So I’m not an actual Olympic Weightlifter but I implement Clean & Jerks and their variations into my programming for Strongman. I was going for a PR on Cleans, I did 185lbs easy peasy and then jumped to 205lbs. This was my first time in a while doing full cleans and when I caught the bar both of my wrist made a horrendous crack and pop. Turns out from the X-rays I fractured and sprained both of my wrist. Is this a common injury in the WL community? if so how can I prevent it for next time? I wasn’t using any wrist supports when I injured my wrists either.
Not common, but not unheard of either.
I hurt my wrist when I caught my elbow on my thigh in the squat and the bar was not back on my shoulder. Hurt for months and it took me about six months until I could put a weight overhead. Surprised it wasn’t broken, though there is some debate as to whether or not a fx was missed on x-ray.
I do know a teenage jr Olympic champion who broke both wrists in a similar manner, caught the bar with elbows low and the bar not fixed on the shoulders. He recovered quickly and returned to top form.
Regarding prevention, not sure what you can do here aside from the obvious, get the bar on your shoulders with the elbows up and bar back on the delts. But, if the weight isn’t heavy, that is easy, isn’t it? I suppose you didn’t do anything wrong, unless you were taking a weight that was clearly beyond your limits.
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So sorry. That’s terrible, Brett. Wha’s the status now? Are they casted?
I’m not very experienced, but I’ve certainly caught a clean with my elbows low but I’ve never had that kind of injury. Lots of people will pull or tweak a wrist and they can take forever to rehab, but I’ve never seen fractures.
I do have to work on ROM in my wrists. I don’t have flexibility issues anywhere else, but I think all the horizontal pressing and curling motions often tighten up the whole chain from biceps to forearms, down through the muscles in our hands.
A little unrelated, but I often get pain in this area after practicing the OLY lifts. Also, when I sit on a mat and place my palms flat on the floor, this area in my hand often feels tight. Despite all my stretching, I can’t seem to get over it.
Good luck, Brett.
I hope everything heals up well.
Puff.
Thanks man, my right wrist is casted but my left wrist is doing good. Still lots of bruising around where they were sprained. The left was a pretty nasty strain but I’ve been stretching it and exercising it enough that now I almost have the level of mobility in it that it once had. They doc said to be safe they want the cast on for 8 weeks but there is no way in hell I’m keeping it on for that long. Against doctor’s orders I’ll take the cast off and stretch it or exercise it very lightly and it has made my wrist feel a lot better.
I have an appointment coming up pretty soon and the doc will decide what I can start doing again with the wrist. He said I’ll most likely be cleared to take off the cast when I need to eat or something.
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Which bone(s) did you break?
Hi Powerpuff
I get the same thing, usually where there is a lot of grip work. Not sure why it hits there though.
Most effective remedy I have found is deep massage. Based on Trigger Point work. Hurts a lot. Usually quick improvement, but seems to take a while to clear fully.
Trigger Point theory suggests stretching needs to be done after you have dealt with the primary cause and won’t be effective until you do. Seems to work for me. YMMV
Hope that is of some use.
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Fracture in my growth plate in the wrist
If you had to break something, that’s the best scenario. Make sure it has completely healed before starting back.
Be very careful. You don’t want to set yourself back, or reinjure it because you rushed things.
@ Growth plate. Does the doc think you’re finished growing, that it won’t effect your growth, Brett? I remember that you’re 15 or 16. Most men aren’t finished growing until they’re in their early 20s.
@Renovator - I will try deep massage, and look at trigger point theory. Thank you. It’s an easy area to massage myself, and I haven’t really tried that.
Doc Said it’s not a bad enough fracture to affect growth thank god
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