Wrist pain when doing the bench press: the bent-back wrist, bar position, grip, wraps and swaps

What a bench press asks of the wrist, and what no study has countedEmerging evidence

In a bench press the bar's weight comes down through the hands, the wrists and the forearms. With the bar low in the palm, over the forearm bones, the wrist only holds a small bend; with the bar high in the fingers, behind the forearm, the wrist folds back and has to resist bending further with every rep. Only one study has measured the wrist in a bench press: in 20 trained adults at light loads (15% and 30% of body weight), the wrist moved only about 11 to 14 degrees in each rep, and the force turning it backwards roughly doubled when the load doubled. It gave no absolute wrist angle and didn't vary where the bar sat in the hand.

So the rest is borrowed. In push-ups on a bent-back wrist, force travelled towards the back and the little-finger side of the wrist (14 volunteers), and in 8 donated wrists a push-up with the wrist bent back raised the pressure on the scaphoid joint surface. That the same happens when the bar sits high in the hand is our reading of these studies, not something measured in the bench press. No study counts wrist pain from the bench press, so the map on this page is built from what each cause is known to do.

Sources 1, 2, 3

Where it hurts, and what it often isEmerging evidence

In people with pain on the back of the wrist when loading it bent back (push-ups, planks, yoga), MRI found a cause in 84%, mostly a hidden ganglion (76%), then partial tears of the ligament between two wrist bones. Little-finger-side pain that starts suddenly with the wrist loaded bent back suggests a TFCC or ligament tear; gripping hard makes the forearm bone on that side sit a little longer against the wrist, and no single clinic test settles it. Pain along the back of the little-finger side of the wrist and forearm can be the extensor carpi ulnaris (ECU) tendon. Pain on the thumb side, worse lifting the thumb, is de Quervain's, which UK hand surgeons say sport can aggravate. Tingling and numbness in the thumb and first fingers, often worse at night, is carpal tunnel syndrome.

Two rarer patterns matter. A bench press can break the scaphoid: in a 21-year-old cadet, and in an elite masters lifter whose 280 kg bar drifted back over his head, forcing the wrist far back; his fracture was missed for 2 months. And in one man doing repeated 100 kg bench presses, a branch of the ulnar nerve in the palm was trapped, with little-finger-side pain, a weak, clawing hand and muscle wasting, alongside a rare bone variant that plain X-rays missed.

Sources 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Who gets it, and what is rareEmerging evidence

The bench press isn't a wrist-wrecker. In 104 powerlifters, injuries that started in bench press training were linked with the shoulder (odds ratio 4.84), not the wrist; across the weight-training sports the wrist and hand come fifth among the common injury sites, with low rates; and one paper puts wrist injuries in powerlifters at about 0.05 per 1,000 hours of training, quoting earlier work. In 245 powerlifters, hand and wrist problems were more common in women and in lifters over 40. Most gym injuries that reach emergency departments come from weights dropping on the person.

The people it usually bothers, in our reading: people new to the bench press, or adding load or sets quickly; people who grip the bar high in the fingers or without the thumb round it; lifters doing close-grip or incline work; and anyone who also loads the wrist bent back elsewhere, as in push-ups, front squats and handstands. Most of it is an overload of the joint lining, a tendon or a ligament. Serious causes are uncommon: a broken scaphoid after a dropped bar or a fall, a joint infection or gout, compartment syndrome after a crush, an inflammatory arthritis in several joints, a nerve that keeps tingling, and, rarely, a lump that grows or is hard. The warning signs pick these out.

Sources 12, 13, 14, 11, 15

When a scan helpsEmerging evidence

Not at first for a gradual ache without warning signs: the NHS starts with looking after it at home, and a GP if it isn't better after 2 weeks. After a fall or a bar that drifted back with pain at the base of the thumb, an X-ray comes first, with follow-up if it's normal but the hollow at the base of the thumb is tender: one lifter's broken scaphoid was found on a computed tomography (CT) scan only 2 months later. Back-of-wrist pain that keeps coming back when the wrist is loaded may need an MRI scan for a hidden ganglion or a partial ligament tear. On the little-finger side, scans often show findings in people without pain, so they have to match the examination. Tingling that lasts needs a GP, who may arrange nerve tests or a scan.

Sources 16, 11, 4, 17, 5, 8

How it usually goesEmerging evidence

No study follows wrist pain from the bench press. The NHS expects wrist pain to improve with home care within 2 weeks, or to be checked; UK hand surgeons say sprains get better over days, weeks or rarely months. A TFCC tear without an unstable forearm joint is slower: of 72 wrists treated without surgery, 30% had fully recovered at 6 months and 50% at a year. Most powerlifters with pain keep training with changes. No one can promise a date.

Sources 16, 18, 19, 12

The bar over the forearm: our reading of push-up and cadaver studiesEmerging evidence

No study has tested where the bar sits in the hand against wrist pain. A bent-back wrist under body weight sent force to the back and little-finger side of the wrist, and raised scaphoid joint pressure in donated wrists, so holding the bar low in the palm with the wrist stacked over the elbow is a sensible change by analogy, as the site's bench press guide teaches. The American Council on Exercise teaches a closed grip with the thumbs round the handle, a straight wrist and a spotter's hands near the wrists. Experts lowered the bar more slowly than novices in an old lab study.

Sources 2, 3, 1, 20, 21

Grip width: a small cost in weight, and no wrist dataEmerging evidence

A narrow grip lowered the most lifted for 6 reps by about 7% to 8% in 28 men, and the heaviest single lift by about 5% in 14 men, against medium and wide grips; muscle use changed only a little with grip width or forearm rotation. The hands also push the bar sideways as well as up: about 30% outward with an 81 cm grip and 10% inward with a 40 cm grip, in 14 men. That this loads one side of the wrist more is our inference. None of these studies measured the wrist.

Sources 22, 23, 24, 25

Dumbbells and machines keep the chest trainingStrong evidence

Dumbbells meant 14% to 17% less weight than a bar with the same chest and front shoulder muscle work in 12 men, and drew more chest work and more reps over 4 sets in 19 men. A seated chest press machine with neutral (palms facing) handles gave similar or slightly higher chest work than the bench press in 20 adults. Band push-ups matched the bench press for strength gains over 5 weeks in 30 trained students. None of these measured the wrist, but they show a swap costs little in training.

Sources 26, 27, 28, 29

Wrist wraps: steadier, not strongerEmerging evidence

In a randomised crossover trial of 18 trained adults, flexible and stiff wrist wraps didn't change the most they could bench press once, their power or their bar speed; the wrist felt more stable in the wraps but less comfortable. In 54 CrossFit athletes, a wrap didn't change grip strength (35.7 against 35.6 kg). No study has tested wraps for wrist pain, or whether they weaken the wrist.

Sources 30, 31

Rebuilding: NHS hand therapy programmes, borrowedEmerging evidence

No trial has tested a programme for bench press wrist pain, so the plan borrows NHS hand therapy leaflets written after wrist injuries and fractures. Cambridge's active wrist exercises use each movement 5 to 10 times, 4 to 5 times a day, with 5-second holds. Bath's programme moves on to strengthening with a light weight, 10 repetitions 3 to 4 times a day, with slow lowering and a few minutes of balance work. Oxford's fracture booklet brings weight back through the hand on a table, a wall and the floor, and builds weighted wrist bends to 3 sets of 10 every other day. Dorset's band exercises say pain lasting more than 30 minutes means doing them less forcefully or less often.

Sources 32, 33, 34, 35

The little-finger side: slow, and usually without surgeryEmerging evidence

TFCC tears without an unstable forearm joint did about as well without surgery as with it across 8 studies (427 wrists) and in a smaller comparison of 33 people, though half had fully recovered only at a year. Staged programmes in case series ran about 11 to 12 weeks: a splint first, then strengthening of the muscles that steady the forearm joint, then retraining, with no comparison groups.

Sources 19, 36, 37, 38, 39

Your bench press for now (written steps)

Our 3D figure can't show where the bar sits in your hand. No trial has tested these changes for wrist pain; each step names its source or says editorial.

• 1. Hold the bar low in your palm, on the heel of the hand over the forearm bones, with your wrists stacked over your elbows, as the site's bench press guide teaches. That a bar high in the fingers loads the bent-back wrist is our reading of push-up and cadaver studies.
• 2. Wrap your thumbs round the bar: the American Council on Exercise teaches a closed grip, and the site's bench press guide says a thumbless grip lets the bar roll out of your hands.
• 3. Grip so your forearms are vertical with the bar on your chest, about 1 to 1.5 times the width across the bony points of your shoulders (the site's bench press guide). A narrow grip costs about 5% to 8% of the weight and pushes the bar inward, so close-grip work comes back last (our reading).
• 4. Go lighter, stop 2 or 3 reps short of failure, and leave heavy singles for now (editorial).
• 5. Press with neutral-grip dumbbells, a floor press or a chest press machine with neutral handles while it settles (editorial; these keep the chest working in lab studies).
• 6. Wraps on heavy sets only, if they help the wrist feel steadier; they didn't change strength in a trial and haven't been tested for pain.
• 7. Set the safety arms just below your chest, or use a spotter: most gym injuries that reach emergency departments come from dropped weights, and a bar that drifts back over your head forces the wrist far back.
• 8. Daily life: the NHS says keep your hands and wrists moving with gentle exercises, don't lift heavy objects or grip anything too tightly while it's sore, and don't use heat for the first 2 to 3 days after an injury.

Sources 2, 3, 20, 22, 25, 30, 15, 11

Back to your usual training (written steps)

No study has tested how the bench press comes back after wrist pain, so these steps are our suggestion unless a source is named.

• 1. One change at a time: dumbbells with a forward grip, then the barbell at about half your old weight, then incline, then close-grip work.
• 2. The gym: train legs and pulls without loading the wrist bent back, and use lifting straps for heavy pulls if gripping hurts, as our wrist lifting guide says.
• 3. Push-ups, planks, burpees and dips: handles, fists or a bench first, as our push-up and plank wrist guides say; dips last, because the wrist bends far back on bench dips.
• 4. Heavy singles and competition: only after 2 weeks of normal training at working weights pass the pain rule, with wraps if you use them on heavy sets.
• 5. Keep forearm work twice a week for a few months.

Source 16

Splints, injections and specialist care

A night splint for carpal tunnel syndrome, for up to 6 weeks, the NHS says; a splint that holds the thumb and wrist, and a steroid injection that relieves the pain in about 70%, for de Quervain's, UK hand surgeons say. A TFCC tear with a stable joint gets at least 6 months of care without surgery first. Most ganglia are harmless and can be left alone, and wrist sprains don't need surgery. A broken scaphoid follows its own fracture care.

Sources 8, 7, 19, 41, 18