CrossFit South Bend

[vc_row padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px”][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/2″][image src=”13264″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”” style=””][/vc_column][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/2″][text_output]Lets talk about wrist support for CrossFit.

Now that CrossFit has gone pretty mainstream, if you google “wrist wraps” – you won’t find any shortage of every person in the world trying to get in on the CrossFit product game with  their own variation of a product. When you have a lot of weight on the bar, it tends to pull the wrist into a great amount of extension, the purpose of a wrist wrap is to provide support to the wrist during a pressing movement, or when the arm is in flexion and external rotation like the rack position – by limiting the extension of the wrist.

Here are a few things to remember.

1.Don’t isolate the wrist to get around a mobility issue.

I see people grabbing their wrists after a clean, or during wrist supports in discomfort. Wrapping your wrists to move around a mobility issue is treating the symptom, not the source of the problem. Now treating the symptom and the source can be done in conjunction with one another, but don’t ignore the source of your problem, which is more than likely poor mobility in your shoulders, extension in thoracic, forearms, and wrist flexibility. Wrist wraps also block the wrist, and will more than likely demand greater flexibility from the shoulders. So either work on some front rack mobility or some wrist mobility, or a little bit of both.

Front Rack and Wrist mobility

2. Warm up without your wrist wraps.

Warm up without them and allow your wrists to get into that full extension and flexion, wrapping your wrists up all of the time will more than likely encourage stiffening your range of motion, so that when you do take them offer, you’ll further damage them. You don’t need wrists wraps to move the bar, if you do, and if it hurts that bad that you have to use wrist wraps during a warm up – refer to the next one.

3. If it hurts, don’t do it, or pull it back.

Be smart, if it hurts.

Ask a coach – Come up with a plan on how to fix it, and stick to it.

Don’t do the movement – let it rest, substitute something different

Lower the weight – If it hurts, pull it back until its feeling better

Do mobility – I don’t feel sorry for you if you don’t do anything to fix the problem.

Get them checked out – If you are concerned about them, go get a medical professional to check them out.

4. Learn how to use them appropriately.

Take a look at the image provided, this gives you a good idea of some of the wrist wraps out there and how to use them. Make sure  you use the wraps correctly and for their intended purpose.

http://breakingmuscle.com/video/video-mobility-for-the-front-rack-and-jerk-position[/text_output][/vc_column][/vc_row]