I have cysts in my wrists….ganglion cysts to be exact. When I ran track in college, the cysts made it difficult to hold myself in the blocks. In climbing, the cysts made it so I had to avoid most slopers. I was okay with avoiding slopers. But one day, disaster struck…the cysts made it so I couldn’t hold crimps!! Crimps are my bread and butter of climbing, so this was completely unacceptable. I reached out to my coach at Lattice Training and he suggested 4 exercises to strengthen my wrists. I was a bit skeptical that they would make a huge difference, but after one week, I was back on crimps!!

I realize now that I didn’t have to spend years shaking in the blocks or avoiding slopers. Four simple exercises could have improved my quality of life decades ago, but better late than never! I hope these exercises can help others struggling with wrist weakness.

Extensor holds

Hold a dumbell in your hand with your wrist in a neutral position, meaning a straight wrist. Turn your hand so that palm is facing the ground. Hold the weight for 10-20 seconds while maintaining your wrist in a neutral position. Repeat for a total of 6 sets with 1 minte rest between sets.

Flexor holds

Hold a dumbell in your hand with your wrist in a neutral position. Turn your hand so that palm is facing the ceiling. Hold the weight for 10-20 seconds while maintaining your wrist in a neutral position. Repeat for a total of 6 sets with 1 minte rest between sets.

Internal rotations

Hold a dumbell in your hand with your wrist in a neutral position and your arm bent at 90 degrees. Rotate your hand so that your palm is facing down, towards the ground. Ideally you will move slowly, taking a couple of seconds to complete the rotation. Use your other hand for assistance to return back to the starting position. This is one rep. Do six reps, rest 3 minutes and then repeat for a total of 4 sets.

External rotations

Hold a dumbell in your hand with your wrist in a neutral position and your arm bent at 90 degrees. Rotate your hand so that your palm is facing up, towards the ceiling. Ideally you will move slowly, taking a couple of seconds to complete the rotation. Use your other hand for assistance to return back to the starting position. This is one rep. Do six reps, rest 3 minutes and then repeat for a total of 4 sets.

I run through these exercises 1-2 times a week. Currently I’m 2 months into doing these exercises and if I skip a week, my wrists start to regress. I’m hoping eventually I will be able to go a week without doing these exercises. But if two hours a week of wrist rehab is the price to keep crimping, that’s fine with me!