Wrists · Warm-up

Wrist rotations

Your hands stay planted, your arms stay straight, and the rest of you turns above them. The circles start small and grow as you go. Every turn opens the angle between hand and forearm a little further, and sends a little more weight through it.

That's what makes it different from circling your wrists in the air, hands free. Here the wrist is already under your bodyweight, exactly as it will be three minutes from now when you go upside down. The warm-up looks like what it's preparing you for.

Family

Wrists

Equipment

None

Type

Mobility

Train this exercise in the app

How to do it

1. Hands flat on the floor, fingers forward, elbows locked.
2. Shift your weight over your hands in a circle, small to begin with.
3. Make the circle bigger with each turn, as long as your palms stay glued to the floor.
4. Circle one way, then the same number the other way.

The two mistakes that make it a waste of time

Letting the heel of your hand lift. The moment your palm comes up, the range is coming from your shoulder and your elbow, and your wrist stops gaining anything. Go back to a smaller circle where the whole hand stays down. Real range is what counts, not the range that looks big.

Bending your elbows. Your arm soaks up the load instead, when it was meant to go through the wrist. Lock your elbows before you start and accept shorter circles: the wrist is what you're preparing, not the shoulder.

Related exercises

Wrist circlesThe first drill of every session, before any bodyweight goes on your wrists.WristsMobilityWrist flexionHands turned backward, palms flat: the other direction, the one that balances all the extension work.WristsMobilityWall plankFeet on the wall at hip height: the first time your shoulders carry your weight overhead.ShouldersHold

All exercises: the catalog