Month: September 2018
Working Out With A Sprained Wrist
Trying to maintain your workout regimen with a hurt or sprained wrist can be a challenging feat. However, you can still workout while practicing safe measures to prevent further injury and progress healing.
So before we get into working out with a hurt wrist, we need to know how the wrist works and the ways it can get hurt. Then, as the wrist heals, we’ll deal with how to work out with a hurt wrist.
It can be done, and it won’t hurt a bit!
How The Wrist Works
The wrist joints join the hand to the forearm. The forearm bones, the ulna and the radius, come into the wrist joints. They are then joined to the eight carpal bones. These bones appear in two rows of four bones each.
Cartilage is a slippery moist band that keeps bones from rubbing against each other. Cartilage winds around each bone in the wrist, keeping the joint fluid, so to speak.
What Kinds Of Injuries Happen To Wrists?
Besides direct injuries – such as athletic – that causes a sprained wrist, chips and clean breaks cause damage to bones. Cartilage wears out with age. Blood and nutrients can’t get to them so they just die away. This causes bones to rub together.
Osteoarthritis is when the cartilage gets smaller and smaller due to age. Eventually, there’s nothing left. There is no reversal and no cure.
Rheumatoid arthritis is when the body’s immune system turns against the body and attacks the joints. RA occurs on both sides of the body; in this case, in both wrists.
Post-traumatic arthritis is when a bone is broken in the wrist. The cartilage is more or less rearranged, causing the bones to move differently. Often, it’s years later before the damage to the joint is found.
How To Workout With A Hurt Wrist
You can still get an upper body workout without using your wrists. Slap a brace on them and give them time to heal. Meanwhile, we’re going to use the body as resistance to build a wrist-free upper body workout.
First of all, wrist strength is only as good as your forearm and upper arm strength. These muscles support the wrists. Our goal is to strengthen these as well as an upper body workout. Ready?
You’ll need:
- Resistance bands or tubes
- Push up bars or 25-pound dumbbells
- Kettlebells
The stretch bands are great for this kind of workout because the wrist doesn’t need to bend. You can do bench presses, flies, chest and shoulder presses. The bands force the muscles to work all the way through the exercise, strengthening the whole upper body.
The problem with a hurt wrist is the bending. When you’re doing push-ups using either dumbbells or push up bars, the wrist remains static. It doesn’t bend. If you have two 25 pound dumbbells, use those until you get used to the movement. When you’re ready, get the push up bars. You can even do planks as well as reverse push-ups using push up bars.
Kettlebells force the wrist to remain straight instead of bending. Unlike dumbbells and barbells, though, kettlebells work right with you through all the exercises you do for upper body strength. Rowing, overhead presses, and curls can still be done.
You can get a “home gym” type thing that mimics TRX training. You’ll find it on Amazon, eBay, and Bonanza. You hook it over a door and then do curls, flies, or whatever you do in the gym. You can also use the bands to do TRX-type exercises. Test yourself to see at what angle your upper body gets the best workout. The wrist, just like with the other workout methods, remains static.
Working out with a sprained wrist is doable with Sworkit. In fact, a complete exercise library awaits those who download the Sworkit app. This tool was developed for people who can’t find ten minutes for a simple workout. Well, now you can. The exercise library contains exercises for any muscle group in addition to the custom workout the Sworkit app provides.
So download Sworkit today and get that wrist back into action!