problems.

And I know the gym machines are easier because of the pullies and such assisting me. I just want to move on to other things. I can carry my daughter and pick up 50 lbs of dog food no problem. The curling is the problem. Any suggestions are appreciated. TIA.

Replies

  • hothodgie
    hothodgie Posts: 258 Member
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    Bumpity bump.
  • dlwyatt82
    dlwyatt82 Posts: 1,077 Member
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    Back in my high school wrestling days, we exercised these muscles by taking a small stick (sawed off part of a broom handle, or something similar), drilling a hole through the center if it, and feeding / knotting a small rope through the hole. At the other end of the rope, you can tie a weight (usually a round plate, but whatever works).

    You hold the stick out in front of you, and roll the weight up in one direction or the other to strengthen your wrists.

    You can see pictures of this as #3 (Wrist Rolls) on this page: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/md55.htm
  • hothodgie
    hothodgie Posts: 258 Member
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    Thank you so much! That is a great help. I will get to this today.
  • cineshome
    cineshome Posts: 97 Member
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    bumping!
  • TexasRattlesnake
    TexasRattlesnake Posts: 375 Member
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    Also, get lighter than 15 pound weights and do just wrist curls. Sit down in a normal seated position with your forearms laid out across your thigh and the wrist pretty much at the knee (hand would be holding the weight just past the leg). Do curls with just your wrist by lowering your hand and raising the weight back up. Do sets with your palms facing up and down to strengthen the front and back of the forearm area.

    Work on increasing the weight as strength improves.

    Getting some grips will also help with hand, wrist, and forearm strength.

    dlwyatt's suggestion is a great one too, we used to do these as well.
  • Prudiddy
    Prudiddy Posts: 262 Member
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    I need some too!
  • steveinct
    steveinct Posts: 140 Member
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    I would switch to a 10 pound dumbbell and curl. When your wrists strengthen, you will be able to do more. To be honest, this is a lesson on why machines are terrible. Basically, you have a muscle imbalance that could easily result in an injury. Your bicep says you can lift X,Y,and Z yet your connective tissue in your wrists think otherwise. Using free weights will correct this.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
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    Deadlifts. And Squats. a strengh training program isn't without those two exercises.
  • schnarfo
    schnarfo Posts: 764 Member
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    I have a similar problem in body pump classes. I know I can lift more but my wrists just dont let me. I have to use wrist supports but even then it hurts
  • hothodgie
    hothodgie Posts: 258 Member
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    Thank you so much everyone! These are all incredibly helpful. Most of this stuff I already have too, so its not a problem. The dumb bells are just bars that you add weight discs to, so changing the weight isn't a problem at all. I just needed to know where to start.

    A few weeks ago I read an article on why machines were not sufficient for building overall strength which is why I started trying the free weights this past week. I started deadlifts and squats this week too without any problem. It was just the curls that I wanted to do and found out I couldn't.

    This information is priceless. I can't thank you guys enough!
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
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    Curls are silly too. Replace them with chin ups, pendlay rows, etc.
  • trelm249
    trelm249 Posts: 777 Member
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    Start doing some stiff leg deadlifts or romanian deadlifts with dumbbells. Go as heavy as you can hold for 8 to 10 reps per set. It will help with the grip.

    Also just hanging from the pullup bar for as long as you can is great as well.
  • Plentiful_Tentacles
    Plentiful_Tentacles Posts: 115
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    I'd suggest wrist curls, deadlifts, pull ups, assisted if you have to, etc to strengthen your forearms. You can also try doing lunges with dumbbells, or simply holding onto the dumbbells while walking as long as you can. When you do wrist curls though, don't forget to curl with your palms facing downwards, and upwards to work both the top and bottom of your forearm. You are only as strong as your weakest link, so good luck!

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