Wrist Rehabilitation: A Professional Guide to Strengthening and Conditioning Your Wrists

For as long as I can remember, I have had some type of ongoing issue with my wrists.

I remember skim boarding as a kid and falling backwards numerous times only to catch the entirety of my weight by landing on my hands.

I remember carrying heavy trays of hot food up two flights of stairs in the busy three-story restaurant I used to work in as a waiter.

I remember all the careless jerking and weight-lifting at the gym my during my first couple inexperienced years.

I remember spraining my wrist and ankle a few times over the years of playing basketball with friends.

Whatever the case may be, wrist pain has plagued me for years.

Recently, I injured myself pretty badly. It wasn’t a sudden sprain or bone breakage, but a slow and gradual wearing down of the tendons in my wrist. This was due to practicing some simple  gymnastics exercises at home like handstands and planches. Due to improper training methods, overtraining, and a lack of  preparation, I ended up hurting my right wrist pretty bad.

The extent of the injury showed itself during my last yoga session. I was almost brought to tears during the downward facing dog stretch. The pain and pressure on my wrist was unbearable and I had to stop my favorite weekly workout altogether after five minutes of intolerable pain.

These past couple of weeks I have been trying to give my wrist some healing time and in the process, I have been researching some simple rehabilitation techniques. I quit doing all my upper body workouts, as most of them are body-weight workouts and require a healthy wrist.

The following methods are the best that I have found and I am pleased to share them with you, but please keep in mind that I am far from a certified professional. Instead, I choose to find the professionals and use their methods to find out what works best. The methods discussed ahead are strength and conditioning methods of a variety professionals in athletic fields like baseball, gymnastics, and hockey. The following methods are strictly for wrist rehabilitation or prevention of possible future wrist injuries.

Exercise 1: The Rice Risotto Workout (The Rice Bucket Workout)

You will need to buy or find a large and  deep bucket (like a paint bucket) and a 5 to 10 kg bag of rice. That’s all you need. Then, watch this video. More on this technique in Exercise 3, keep reading.

Exercise 2: Gymnastics Wrist Stretching

These are some beginner’s level wrist stretches that will help you tremendously before or after your current exercise routines. It is recommended to do these stretches at least 3 times a week for rehabilitation. The following video is from the renowned Coach Christopher Sommer, a highly-respected gymnastics coach. He will be releasing his new book Liquid Steel this year (if all goes as planned) as well as an updated version of Building the Gymnastic Body. I plan on buying both of these as soon as they are released.  Watch this short video to learn some powerful, but simple stretches that can and will repair your wrists.

 Exercise 3: Stick Rotations

This is a great video that will help strengthen your wrists and improve your hockey shot, golf swing, or kung fu grip. All you need is a thick and slightly heavy stick that is about one foot long. Make sure you keep your elbow bent at 90 degrees during the exercise. Watch the first minute of this video to learn how to do a stick rotation. Afterwards, Brett Henning talks more about perfecting the rice squeeze technique mentioned in Exercise 1.

Exercise 4: Wrist Push-ups

This was hands down the most difficult exercise for me to perform. I highly recommend adding wrist push-ups to your current routine. In the following video, the boy makes them look simple and demonstrates them with proper form. After attempting to do one wrist push-up, I realized that this requires substantial strength and training. The boy in the video, trained using Coach Sommer’s techniques, makes these push-ups look much easier than they really are. I highly recommend starting on your knees and giving it  a try.

If you enjoyed the last post on Ido Portal, then you will enjoy reading his short post on meeting Coach Sommer’s at his house in 2008. The first couple of paragraphs highlight the incredible character of Coach Sommer who seems like a gracious host and wonderful person.

Exercise 5: Weighted Wrist Rolls

Brett Henning from Score100Goals did another great video on strengthening the wrist. All you need to do this exercise is the same stick from your wrist rotations, some string, and a small weight. Watch below.

I really hope that this compilation of videos has helped you. I know it has certainly helped me with my wrist problems. Please give your wrists additional time to heal and try and implement some of these exercises. Stretching is extremely underrated in the fitness world and essential for anyone who is  seriously active about improving their strength.

If this post has helped you in any way. please let me know in the comments at the top.

Feel free to share your wrist techniques, wrist workouts, or wrist stretches as well.