So, I had my second fight in MMA last Saturday, whereafter I had two aching knuckles and fingers. I had it chekced by a physio today, where ultrasound could point to a tendon being partially torn, which in itself implies six weeks without impact training, and preferably without heavy loads on that grip. Of course, I would very much dislike to exclude all pulling excrcises from my training for such a duration of time. But what kind of pulling could be rational to do, without putting unneccessary strain on the damaged area?
Pallof presses and derivatives of them could be an anti rotational exercise as long as you are not overly gripping with the hurt hand.
Caveat since I am not a doctor, or rehab professional....clear everything with one of them first, particularly with a sports oriented physio if you can (who would be more qualified than an MD to give modifications to exercise) vs us here on an internet forum. Have you had any x rays to rule out a fracture in fingers or hand, especially as I am guessing you may have been throwing punches? That being said, I understand where you are coming from in being eager to exercise. I suffered a "boxers fracture" of the 5th metacarpal of the hand in 2017 from a fall, and was casted for 6 weeks with 4th and 5th fingers bent at 90 degrees. All in all with cast and formal rehab time, was out of normal commission for 3 months. My only press/pull on that side was using exercise tubing in my 1st two fingers and thumb. The whole situation became more tolerable mentally/frustration wise once I realized that it was a blessing in disguise to try some other things for a short season, like (quite a bit modified) yoga, lower body bodyweight like single leg deadlifts, etc. This will pass, and if you have a baseline of strength, it will come back quickly too once you resume things. Hang in there.
Zercher Squat, Janda Sit-Up, Yolk Walk. If/When you can use a Safety Squat Bar then the Dead Squat, Dead Good Morning and Reverse Lunge are great options.
I have been throwing punches, whilst being too irrational to wrap my hands under the 6 oz glozes. So I can ble blamed for having asked for such an injury. Went to a physio (martial artist, no less) today and had the hand examined, but need to take an x-ray later this week.
Tried some zercher squats yesterday. Pleasant and pain free, as long as I loaded and removed all plates with my left hand.
You might look at some of Dan John’s work on loaded carries and one arm work. He developed a bunch of ideas after “blowing his wrist apart”. Apparently, the single arm work helped the healing process a lot
I really like safety squat bar squats. The Elitefts SSB is top notch. A lot of guys in my circle are getting into these belt squats (I haven't tried it yet): Squatmax-MD
IMHO there's no need for the machine shown in that video. A good belt and a few boxes to stand on: IronMind Belts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8yd0RH2vqU The video above shows a barbell as the weight - I've never done them that way. A loading pin makes it much simpler. -S-
