Hand pain when lifting.

J

JuliaBelle

Cathlete
Cathe - first of all, I love your workouts! You give such great form pointers and I've seen some fabulous results!

A friend of mine and I both love the Slow & Heavy series, but we both are having the same problem - we're experiencing hand pain when we do the chest flies and bench press. Are we using too much weight? Is there something in our form that is causing the problem?

Thanks,
Julia
 
Since I am the friend, I would like to add something. I don't feel like I'm using weight that is too heavy. I used 12 pound bells for all 3 sets of Chest & Back today. It was my first time doing the workout, and the first time I've ever actually FELT the pec muscle while doing presses and flys. But the hand pain is very bad. I am wondering if padded lifting gloves help enough to be worth the cost? Thanks Cathe :)
 
Me too, me too!! Advice would be great here, because I can't seem to get through the Slow and Heavy without my hands killing me. I do wear the weight lifting gloves and noticed it does cut down on the pain some what, but by the end of the workout my palms are so sore. Didn't know I had muscle there to make them hurt. :p

I am wondering too if there is something wrong I am doing, because when I am doing Supersets or Push and Pull using 15's the dead row lifts kill my hands. My back and rest of body can handle up to 20 right now, but my hands scream when I look down to pick those up.
 
I experience some hand pain in the chest press work too. I use 30 lb dumbells, then hold a 20 and a 5 together for the last set. The pain in my hands becomes excruciating as I finish the last set. My hands just ache after this workout. I assumed it was those tiny muscles holding the heavy weight. Perhaps we just need to strengthen our hands.

FingerMax is on the horizon.
 
That's one of the reasons why I don't do S&H as often as I would like. I use 15 and 20 pound db's during chest work, (any lighter and I just don't feel it!) but my hands hurt so much holding those heavy weights that I have to end the workout and relax my hands for a few minutes. I use padded gloves and they help somewhat, but not that much. I remember someone on this BB commenting once that you just have to keep at it and eventually your hands will get accustomed to lifting heavy, but so far that hasn't happened to me!
 
I have this problem, too! I've always assumed it's because I have such small girly-hands! I'd be interested to know if there's something that can be done to alleviate this. I always wear padded gloves, and it does help, but with that heavy weight, I'm always crying by the last few reps and have to really shake out my hands when I'm done. In fact, sometimes I feel like my hands give out on me before the muscles I'm working do. I'd love to hear what Cathe has to say about this.

-Marie:)
 
Hi Julia, not Cathe but I always get this doing the chest flies and bench press in PUB no matter if I use lighter or heavy weight. I only get this If I do the complete 5 set. It feels like a bruising. This was discuss last year so your not the only one. For me Im wonder if its because of all the sets and holding the weights longer instead of doing the 2 count up of 8 to 10 reps. I would like to see what Cathe has to say also:).
 
Me too! Towards the end of PLB when doing deadlifts my hands have almost had it, that my hamstrings almost get jipped a workout...but I rest to get through it.
 
It's not "girly-hands". My hands are very large, even for my size, and padded gloves only help a little bit for me too.
 
Hello all from icy-Iowa! I,too, get terrible hand pain when doing the flies/presses. Not only do I have pain in my palms, but it goes into my wrists and forearms. I thought that maybe it had something to do with my job-I'm at a computer almost all day. Does anyone else type a lot? I also have terrible pain after using my bowflex to perform tricep press downs-I think I stretch/torque my wrists. I have not been able to use my left hand for much for almost 4 days now! Could it be poor form? Combinations of all these? I thought I was the only one!
 
Or could it be similiar to carpal tunnel syndrome? I have a mild form of it and certain activities, like opening a tight jar, can trigger it.
 
You know, I thought at one point I was holding the wts too tight. So I focused on loosening my grip. It helped some but did not resolve the problem. I still get a lot of discomfort in my hands when I do chest work. Anxious to see if Cathe has any suggestions.

catherine
 
hello everyone,
i'm wondering since i'm new to this, does cath actually answer these questions? awesome if she does. i experience pain in my wrist and forearm area more than actually in the hands, but i do find myself flexing and unflexing my hands a lot between sets. that helps a little. maybe its just such a small area of our bodies that it just really takes a while to build up. i also have arthritis though i'm only 35, and it seems to be getting worse. i sometimes feel that that interferes with my workouts too, as far as discomfort. anyone have that problem? thanks:)
 
Cathe does answer questions posted on this forum, but she is so busy right now that patience really helps!
I can't wait until she gets back though, because I have a couple questions posted myself. :D
 
It's been over a year since I did a Slow & Heavy rotation, but I also had the same hand pain. If I remember correctly, I actually had less pain when I didn't wear the gloves. I had specifically bought gloves for this series, and I think that they were a big help in the workouts, but not for me, for these particular exercises.
 
Hi -

I was experiencing numbness and tingling in my hands and forearms after doing PUB, and this continued for about a day. Then I realized, as did Catherine, that I was holding on to the weights for dear life. Since then, I try to ease up and the numbness has almost vanished. However, I never experienced what I would really call pain. Just the numbness and tingling. Hope this helps.

Margaret
 
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