Barbell Curls - Wrist hurts

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Whenever I do barbell curls (flat bar or EZ-Bar), my entire wrists hurts. I workout my wrists independently and they are fairly developed. It feels like the "bones" are hurting though from putting so much pressure on them, not the actual muscles of the wrists.

Any ideas if this is to be expected and if there is anything I can do to mitigate this?

[beachguy498]

How much weight, reps, etc? How is your form? You could try less weight and more reps until it gets better. I'm a big advocate in wrapping up something like a wrist or ankle to give it support and stability.

BG

[xk5]

I was having the same issue with the straight bar (EZ was OK) and I was able to overcome it by lowering the weight and having completely perfect form and then building back up. I think for me the issue was that my elbows were moving out a bit from my body on the heavier weight and it was causing extra pressure on the wrists. Try dropping the weight a bit and see if the pain goes away...

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3 sets:

65 x12
70 x10
75 x8

I do not swing my back and I try to have good form; however, xk5 pointed out an interesting point. My elbows might be moving out as I go for the heavier weight.

I will try doing lower weight and focusing more on form and will consider wrapping my wrists up. Thank you for your suggestions and I'm glad I'm not the only one experiencing this!

[Garofalo]

I have experience the same exact feeling before. it is normally just with flat barbells and not EZ-bars. try buying some athletic tape and taping your wrists up before your workout and maybe up your calcium intake. it doesn't happen to me anymore, but i always tape my wrists before bench workouts.

[akram26]

I have the same pain in the middle of my wrist along the bone. I use the preacher (to stablize my elbows) with an ez bar. I had the same pain when doing free form curls with the ez bar. I do not have this pain when doing dumb bell curls. I believe that this might be a tendon issue. I think it might be similar to tennis elbow.
Does anyone have any thoughts about this?

[ddavis91]

i had the same problem too i think it was from trying to do too much when i wasnt ready. i cut back a little bit with the biceps and after a few weeks the pain went away. just try lowering the weight somewhat for a little while, worked for me

[YoMoMsB]

I got this same problem...be it barbell curls or db curls...

[LuckyNYC]

I had this same problem with only my left wrist...but I think it arose out of a combination of too much weight and bad form. I've since paid more attention to my form and lowered the weight and my wrist seems fine now. I don't ever use a straight bar though...only db and ez curls bars.

[Argento0o]

this is my most hated problem. I got this in the middle of my arm ( half way point between where my hand starts and elbow, along the side ) i got it from doing too much weight on a EZ curl bar and ****ed up my wrists for over 2 months now. i hate it. i can't do high weight for biceps anymore. Now i up my vitamin D, and Calcuim intake. It's better than it was before but it's still a pain in my ass. i can't do any type of bar during biceps now. my suggestion is to lower the weight and gradually increase it as it heals.

[BusterKeaton]

Whenever I do barbell curls (flat bar or EZ-Bar), my entire wrists hurts. I workout my wrists independently and they are fairly developed. It feels like the "bones" are hurting though from putting so much pressure on them, not the actual muscles of the wrists.

Any ideas if this is to be expected and if there is anything I can do to mitigate this?

lower your weight... then after your body dont endure anypain make an advace weight...
better to use wrist support for more safety...

[Anselk14]

Damn i've been having this problem too with preacher curls.. I use the EZ bar too...
I think i'm doing it too many times in the week- I train arms/shoulders twice, and ALWAYS do preacher curls for my main bicep exercise.
The pain I get is a little south of my wrists and it HURTS like hell lately.

[kaicho20]

My lifting partner's wrists are feeling the same way as many of the guys posting on here.

My advice to him (and all the others): Swallow your pride and use some type of Sports tape or gloves with a good wrist support on them.... Who cares if you feel stupid, or feel like you're not lifting the weight on your own. It will help in the end.

Also, lowering the weight is a good start, but doing way too many reps (as a result of lowering weight) can be counterproductive by causing just as much stress on the forearm as well.

If it just feels like it's inflamed, try the Ice/Heat method, lower the weight but squeeze extra-hard at the peaks, and take an anti-inflammatory if it starts to feel extremely bad... as well as taking a well needed rest day(or two).

Your determination and motivation may be superhuman, but we're all just humans with a human body... a little TLC and you'll be as good as new.

[Whey Hey]

My wrists hurt also, but suck it up, if your like me, it doesnt last long...

For example, my bones / tendons hurt for days after Grip training with Captains of Crush #2 and #2.5, same sort of pain.... but i always get this... its just that your body is not used to this movement.... but if the pain persists then see a doctor... for me the pain of BB curls usually lasts no longer than 20mins after the workout, if that..

[prouddaddy1]

My wrists hurt also, but suck it up, if your like me, it doesnt last long...

For example, my bones / tendons hurt for days after Grip training with Captains of Crush #2 and #2.5, same sort of pain.... but i always get this... its just that your body is not used to this movement.... but if the pain persists then see a doctor... for me the pain of BB curls usually lasts no longer than 20mins after the workout, if that..

I disagree with this Mr. Kennedy goes over this in his book world of body building the problem is with your wrists and the tendons that connect. to correct this drop the weight and start doing wrist curls. I had this problem a year ago.

[SaiyansDealifT]

Dude I feel your pain, I have the same problem and its gotten to a point where it hurts me when im not training. My bone in my forearm would suddenly hurt but only from my left arm. And trust me its not form , forms always comes first for me, I pay attention to my form when im curling with db curling or with barbells or any moment which is relevant to curls. I hope someone can relate to this-->Once im done with my set and i go to put down the weights, I feel a shocking pain through my wrists n bones but always tend to push through it. And the weights somewhat heavy. For Db curls I range from 45lbs-50lbs to 60lbs and i only use momentum when im working with 60's n when i feel tired n i need to push through the rep. I've been thinking about that joint support for this problem but I havnt got my hands of them yet. I need help. Please help me lol.

[shonosuke]

Dude I feel your pain, I have the same problem and its gotten to a point where it hurts me when im not training. My bone in my forearm would suddenly hurt but only from my left arm. And trust me its not form , forms always comes first for me, I pay attention to my form when im curling with db curling or with barbells or any moment which is relevant to curls. I hope someone can relate to this-->Once im done with my set and i go to put down the weights, I feel a shocking pain through my wrists n bones but always tend to push through it. And the weights somewhat heavy. For Db curls I range from 45lbs-50lbs to 60lbs and i only use momentum when im working with 60's n when i feel tired n i need to push through the rep. I've been thinking about that joint support for this problem but I havnt got my hands of them yet. I need help. Please help me lol.

Training through it is really stupid, I only curl once a week but every time I curled it hurt my wrist and forearm and it felt like my arm was breaking. The pain always went away right after the workout so I thought nothing of it.

One day after I finished my arm day I noticed the pain wasn't going away and now I am still injured because I didnt listen to my body

Working through burn=Good
working through real Pain=Bad

[wademan99]

i have the same problem, and so do several of my friends

[thetrueSSJ]

this happens when you use your wrists to assist in the movement, omar isuif did a video on it, apparently its caused by curling your wrists as you curl with your biceps, he says to lighten up the bar and focus on keeping your wrists straight throughout the range of motion

[swollenteenager]

How much weight, reps, etc? How is your form? You could try less weight and more reps until it gets better. I'm a big advocate in wrapping up something like a wrist or ankle to give it support and stability.

BG

Mine still hurt even if I go light , and I have pretty good form (not to be cocky)

[TruthFatality]

I used to do 30lb. straight bar curls with no pain for months. I started doing 50lb's and 80lb's in one week and it gave me these pains everybody else here has. Doing the heavy weights I had to sway/swing my body to get the weight up. As I would swing it up my wrists got bent downward putting extreme pressure on my joint and minor'ly extreme pressure on my Ulnar nerve. Get sports tape for like $3 a roll and wrap your wrists from base of hand to an inch or two past your ball-and-socket joint. If you primarily worked with straight bar then I've HEARD the EZ bar's will help with the pain. I don't have one but have used dumbbells and it works. Where I was doing 40lb's in each hand that hurt me I'm now doing 5-10lb's without any pain. Just keep your elbow locked to your side and keep your wrist completely straight. Go extremely slow, slow-motion like, and monitor for a few reps and make sure you put absolutely no pressure on your wrist, keep it all in the bicep. Train yourself to focus all stress on bicep (muscle) and never on your wrists (in this case, it's the tendons in it). I'd say go to at least 1/4 your weight that hurt you, test for pain. Work up and up until you hit pain. Drop the weight maybe 15lb's and stay there for awhile to work up your wrists' strength again. Also try ice dipping and icing.
Ice dipping: fill your sink with cold water, dump ice in it. Dip your wrist, even your entire forearm if you want, in the water for 10sec. Pull out for 10 seconds. Dip back in for 10sec. Do this for 10-15min every hour.
A physical therapist I visited told me to also stretch the wrist. Up down, left, right, twists. If it hurts then don't stretch it that far.
In most cases I would say this pain is tendonitis. Google techniques for tendonitis pain relief. Also pick up some Aleve from the store. It's an anti-inflammatory that will help. Don't use Ibuprofen (Advil). Aleve is healthier and more effective for you. Hope this helps.