If you thought your break-dancing days were over then think again. I'm sure the above warm up took you back to a time when your body never let you down. These days, you need to Bulletproof your wrists against injury, particularly when performing any sort of pushing or pressing movement.
A common injury when
doing a lot of heavy pressing, such as bench and military press, is a sprained
wrist. This is due to the extra flex-ion or hyper extension that happens to the
wrist when under a heavy load. This usually occurs on days when the trainer is
working their shoulders or chest muscles.
There are three ways to
prevent yourself from suffering from a sprained wrist. For the purpose of this
article I will be using the bench press as the example exercise.
The first, is simply to
warm up. The purpose of a warm up is to get the blood pumping and the muscles,
joints, ligaments and tendons ready for exercise. So many trainers walk into
the gym and start off lifting moderate to heavy loads without a thought of
warming up.
A warm up is very
important and only takes 5-10 minutes. I should also note that dynamic
stretches are more beneficial than static stretches.
Secondly, when
performing a lot of pressing movements trainers tend to concentrate more on
just making sure they can lift the weight, opposed to lightening the load,
having better technique and feeling your muscle work. For example how many
people have you seen doing bench press with their wrists bent right back (hyper
extended). After performing rep after rep of a bench with a bent backward wrist
there is no wonder why they have a mildly sprained wrist. When you do heavy
pressing movements concentrate on keeping your wrist straight, (I like to use
the phrase to keep the wrist 'rock solid'.) Doing this will decrease the chance
of a sprained wrist from having your wrist at an awkward angle.
If your wrist is still
sore even after keeping it straight then you may need to use some wrist wraps.
Wrist wraps are elastic and wrap around the wrist and prevent it from flexing
and extending. In other words wrist wraps keep your wrist in a straight 'rock
solid' position. The use of wrist wraps will prevent your wrist from flexing or
hyper extending to the point of injury.
Wrist wraps are a
really great invention and, depending on your training regime could be useful
for you, especially if you consistently train with heavy weights.
It is very important
that you stretch out the muscles you have been working. When lifting you are
constantly contracting your muscles and they become tighter and tighter. If you
are doing a lot of heavy pulling movements your forearms can become extremely
tight resulting in a muscular imbalance in the forearm muscles. This can also
be a factor in wrist injuries while performing heavy lifting.
In conclusion if you
are constantly lifting heavy weights the smaller joints, such as the wrists,
can attain an injury. Implementing strategies such as warming up, using wrist
wraps and stretching will protect you from injury. Another important injury
prevention strategy is looking at your lifting technique. If your wrists are
continually hyper flexed or hyper extended then it is only a matter of time
until you suffer an injury.
Author: Matt D'Aquino
http://www.workoutsforjudo.com
Matt is the founder of
Beyond Grappling fitness and conditioning. He is a 2008 Beijing Judo Olympian
as well as nationally ranked freestyle wrestler and National Champion in
Brazilian Jujitsu. Matt has a passion for teaching all aspects of grappling
especially the fitness and conditioning aspect. Recently he has been traveling
the world aiming to qualify for his second Olympic Games.
To learn more about
Matt and his fitness and conditioning training visit
http://www.workoutsforjudo.com.
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Matt_D'Aquino/1108856
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/6497564
Video: https://www.youtube.com/user/gbodyweighttraining
No comments:
Post a Comment