Wrist Pain on the Bench Press: How to Avoid and Address It

In a short poll I did on Facebook, one of the most commonly mentioned exercises that causes wrist pain for my Facebook friends ended up being the Bench Press.

If the bench Press is a lift that bothers your wrists as well, then I hope you check out the video below.

In it, I talk about the alignment of the wrist bones and how these bones interact with the bones of the hand and forearm. In addition, I also talk about how to take care of the wrists to keep them feeling good so that they do not affect your Bench Press training.

So, in review, make sure to keep these three points in mind when you are Benching:

Warm-up: Get some blood flowing into your hands and wrists so that the tissues become more pliable and you can better exert force into the bar.

Stretch Between Sets: You would be surprised how much of a difference it makes for your wrists if you do some light stretching between sets. The Thumb + First Two Stretch that I show in the video above is a favorite of mine.

Use Proper Technique: Part of the correct bench press technique is to keep the wrist straight. Having the wrist bent way back can cause extreme pressure in the wrist. This change may feel weird at first, but over time you will grow used to it and enjoy the reduction of nagging pain in the wrist.

I think these slight changes in your technique, preparation, and approach will pay big dividends for you in your training, by helping you to avoid wrist pain.

If you are experiencing wrist pain, and you want to end it for good, you should check out Fix My Wrist Pain. Rick Kaselj and I worked together on this and it is helping people out already.