Hand Pain from Heavy Weight Training

[wandakusa]

Does anyone ever have problems with tingling in their hands or any type of hand pain associated with heavy weight training? What do you do to combat the pain?

I occasionally experience tingling on the back of my palm and sometimes on the inside of my palm when I grip heavy weights or do pushups.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[CathydsRNA]

Yes, I have the same problem, both in hands and wrists. . The use of good gloves when weightlifting has helped but not eliminated the problem. They help me not grip the weights so hard and help keep my wrists in alignment. I also have a squat rack for heavy barbell work and that prevents a lot of torque on my wrist if I was to lift barbell from floor. For pushups I use pushup handles as doing pushups all the time on the floor can kill my hands. I also use gloves with the pushup handles. Ibuprofen helps if the pain persists. I would love to hear other ideas on how others deal with this issue. I have thin wrists and hands and wonder if this contributes to the problem. I also make certain to include forearm work to help strengthen the muscles controlling my wrist.
Cathy

 

[SRP]

I've experienced more of a muscular pain, not tingling. I've bought some weight lifting hooks, which allow me to lift heavier on back work and not strain my hands. I also do a lot more circuit weight work, as opposed to working one body part and then moving to the next. This allows me to change up my grip and relax my hands more. One thing you might want to try is to stretch your hands in between exercises. And if you're doing total body routines, try doing different splits, so that your weight lifting is spreat out over more days.

 

[kathryn]

"Tingling" makes it sound like some kind of nerve impingement.

It may be pressure on a bent wrist that is causing it (try doing push-ups holding onto hex dumbells or push-up bars and keep your wrists straight. If you're a die-hard, you could also try fist push-ups with wrists straight. Make sure your wrists are straight when doing presses and flyes, maybe using wrist-wrap gloves--not too tight).

 

[LauraMax]

"Tingling" makes it sound like some kind of nerve impingement.

I have this problem. I've lost most of the feeling in my left hand (thank goodness it's my left!), really all I can feel is that tingling. I did PT for about 3 mos., mostly working w/traps & shoulders, with no improvement. Now they want me to have an MRI so they can locate the pinched nerve, since it's apparently not in the neck/shoulder area so they need to look at my entire spine.

It feels weird, but it hasn't affected my quality of life in any way, except when I have to screw on the backs to my diamond studs.

 

[Jane A]

No tingling, but I do get pain at the base of my thumb from the actual weight of heavy dumbbells, especially during chest flys or bench flys when gravity is really pulling the weight down into my hands.

My 15# and under dumbbells have a vinyl coating which helps, but 20# and up are just steel and gloves don't seem to be thick enough. I have used a padded wrap designed for luggage handles, and that helps some.

Maybe Cathe can design & manufacture something to cushion the handles of larger weights?

 

[wandakusa]

This has been going on for awhile now and I wasn't sure if anyone else was having the same problem. Thank you guys so much for responding. I hadn't thought about the possiblity of having a pinched nerve (thanks kathryn). I'm going to get it checked out at my next doctor's appointment.

I'm also going to try some of the tips mentioned here such as the pushup handles and also watching my grip and stretch between exercises.

I'm getting ready to start STS next week so I need to get ready!