[quote]LevelHeaded wrote:
Do you recall hitting it, falling on it, etc? Anything make it better or worse? Can you label a photo of a wrist to show where specifically your pain is? The one thing that would concern me with the pain being located at the base of the thumb on the back of the wrist is the scaphoid bone.
[/quote]
Well I was going to go on Microsoft paint and draw an arrow pointing to where the pain is radiating from on the back of my wrist however I just did a quick search for scaphoid bone on google images and there are hundreds of images with arrows pointing to the same place. So I’m guessing it’s quite likely that is what could be causing it.
Edit: After taking another look at the scaphoid images this is a better image of where the pain is radiating from.
http://postimage.org/image/18qxwd0uc/
Now I think about it I recall a dodgy catch on a clean I did a week or two ago. Just messed up the catch and my wrist hurt afterwards enough for me to mention to my gym partner. Had forgotten about that. Also I was in a fight about 2 and a half weeks ago (an organised one) where I may have perhaps landed a punch off key or something; however I dont recall it being particularly painful that day. Similarly I did a bit of heavy padwork/sparring the week after that on a day when I had forgotten to bring my hand wraps. Could be a cause maybe. Not totally sure. Even if they didn’t cause it they may have irritated it somewhat.
Also after 56x11’s post it makes me wonder if it could have been caused by a couple of dodgy front squats I’ve done where one of my gyms shitty bent bars has rolled down shoulders and perhaps over-extended my wrist as I threw it off.
It could be any one of those but I’m sort of leaning towards the first.
As for things making it worse. Over extending or over flexing my wrist is pretty painful the former is way worse though. I can feel particular pain in the area pointed out above that radiates out laterally round the back of my wrist base of my thumb. Extending my hand back far enough for clean grip squats is impossible due to severe pain and seemingly a lack of flexibility, its moderately swollen around that area of the wrist. Also if I was to pull my thumb down slightly towards the inside of my wrist this replicates the pain and seems to irritate it quite a bit (yeah, wont be doing that again)
As for anything making it better, not found anything yet. Although I havent resorted to anti-inflammatory medicine yet.
[quote]56x11 wrote:
Unless you plan on competing in the Oly lifts, I see absolutely no point in using the clean grip for front squats.
There is a well known trick using wrist wraps to create handles and place the wrists in a more neutral alignment. Poliquin was the first (that I’m aware of) to write up this technique. A brief internet search should yield photos.
There is also the “body builder” style of front squats in which you cross your arms. This has been criticized by at least one coach who writes for this site; his argument is that this style places one humeral head slightly higher. Perhaps this can be a genuine risk for some. Although, I’ve gotten around it by alternating which wrist sits on top.
Regardless, I strongly disagree when this coach went on to imply Oly grip is the correct and true way to perform the front squat. In addition to the hyper-extension at the wrists, I’m convinced it can also put unnecessary stress at the elbow for many people.
There are several devices that will allow you to front squat without the hazards. The wrist wraps is one. Another that I’ve used with great success is:
http://www.amazon.com/Manta-Ray-Sting/dp/B0017DE16I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313436867&sr=8-1
I’ve had mine for close to a year now and I can vouch for its efficacy.
Until your wrist issues are resolved, at least you have options on continuing your front squat training. [/quote]
I appreciate the sentiment mate, and I compeletely understand your point but I love clean grip front squats too much to give them up. I set myself a target of eventually hitting a clean grip 150kg front squat and I am determined to do so. The alternative methods will no doubt prove helpful though so thanks for those and thanks a lot for the response.