Wrists

The most common complaint in modern yoga, and the reason is straightforward: a joint built for grasping is being asked to bear body weight at ninety degrees, dozens of times per class.

Why it hurts

The angle. In Downward Dog, plank, Chaturanga and every arm balance, the wrist is at or near ninety degrees of extension. That is the outer limit of its normal range, and load applied at the end of a range is what joints tolerate least.

The load distribution. Most people dump their weight into the heel of the palm — the part closest to the wrist. That concentrates force exactly where the joint is most compressed.

The volume. A single vinyasa class can involve fifty or more transitions through weight-bearing hand positions. Five classes a week is 250 repetitions. Very few things in yoga are repeated at that volume.

The lack of preparation. Nobody has strong wrists from ordinary life. The muscles and tendons that support the joint are untrained, and yoga asks a great deal of them from the first class.

The three fixes, in order

1. Change where the weight goes

This is the highest-value change and it costs nothing.

Spread the fingers wide. Genuinely wide, so the hand covers more area.

Press down through the base of the index finger. This is the specific instruction that matters. Most people are heavy on the outer edge of the hand and light at the index knuckle. Pressing there distributes load forward, away from the wrist joint, and it also creates the outward rotation of the forearm that stabilises the elbow and shoulder.

Lift the centre of the palm slightly, like the arch of a foot. The hand becomes a dome rather than a flat slab.

Grip the mat lightly with the fingertips. Not clawing — active. It engages the forearm muscles, which are what should be supporting the joint.

Do all four and the load through the wrist drops substantially. Most people feel the difference immediately.

2. Take weight out of the hands

In Downward Dog, if your shoulders are over your fingertips, your hands are carrying far more than they should.

Send the hips back and up until the arms are struts you are hanging between rather than legs you are standing on. You should be able to briefly lift one hand.

In plank, the same principle: the body is a straight line and the weight is distributed, not stacked over the hands.

3. Reduce the angle

If the first two are not enough:

• Hands on blocks, gripping the front edge, which reduces the extension angle.
• A rolled mat edge or a folded blanket under the heels of the hands, raising them and reducing the angle.
• Fists — plank and some positions can be done on fists with the wrist straight.
• Forearms — Dolphin instead of Downward Dog, forearm plank instead of plank. Removes the wrist entirely and is a harder shoulder workout, so nothing is lost.

Strengthening

Wrists respond well to loading, and a few minutes twice a week changes things over a couple of months.

Wrist rocks. On hands and knees, hands under shoulders, fingers forward. Rock the weight slowly forward over the hands and back, staying within comfort. Ten repetitions.

Fingers turned back. On hands and knees, turn the hands so the fingers point towards your knees. Sit back gently. This stretches the underside of the forearm, which is usually the tight part. Fifteen seconds, twice.

Backs of the hands down. On hands and knees, place the backs of the hands on the floor, fingers pointing back towards the knees. Very gently take some weight. Ten seconds. Build slowly — this one is easy to overdo.

Wrist curls and reverse curls with a light weight. Fifteen each way. Unglamorous and effective.

Farmer's carries. Walk holding something heavy in each hand. Builds grip and forearm strength, which supports the joint.

Hanging from a bar. Even ten seconds. Excellent for the whole shoulder-arm-wrist chain.

Warming up the wrists

Before any practice with weight on the hands, one minute:

• Circles, ten each direction.
• Flexion and extension, ten each way, gently.
• Palms together in front of the chest, press and lower the hands until you feel the stretch. Fifteen seconds.
• Wrist rocks on hands and knees, ten.

That is it, and most wrist complaints in people who are otherwise doing things correctly resolve when this becomes routine.

When it is not a technique problem

Some wrist pain is not about load distribution.

Numbness or tingling in the fingers, particularly the thumb, index and middle fingers, and particularly at night. That pattern suggests nerve involvement rather than joint loading, and it is worth having looked at.

Pain on the thumb side of the wrist, worse when you grip or turn a doorknob. A different structure, and again worth having looked at.

Pain that persists at rest, or wakes you, or has lasted more than a few weeks despite changing your technique.

Swelling, or a sensation of instability.

In any of those cases, stop loading it and see someone qualified. Practising through wrist pain for months is how a manageable problem becomes a chronic one, and there is a full practice available that does not use the hands at all.

The practice without hands

Worth knowing, because it means a wrist problem never means stopping.

Everything standing. Everything seated. Everything supine. All forward folds, all twists, all hip work, all restorative shapes, all breath work, all balance poses. Forearm variations for Dolphin and plank. Shoulderstand.

What you lose: Downward Dog, plank, Chaturanga, Upward Dog, arm balances, and handstand. That is a real loss, and it is a fraction of the whole.