Typing at a keyboard. Texting on a phone. Driving in the car. Your wrists are involved in almost every physical movement that you do, both inside the gym and out. Despite the ubiquity of wrist movements in daily life, most people do not spend nearly enough time taking care of their wrists. As the adage says, “Use it or lose it.” If you do not move your wrists through a full range of motion on a regular basis, then you will lose access to those movements and will be met with aches and pains instead.

Wrist Flexibility

The first step towards wrist health for both Gymnastic Strength Training^TM and everyday living is to make sure that your forearms are flexible and mobile enough for what you are asking them to do. Have you ever experienced elbow pain? Very often this stems from excessive forearm tightness, typically caused by keyboards, cell phones, remote controls, and more. Furthermore, if you wish to progress in your GST^TM, then wrist flexibility needs to be a priority!

The GB Handstand Series progressions will patiently develop your wrist strength.

Fortunately, the fix is relatively simple: stretch your wrists through their full range of motion on a regular basis! From a kneeling position, place your hands on the ground with palms down and fingers forward. Spread your fingers, lock your arms, and rotate the “pits” of your elbows forward. From this position, gradually lean and rock forwards to stretch the inside part of the forearm (the flexors). Additionally, you could perform a similar stretch where you place your palms up and fingers back, this time leaning back to stretch the outsides of the forearms (the extensors). For both these drills, completely straight and locked out elbows is an absolute must!

Wrist Strength

The second half of the wrist health equation is building strong connective tissue, ligaments, and tendons that are capable of handling the forces applied to them in GST and daily life. Lack of wrist strength can lead to injuries and also limit your progress. Often when someone falls or is in an accident, they end up injuring their wrists because that is the “weakest link in the chain,” so to speak. In terms of GST, it is absolutely crucial that your wrists are strong enough to withstand the volume of training that is necessary to make progress. Think of just even one typical training day: handstands, planks, pushups, and L-sits. All these exercises require your wrists to be extended to at least 90 degrees (if not more), and if they are the first to fatigue, then you will be limited in your progress.

The GymnasticBodies Handstand Series is full of fantastic movements to help keep your wrists healthy and strong.