Planche Lean sPL/PE5 forearm pain ideas

I've just started experiencing pain in my left forearm (ouside of the forearm, halfway between the elbow and wrist on the little finger side). It's not too bad when I'm actually applying pressure through the planche lean but when I release the pressure it's extremely painful. I wonder if my finger placement might have had something to do with causing it. I position my hands so that the thumbs face forward and little finger points out at 45 degrees to the side. When I first progressed to PE5 I tried to do it with my hands pointing fully forward, as that's how I'd trained the previous progressions, but I couldn't lean far enough without wrist pain so changed position.

I think I'm not going to be able to train this PE in this way for a while whilst my forearm recovers, but wonder if I should just go back to a previous progression or maybe try sticking with PE5 but with a different hand placement or maybe try using low parallettes. What are your thoughts? Is this PE even suitable for trying with parallettes anyway?

I'd appreciate any advice you may have.

I would continue doing PE5 but back off to Step 1 and do some serious massage & stretch to the sore area. I'm recovering from something similar but didn't do the backoff....so it ended up spreading into my wrist and affecting a lot of my training.

Can you post a video?

Thanks for the replys. I did PE2 this morning so as not to put any pressure on it at all. Actually I'm surprised at how difficult I found PE2 considering I moved on from that over a year ago. Did 5x 60 but it was at max effort. I guess I'll stick with PE2 for a while until my forearm feels better and then work back up.

Does anyone have any opinion on using parallettes for these exercises?

If you do them on parallettes, you're never going to develop the connective tissue adaptations in your wrists to do them on the floor. Is that what you want?

Don't even think about circumventing the "problem." Go to the root of the issue, tackle the weakness and be greatful for what you learn.

What's the quintessential reason for doing Foundations? To "fix" what is lacking, be it strength or mobility.

Do you own H1? I would recommend that you try/do the H1 wrist mobility elements, if not daily, more than twice weekly.

Forearm splints; similar to shin splints.  

Yes, the abrupt change in hand position no doubt contributed significantly to this issue.  Fingers at 45 degrees greatly reduces pressure on the wrist, but it does so by increasing the pressure on the outside edge of the forearm.

Forearm splints are the result of too much intensity, too much volume or too much ROM for your current forearm strength or mobility.  High rep/very low intensity direct forearm work will help immensely in the short term; wrist curls, reverse wrist curls, side to side dowel twists etc.  Note that the purpose here is NOT to get strong, but to pump the muscles and flush them with blood.

Rest the forearm for a minimum of 3-5 days, then begin a light rehab as outlined above and then begin your sPL work from PE1.  The intensity of your discomfort will determine what step of programming you begin at.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Coach, I don't have pain in my leans. But I'm doing those reverse wrist curls, pronation/supination, ulnar/radial diviation just as a precaution because I know I'm weak in elbows/forearms, well, everywhere. 

Thanks for the advice. I'll give that a try.

I've never heard of forearm splints before but used to suffer badly from shin splints on long walks. It's depressing that you can get them in your forearms too!

Depressing?  Not really.  It simply is what it is.  

Annoying?  Absolutely.  But once again it is what it is and is part of the price for pursuing excellence.

There are always going to be unavoidable bumps in the road.

Learn from it; how to manage it, how to correct it and how to avoid it in the future.  Then move on.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Zach, I cannot even Imagine that word exists in Coach's dictionary...

It's interesting how you can tell a member's "training age" by his/her post emotional tone. It never ceases to amaze me how people get discouraged at the smallest hurdle. I see this every week. People want something, but not exactly willing to do what it's going to take to get it (?)

Those who have traveled many roads and encountered many bumps see them as nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

Feeling old-fashioned (values) today and thankful I grew up that way!

"Hamburger Hands" (lol),
Always. Learning. Always. Young. 

You must have done something ____ to earn that merit!

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum. I performed Handstand training unstructerd and making up my own progressions for several months. Not smart! I now have chronic left wrist pain for several months now, it's at the insertion of my Extensor Carpi Radialis Longus. I've begun Foundation 1 And Handstand 1/2. Wrist prep exercises help. Feel mild discomfort with H2 PE5, also very mild discomfort with Planche bounce PE 7. If i Wrap my wrists the pain is just about gone. Would wrist wraps be recommended to allow my wrists to fully heal? Does anyone here experiment using them? 

No wrist wraps. You need to pick an appropriate load that your wrists can train pain free.

I guess i'll be taking a few steps backwards then

It is frustrating, but you need to look after your body for the long term.