Your Wrists Are Your Training Bottleneck. — Key Takeaways
Wrist pain during pushing exercises is a loading and positioning problem — fix it by splay-pressing fingers down and away from the floor, then finding the hand angle (straight, turned out, or sideways) where you can load without pain, using 5 controlled pulses per position.
Key takeaways
Splay fingers and push down-and-away to spread load off the wrist heel
Splay fingers and push down-and-away to spread load off the wrist heel
- Pressing down and away shifts stress off the heel of the palm and distributes it across the whole hand.
- This cue applies universally — push-ups, floor mobility work, any hand-on-floor position.
Turning fingers outward during pressing protects elbows and shoulders, not just wrists
Turning fingers outward during pressing protects elbows and shoulders, not just wrists
- Insufficient wrist mobility forces load up the chain — elbows and shoulders absorb stress that originated at the wrist.
- Rotating fingers out lets the wrist work in a range it can handle; walk them back toward straight as mobility improves.
Lifting palm heels off the floor loads finger flexors and builds the wrist's structural base
Lifting palm heels off the floor loads finger flexors and builds the wrist's structural base
- Start with heels barely off the floor and minimal bodyweight (sit back toward heels); 5 pulses is sufficient initially.
- Progress by lifting higher and shifting more weight forward only after shaking and pressure subside.
This Dig holds the full set of insights, 4 flashcards, and 2 quotes — free with your trial.
Unlock this Dig freeStart free with 100 credits · No card, no expiry
In this video
- 1mWhy your wrists give out
- 1mDrill 1: Load the wrist
- 2mDrill 2: Where you need work
- 3mDrill 3: Finger position
- 5mDrill 4: Loading the fingers
- 6mHow to use these four
“You end up thinking you got an elbow thing or a shoulder thing going on when in actuality it all started at the wrist.”
This page is a partial, transformative summary produced by Homestake. All rights to the original content remain with its creator — please support them at the source link above.
