All of us are prone to various types of injuries in any kind of physical activities. Even an incorrect stretching can cause hamstring or muscle tear that can put you in an inconvenience state for days.
If you are under a yoga fitness program, one major and probably the most unexpected and unforeseen accident is wrist injury.
Ignoring the possibilities of wrist injuries can put severe damage to your wrists and could pose long-term pain and treatment.
Some of the causes of wrist injuries include:
- Poor alignment of shoulder
- Impingement (injury that causes your arm bone to hit your wrist bone)
- Overuse of wrist muscle groups (flexors and extensors) which causes imbalance
So it is important for you to take care of your wrists whenever you do yoga or any other physical activities.
Here are the expert’s practical tips on how to prevent wrist injuries in yoga.
- Understand you Body
Yoga literally means “fusion”, where your physical body combines with your godly spirit (Hindu belief where yoga comes from).
So in order to perform right yoga poses or exercises, you must learn to understand your body, find its limitation and study your abilities.
You have to start on what your body is capable of, not pushing your limits at the start. It is important to practice yoga by connecting to your physical self.
Since yoga poses such as handstand position puts a lot of weight into your wrists, making yoga not fit for unguided beginners.
Remember that yoga is a practice that requires gradual building combined with mindful strengthening. If you can’t do a pose, simply don’t force yourself.
- Warming Up is Crucial
Any exercise routine requires the body to get warm up first in order to lessen the probability of injuries. Yoga is not an exemption.
Doing any yoga poses can easily be done by just doing warm up exercises. To prevent wrist injuries, you need to balance your arm and do some stretching.
Below are some of the stretches you can do to prevent wrist injuries:
- Circling your wrists in both directions
- Placing your hands on the wall, arms straight out, and shoulders aligned with your wrists
- Doing some plank can also help balance your arms
- Right Weight Distribution
As aforementioned above, arm balances are crucial in preventing wrist injuries. So one thing that you can do is to distribute your weight equally for proper arm balances.
Putting too much weight on either hand can increase your risks of injuries. You have to balance your weight distribution on both hands
One way to do this is to stack your elbow joints directly on top of your wrist joints before putting a lot of weight on your wrists.
If you can use your core to extend support in lifting your body weight up instead of putting too much pressure on your arms and wrists, then it will be essentially beneficial.
If you start to feel pain in your wrist, stop with the pose and rest.
- You Have to Be Flexible When Doing Yoga Poses
As an athlete, you probably know how to be flexible in certain situations, especially when doing yoga poses.
Poses such as downward dog or handstand can be truly difficult not only to beginners, but also to seasoned yogis.
What to do? Well, be flexible and modify!
If you can ask someone to lift you into the handstand position, then it would be great. Asking for assistance won’t lessen your fitness goals right.
You can also use your fists to protect your wrists from injuries as it creates more stability and balance. Also, spreading your fingers as wide as possible puts the pressure directly on your fingertips instead on your wrists.
- Use Wrist Support
Various exercises such as weight lifting, body weight push ups and many others, put a lot of pressure on your hands which increases your risks of injuries.
Yoga uses a lot of body weight to achieve successful poses. And like conventional exercise programs, using wrist support can come in handy!
Wrist assured gloves can help protect you from certain wrist injuries. Some wrist pads/support even feature a special material inside (some uses gel), giving you more comfort on your workout.
- Do Proper Alignment
Proper alignment is the one of the most important aspect of a risk-free yoga program.
Montreal-based yoga instructor Jennifer Kruidbos recommends balancing your arm and keeping your wrists strong, can both help avoid wrist pain.
One way she suggests is to balance your arm by aligning the center of your wrist with the outside of your shoulder. Ensure that your index fingers are parallel to one another. Doing this helps prevents bending sideways which can strain your wrists.
Right use of strength is another trick Jennifer recommends. She said that when doing arm balancing, press down using the knuckles at the base of the index and middle fingers, then grip the mat with the tips of all four fingers and the thumb.
This causes the arch of the hand to lift which evenly distributes your weight, preventing wrist injuries in the process.
- Use Your Energy Wisely
Yoga is all about energy and you have to learn how to listen to your body for you to adjust on your body’s energy needs.
When you do poses and something hurts, then your body requires adjustment either physically or energetically.
Yoga experts recommend that self-awareness is the primary solution in preventing wrist and other body injuries.
By learning both your physical and energetic alignment, you can easily adjust, modify and correct a pose, which also helps you to build strength in that particular pose.
- Take the Right Supplements
Supplements are made to “support” any physical endeavours that will help enhance your body’s overall capacity.
I am not talking about synthetic drugs or steroids here, but dietary supplements that are natural and proven effective in elevating your energy levels and strength, both of which are essential to yoga.
Supplements such as omega 3 fatty acids are proven to improve muscle flexibility. As you know, flexibility is important for any yogis and omega 3 fatty acids supplementation can greatly improve your poses.
There are a lot of energy boosters, muscle and strength enhancers that can support your yoga program. Most of these dietary supplements are safe and effective (though some are pricey).
Such supplements are widely available in the market. One product that offers a huge dose of omega 3 fatty acids is Fat Burner Plus. This brand can also boost energy levels while burning your fat at the same time. You can read a review of this supplement here – http://www.populardietpills.net/fat-burner-plus/.
So it is important for you to take care of your wrists whenever you do yoga or any other physical activities.
These eight practical tips can greatly help in reducing your risks of wrists injuries. Remember that yoga is best done with a guidance of a professional, so choose the best instructor in your area and don’t do yoga alone at home.
Perly Rodolfo
Perly Rodolfo is a health enthusiast, a sports junkie, and a full-time mother. She spends most of her time sharing health news and information online, either via social media or directly from her websites. You can reach her by email – [email protected] or by visiting one of her website at www.populardietpills.net.
Article Sources:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/223532-supplements-that-aid-muscle-flexibility/
http://www.sheknows.com/health-and-wellness/articles/1025219/how-to-prevent-common-yoga-injuries
http://breakingmuscle.com/yoga/3-wrist-strengthening-exercises-to-prevent-yoga-injuries
http://www.jenniferkruidbos.com/
http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/