Tactical Fitness: How to Adjust Doing Push-ups Despite Pain or Swelling

Push-ups can aggravate the wrist, especially if you have any swelling in your tendons, ligaments or joints. Here are a few ways to work around the standard push-up by adjusting the wrist angle. 

Hello,

I am a 17-year-old high school senior and future Army soldier. I need to work on push-ups, but I currently have a sprained wrist that seems to not be getting any better. How do you suggest I work with my injury and make progress? I need to work back up to get to my old 80-90 in 2-minute max. 

Warm regards. 

If it has been several weeks since you have had pain in your wrist, I would consider seeing a doctor in case you have a broken bone. But if you can adjust your hand placement so you do not flex or bend your wrist too much, you might be able to do push-ups again without pain.

Here are a couple of ways to adjust so you keep a straighter angle along your wrist when in the push-up position:

1. Fist Push-ups

These are also called knuckle push-ups. You have to keep your wrist straight while doing these. If this does not hurt your wrist, that is a good sign. If you're not experiencing any pain, see whether pull-ups and pulldowns bother your wrist. If any of these hurt, see a doctor and get an X-ray.

2. Handle Push-ups

You can adjust your push-up and wrist angle by holding on to some push-up handles or Perfect Push-up gear. You can even use a set of hexagonal dumbbells to provide a stable push-up platform and keep your wrist straighter than a normal push-up.  

The trick to handle push-ups is: Place the heel of your palm on the handle so you do not bend your wrist 90 degrees like when you perform a normal push-up. Your wrist should only have a slight angle if you are doing it right. As you can see below, a regular push-up can place the wrist in a painful angle if you have any swelling in the joint.

If any of these hurt, do not do any form of push-ups. Just give your wrist time to heal and work on other events, such as running, sit-ups, plank poses and leg workouts.

Hang in there.

Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL and fitness author certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Visit his Fitness eBook store if you're looking to start a workout program to create a healthy lifestyle. Send your fitness questions to stew@stewsmith.com.

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