Ouch

[tanuki]

Sorry if this has already been posted before. I searched around and could not find any answers to my specific question. Recently I have really started to take Muay Thai seriously, and have been really working on getting power behind my punches. I did some good heavy bag work yesterday, and today my wrists are hurting.

It does not feel like I injured something, and to tell the truth, it just feels like wrists should feel after hitting a bag full of sand for a couple of hours. Nonetheless, what I was wondering is if this is something everyone gets when starting out or am I doing something wrong?

The second part is; if I am doing something wrong, what should I do to correct it? If this something everyone gets, what can I do to minimize it?

Just to let you know, I am currently wrapping my wrists, and I fell as I am doing a good job, but maybe they could be tighter. Also, I do a gaggle of knuckle pushups after each workout.

Thanks all.

[Khun Kao]

If you are wrapping your hands properly, wearing gloves, and are punching properly, you should be good to go. The soreness is just your body becoming accustomed to the impact training.

If you're concerned, ask your coach to watch what you're doing on the bag to be sure that you're using incorrect form which can lead to injuries.

[bigred389]

It happened to me too. I just started wrapping better. I just put more wrap on the wrist.

I got a large wound on my knuckle, and I protect that by wrapping in between the fingers as well now. Works great.

[theprophet]

I never wrap and I never have wrist problems. Is there any other reason to wrap then to keep from injuring them?

I have been punching stuff since I was like 14, maybe they are just used to it, lol idk.

[tanuki]

The only other reasons I can think of is for the additional padding on the knuckles. Oh and it looks cool....

So at the Muay Thai gym you train at, they do not wrap their wrists? At my gym, every one (including our instructor who started Muay Thai 30 years ago when he was like 4 or sumin) wrap up the wrists.

It is probably like a high-top cleat for football. You can run all right with out one, but in the game you never know what is going to happen: you may step in a hole, some one may step on your ankle, or you just may step on it wrong.

The same goes for Muay Thai. I can punch a bag with out a wrap, but in the ring, against a moving person, you never know what could happen. It just seems like one of those better safe than sorry things.

But than again, I just started, so there could be a variety of reasons I do not know about.

[GonzoStyles]

your hands are basically a weakly made weapon unless you just happened to be born with hands of stone, with almost 30 bones in your hand it just doesn't make for a good club, its made for doing things like playing piano and caressing women!! wrap them, knuckle push ups, maybe even some wrist rolls would help you. use pain as a guide line, alittle is fine, persistent overwhelming, keep you up at night for days is not.

[theprophet]

tanuki... No it is not required to wrap your hands at my school. A couple students who have had wrist problems do, but for the most part we don't. I know if I was to get in the ring I would definitely wrap my hands, it makes em more solid for punishing your opponent Maybe I will buy a pair and start wrapping em for ha ha's in class.

[tanuki]

Maybe I will buy a pair and start wrapping em for ha ha's in class.

I personally feel like it makes me look like a bad ass when I have them on...Think Ong Bok and the rope-fighting scene.



Additionally they take a long time to put on and take off and roll up. I use the time at the start and end of class to sorta meditate or visualize about what I am going to do or just did. I really enjoy the whole process to tell you the truth...

[Khun Kao]

It really depends on who your trainer is....

Two of my Thai trainers INSISTED that you have your hands wrapped at all times! Another did not believe it was really necessary. Its really a matter regarding your point of view.

If you are interested in pursuing a professional career in MuayThai, and then ensuring that your hands function perfectly outside of MuayThai, for chrissakes, wrap them!

If you are more interested in conditioning your hands as a permanent lifestyle, and will not be adversely affected by having hand injuries, then wrapping your hands may not be for you.

But one thing everyone should keep in mind: If you don't want your gloves to start smelling like a cross between cat-piss and sour milk, then you might want to keep your hands wrapped. One of the reasons for wearing wraps is so that they are the primary medium for absorbing your hand sweat. If you don't wrap your hands, your gloves are going to REEK! (ask anyone I've trained with about my red ThaiSmai gloves!)

[bigred389]

Is it a bad idea to wrap, but no gloves?

I like to hit the heavy bag with just wraps. The MAIN reason I weaer them is to keep the skin from tearing off my knuckles. And if it already happened, I need them to keep it from simply getting worse...those wounds literally take me 2 weeks or so to fully heal.
At the same time, I'd like to condition them to be able to hit something solid without having my hand go "crack."

[theprophet]

Glove Dogs

But one thing everyone should keep in mind: If you don't want your gloves to start smelling like a cross between cat-piss and sour milk, then you might want to keep your hands wrapped. One of the reasons for wearing wraps is so that they are the primary medium for absorbing your hand sweat. If you don't wrap your hands, your gloves are going to REEK! (ask anyone I've trained with about my red ThaiSmai gloves!)

Glove dogs work awesome for keeping the gloves fresh and dry. I bought em at my school, but here is the first link I got when I searched Google for anyone unfamiliar with them:

http://www.ambersports.com/glovedogs.htm

[Shard]

If you can't afford the glove dogs, then a stocking of Sillica Gel and a sneaker ball work just fine.
The plain ol' Sun is great too.