Complete Guide to Wrist Warm Ups

If you’ve ever tried a handstand session and felt your wrists start complaining halfway through, you know how quickly they can limit your progress. Wrists are small but mighty - they support your entire body weight in a handstand.

Skipping a proper warm-up (or doing too much) can lead to stiffness, pain, or just a frustrating practice. Here’s how to warm up your wrists effectively, keeping it short, simple, and smart.

Why Warm Up Your Wrists at All?

Before diving into exercises, it’s important to understand what we’re doing here. Wrist warm-ups are about.

• Gradually increasing pressure on your wrists
• Improving mobility for better handstand positioning
• Maintaining structural balance to prevent overuse injuries. 

A good warm-up doesn’t have to be long - 5 minutes is often enough. In fact, warming up too long can create unnecessary fatigue before you even start your handstands.

Assess Your Flexibility Needs

Not everyone’s wrists are the same. Before starting:

Check your range of motion in wrist extension and flexion. Decide if you need more passive stretching (holding positions) or active flexibility (building strength under load).

If you have elbow pain during pushing or pulling, consider adding rotational exercises or light elbow flexion/extension to address a lack of rotational strength.

Knowing your starting point ensures your warm-up is effective and tailored to you.

The 3-Phase Wrist Prep

The key here is short, simple, and progressive. Start easy, increase pressure gradually, and don’t overload your wrists with strength work. Save heavy strengthening for separate sessions or at the end of your handstand practice.

Phase 1: Blood Flow & Mobility 

You first want to complete one or two exercises to drive blood flow into the forearm and wrist area. Here you can use dynamic movements or myofascial release.

A couple of options are going to include:

• Wrist Circles - 10 forward, 10 backward 
• Prayer Stretch / Finger Lifts - 5-10 seconds each, alternating
• Fist Pumps - gently open and close fists 10-15 times

Phase 2: Load Gradually 

The second part of the warm-up is dedicated to gradually loading the wrists in all the necessary angles and motions that are relevant to the workout.

For handstands and bodyweight training you primarily want to prep the wrists for wrist extension, wrist flexion and radial/ulnar flexion.

Some example stretches and loaded exercises are as follows:

• Palm Lifts / Finger Lifts on the Floor - slowly raise and lower
• Wrist Rocking - hands on the floor, rock forward and back
• Weight Shifts in Tabletop or Downward Dog - gently shift weight forward/backward

Phase 3: Optional Light Activation 

This last part is crucial for handstand training. It's to continue the gradual increase of load on the wrists in the warm-up section of your handstand session.

In the wrist warm up you will load about 20-30% of your bodyweight at most, going straight into handstands is a heavy increase in load on the wrists, and is a possible cause for discomfort.

So you want to gradually increase the load in the warm-up and build up to the handstand.

Here's a sample sequence of exercise to complete to gradually increase the load on the wrists with each exercise to build up your tolerance.

• Wrist Extension Stretch → Plank → Incline Wall Hold → Chest to Wall Hold → Kick Ups

Keep it brief; focus on gradually loading the wrist rather than max effort.

Pro Tips:

Always include wrist flexion exercises to maintain structural balance.

Test different exercises to see what feels best for your body.

Stop if you feel sharp pain - discomfort is fine, pain is not.

Key Takeaways

1. Keep your wrist warm-up short and simple - don’t tire yourself before your practice.
2. Gradually increase pressure, don’t overload with strength work.
3. Include both wrist flexion and extension exercises for balance.
4. Tailor your warm-up to your wrist and elbow needs.
5. Gradual loading through the handstand is more important than the warm-up itself.

Think of your wrists as a partner, not just a tool. Treat them well with smart warm-ups, progressive loading, and recovery, and they’ll reward you with longer, stronger, and more pain-free sessions.