You know the old saying "chain is only as strong as it's weakest link". Well right now, my weakest link is my wrists. I finally broke my platau and moved up to benching with 85lb. dumbells. My younger friends laugh. One can barbell bench well over 300lbs. But I'm a small framed 5'8" 160 lb. guy who just turned 54, so this was a big step for me. The problem is that I'm developing some serious wrist pain and some boney bumps on the edge of my palm heel. It feels like tendonitis and I probably need to back off a bit. On the other hand, I don't want to lose what I've worked so hard to gain. Are their any kind of wraps or supports that would let me continue training and still take the stress off my wrists? Or should I just lay off and listen to one of my younger friends who says that old guys shouldn't push themselves and train so hard? A third possibility would be to use lighter weights in ways that still really work you to exhaustion without the same joint stress. Any suggestions?
You can get wrist wraps but why would you want to push weight your wrist can't handle? What happens if you're working in the yard or something and you push something really hard? If you didn't have the straps on, big injury possibility. My opinion is let it heal and work on getting the wrist stronger.
1) Tell your 'younger friends' that you are not old. No-one is old at 54. Gte them to shut up or beat them to death with the 85lb dumbells. 2) Work your grip to bring the strength in your wrists and hands up to speed. If your grip is stronger, your wrists will feel less pain. You'll also be able to make a tighter fist. If your gym has a gripper use that. If not get some Iron Woody or Lee Hayward crush grips (or decent equivalent) and use them every other day for a few sets. 3) Try lifting using a thumbless grip. This usually alleviates pain in the wrist area. Just hold the barbell or dumbell in a tight thumbless fist. Resting upon the pads of your palms, same way you would if using the thumbs, but without (if you see what I mean). Since I switched to a thumbless grip whilst squatting, I no longer have any pain in my wrists. 4) And lay off the self-pleasuring. No wonder you have boney protusions... Good Luck.
My advice is to see a physiotherapist or doctor. If it really is tendonitis, this needs to be treated professionally, rather than trying to "strengthen" the wrist on your own. Don't take chances with your wrists. There are all sorts of nerves and stuff there that can get seriously messed up if you persist in aggravating the area. Nick H.
