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Kettlebell Wrist work

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somanaut

somanaut

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Hi all
Any suggestions for strengthening the wrists and some mobility (with or without kettlbell)?
Best Regards
Jesper
 
I use a weighted rope and short broom handle from time to time. just twist it.
 
@somanaut I noticed that you are training for the SFB in the near future. Is this question connected to the issue you feel performing the OAPU?

Have you checked with your doctor to ensure that there are no underlying issues?

Obviously, there are many ways to strengthen the wrists, but perhaps the prescription is best left for a PT?

I pose the question as one who often has not "measured twice and cut once". This approach goes nowhere, and due diligence is always a valuable exercise.
 
Thanks for the tips.
@JonS You are correct. There probably is an old fracture in the right wrist. Hasn't been confirmed, x-ray wasn't conclusive, and was taken long after the possible accident. Was at the time treated as a soft tissue injury, which I suspected I wasn't, but didn't know enough at the time to protest. Add to that already weak and slender wrists + many hours as a masseur. Haven't met a PT that I trust in my area yet. So I was thinking to start rehapping them myself and see what feels good, gives strength, endurance and flexibility.
Best Regards
Jesper
 
I love the old school wrist roller, I have a 2" diameter pipe and loading pin I set up in my power rack. I also have been playing with sledge hammer levers and have seen awesome wrist and grip strength gains.
 
Geoff Chafe said:
I love the old school wrist roller, I have a 2" diameter pipe and loading pin I set up in my power rack. I also have been playing with sledge hammer levers and have seen awesome wrist and grip strength gains.
Click to expand...

Same to both for me too. My pvc pipe wrist roller is the best thing I've ever bought for under $2. You wouldn't think levers would be hard until you try them once. Suddenly a 10lb hammer weighs 60lbs
 
Thanks for the tips about wrist rollers.
Think that I will stick to Super Joints, ground pushing flexion and extension, OAPU on knuckles and bottom up cleans and press with a light bell.
Best regards
Jesper
 
@somanaut a wise decision, I believe. When your wrist is stronger, I'd recommend trying the barbell finger rolls/reverse wrist curl from BB and see how you tolerate it. If you can, it's worth spending some time with the movement. I put 3/4" on my forearms in 4 weeks with, and I was just trying something new. Good luck to you.
 
There was an old time strongman called George Jowett who would talk about increasing ligament/tendon strength by doing heavy holds. I found these useful for helping strengthening weak wrists as there is no flexion/extension movements to aggravate the sore wrists.
 
Here is an article related closely to what dc just talked about.

The Thoughts of a Big Brown Bear....: Tendon And Ligament Strength

@Brett Jones , @aciampa , @Steve Freides , @Harald Motz , @Anna C ,

I started Kettlebells instead of weightlifting with my son because I always felt that a lot of injuries were related to the imbalance created by large muscles and weak connective tissue.

Would Farmers Walks of a medium heavy weight, time under tension of ~10 minutes, be a good exercise to strengthen the ligaments/tendons as a heavy hold?

Or am I misunderstanding the information as presented in this article?

More specifically, would medium heavy farmers walks increase wrist strength and bulletproof it, like a TGU does for the body?
 
Hey Lew, I didn't read the article mate, so I can't comment on that. But I can tell you about my experience. When I was fighting I had frequent wrist injuries due to what coach described as "bantamweight wrists on a middleweight body". I own a book by Mr Jowett called "Key to might & muscle" (awesome read by the way), in it he talks quite a bit about ligament strength. When I put it into practice I would lift as heavy weight as possible, as I was aiming for pure wrist ligament strength. No farmers walk, didn't even deadlift it. I would have it raised for easy access, & simple hang onto it for as long as possible (sometimes merely 10sec). I'd do this for a few sets each hand depending on how I felt, only once a week sometimes even less. I never measured my wrists but could tell they (& my hands) thickened by notches on my watch & work gloves feeling tighter. Therefore if ligament strength is what you're after I would just concentrate on the hold itself & let s&s take care of the rest. Trust me you'll need to focus solely on the hold while you are doing it. Hope this helps.
 
dc said:
Hey Lew, I didn't read the article mate, so I can't comment on that. But I can tell you about my experience. When I was fighting I had frequent wrist injuries due to what coach described as "bantamweight wrists on a middleweight body". I own a book by Mr Jowett called "Key to might & muscle" (awesome read by the way), in it he talks quite a bit about ligament strength. When I put it into practice I would lift as heavy weight as possible, as I was aiming for pure wrist ligament strength. No farmers walk, didn't even deadlift it. I would have it raised for easy access, & simple hang onto it for as long as possible (sometimes merely 10sec). I'd do this for a few sets each hand depending on how I felt, only once a week sometimes even less. I never measured my wrists but could tell they (& my hands) thickened by notches on my watch & work gloves feeling tighter. Therefore if ligament strength is what you're after I would just concentrate on the hold itself & let s&s take care of the rest. Trust me you'll need to focus solely on the hold while you are doing it. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Heavy holds, static? So just pick up something heavy and stand there for time? Hmm don't think I have anything heavy enough. Max is a 32kg girya. But I think I see the point, where it can lead to pure wrist strength. Unless I am misunderstanding it.
 
JonS said:
@somanaut a wise decision, I believe. When your wrist is stronger, I'd recommend trying the barbell finger rolls/reverse wrist curl from BB and see how you tolerate it. If you can, it's worth spending some time with the movement. I put 3/4" on my forearms in 4 weeks with, and I was just trying something new. Good luck to you.
Click to expand...
Hi Jon. Thanks for the tip. I haven't gotten around to perusing BB yet. It's on the reading list.
 
Hey somanaut, yeah mate static heavy holds. I used it for purely wrist ligament development & strength, not as a forearm builder. The "something heavy" can be anything you can wrap your mitts around. I used a variety of things: piece of cut off railway track I found in scrap yard, adjustable dumbbell, large rock (used 2 hands) just as an example. Really, just has to be something/anything heavy you can hold in one or both hands. You can be inventive, just needs to be as heavy as you can possibly hold. I'm no expert just read a book by a strongman written 100yrs ago, & had a go & got results. Should say thou it was by no means a quick fix.
 
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@Lew, my experience has been that when one trains the StrongFirst way, the problem you're alluding to, of having muscles that are stronger than your connective tissue, is quite rare. I don't think it's something you need to be concerned with unless you have a specific reason to be.

-S-
 
Steve Freides said:
@Lew, my experience has been that when one trains the StrongFirst way, the problem you're alluding to, of having muscles that are stronger than your connective tissue, is quite rare. I don't think it's something you need to be concerned with unless you have a specific reason to be.

-S-
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Glad to hear it is quite rare.

I was concerned because my muscles are pretty strong, in one specific way from my job for 25+ years.

Kettlebells appealed to me when looking for a strength and conditioning program because of the way the ballistics interact with all of the body.

I feel I have areas that are not-as-strong as the areas that are strong.

So I am looking to my Kettlebell practice to proactively develop all of my body in a very functional way. :cool:

Did that make sense? :eek:

I swear my 11th grade education is sometimes really limiting when I try to write! ;)
 
All kettlebell practicioners need strong wrists in order to resist the bell pulling the wrist into extension. A great supplemental exercise I have been adding to my grip work is the Dennis Rodgers Wrist Curl. Dennis is pound-for-pound one of the strongest Arm Wrestlers, Benders, and Oldtime Strongmen. He swears by this exercise for developing really strong wrists.

 
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