wrist pain w/ chest press/flies

[jcm]

Whenever I do chest presses and flies, pain/fatigue in my wrist keeps me from doing a complete second set and increasing my weight. I'm usually quite careful w/ my form. What am I doing wrong??

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Jcm! Wrists are a common problem for many. You may not be doing anything wrong and may simply have wrist sensitivity.

Some things to check for: Make sure that your wrists are in a fixed and aligned position so that they line up with the forearm as opposed to hyperextending backwards. Be sure that you are not jumping up to a too heavy of a weight and/or too soon. A two pound increase is plenty in most cases.

Something to consider: Try to include more wrist curls in your workouts to strengthen the muscles surrounding the wrists and the forearms.

Added thoughts: If you are also having pain with your wrists for other exercises such as push ups or dips, try to use push up handle bars to take the pressure off of your wrist.

Good luck and think about having it checked out if the pain persists.

 

[jcm]

I'll try all of the things mentioned, and what exactly are wrist curls? How do I do them properly and is that an exercise that would require a pretty light weight?

I do have problems w/ push ups also, and sometimes the pain will persist for several days and make daily activities uncomfortable. I'd thought of carpal tunnel, but it's not really tingling and isn't that persistent.

Thanks!