Oh My Aching Wrists! - Tips for sore wrists during pilates.

Do your wrists give you trouble when you do certain pilates exercises?

4 point kneeling, planks, down stretch, long stretch etc. If you do, you are not alone.

Full Plank

It seems that wrist pain and pilates are a bit of a thing! Wouldn't it be nice to be able to plank away to your hearts content pain free? There are so many great pilates exercises that require us to load through the wrists and it's frustrating when our wrists stop us doing them. So why do we get the pain and how can we improve things?

Many of these positions require the wrist to be in full extension and some rotation of the forearm and that position is not often a requirement in our daily lives.

Excluding wrist pathologies such as rheumatoid arthritis and carpel tunnel syndrome etc, lack of mobility and/or strength are contributing factors to wrist pain during these exercises.

So what do we do about it? Here are 3 tips that are likely to help.

1. Stretch

• Stretch, stretch & stretch some more. Like all our muscles, not stretching regularly can lead to discomfort and pain and potentially lead to injury. The forearm muscles are what flex and extend the wrist so if they are tight, it may cause problems. Often stretches done in pilates classes do not involve the forearms so maybe add that to your list of stretches. See stretches here.

2. Strengthening

• Strengthening the forearms is also important but when you do weight-bearing exercises in pilates you are essentially strengthening the forearm muscles. There are some other exercises that might be useful though but it is also important not to overwork the wrists. See strength exercises here.

3. Maintain good form when exercising

• In planks and 4 point kneeling positions - make sure that the weight is evenly distributed through the whole hand and not just through the heel of the hand. Keep your core muscles engaged throughout the exercise.

• When weight-bearing on the wrist maintain very slight bend of the elbows to allow them to take some of the impact of your body weight.

• Keep your thumb on the same side as your fingers when your hands are on the foot-bar of the reformer and reduce the extension of the wrist as much as possible. Tiny adjustments can make a big difference.

• Stabilise through the shoulder girdle by drawing the spine towards your scapula. Draw the shoulder blades down towards the mid lower back.

Give the above tips a go and see if they make a difference. If you continue to get sore wrists during pilates your instructor will be able to give you modifications but you may like to approach things by trying a few repetitions while wrist bearing before you take that option.

It's important to note here that if your wrist pain is really concerning you, it's worth seeing your physiotherapist and/or doctor for medical advice.

So that's it! Stretch, strengthen and maintain good form and plank away.

Good luck with your wrists.