How Important Are Wrist Wraps For Crossfit?

Crossfit has revolutionized the way people workout - for better or for worse. Some people love it. Others despise it. But the reality of the situation is millions of people have used Crossfit to get in better shape and improve their health. Significantly.

Millions of gym-goers and athletes have also use wrist wraps for Crossfit to stay injury-free while moving big weights over their head.

But honestly, how important are wrist wraps for Crossfit?

That all depends on who you ask and/or how much iron you push. Here at Gunsmith Fitness, we believe in the benefits of wrist wraps for all athletes.

Not just CrossFit junkies either, every athlete can use wrist wraps when taking their training to the next level, especially on pushing movements.

Check out our wrist wraps

The Benefits of Wrist Wraps

But a little quip from us about how great our wrist wraps are isn’t why we published this piece. Nope.We want to show you exactly how to use wrist wraps for Crossfit and why many people find the gym accessory to be incredibly useful.

The benefits of wrist wraps are vast, including:

Injury-Prevention
Grip Strength
Great with Pressing Movements
Training with Wrist Injuries
Added Weight and Gains

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, fam.

Now, we won’t go too far into the benefits of these great gym accessories for all, but you can see they offer solid benefits to anyone taking their gym time seriously.

But, how do wrist wraps specifically help Crossfit athletes?

Wrist Wraps For Crossfit: Proper Protocol and More

Now we’re getting to the good part - exactly how wrist wraps benefit Crossfit athletes. If you like to get down and dirty with a WOD every now and then, you’ve certainly seen other athletes in your gym wearing wrist wraps. Maybe you thought about picking up a pair. If that’s you, keep on reading. Wrist wraps aren’t for everybody, but they certainly have their place in a Crossfit gym.

Here’s why:

Crossfit Movements

Crossfit athletes do 100s of movements, exercises, and variations. Many of these include pressing lifts and holding heavy weights above the head. We’re talking movements like:

Snatch
Jerk
Overhead Squat
Push Press
Bench Press
And More!

In these movements, the wrist can be extremely stressed and put under insane amounts of pressure. This is especially true when working with lower reps, aka closer to your maxes. In these situations, wrist wraps for Crossfitters can be incredibly important. Hell, they can protect your wrists and keep you injury-free.

For most of our Crossfitters who have purchased wrist wraps, this was the exact reason why. To protect their wrists, which usually have some issues already, when doing heavy pressing movements - an essential part of Crossfit.

Injury-Free

Your wrists aren’t large. Mine aren’t. No one has huge wrists. Sure, you can train your forearms and muscles around the wrist - but they’ll only get so big. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s how our bodies are designed. However, this makes it damn difficult to push past plateaus on certain lifts. Your back or shoulders or legs will always be able to push more weight than your wrists can handle, especially once you get serious about the gym and Crossfit.

That’s where wrist wraps for Crossfit athletes come in. You add support, strength, and stability to your wrists - which are often put under intense stress when completing Crossfit movements. This allows you to move heavier weight with ease, while not having to worry about injuring your wrist. And that’s certainly what we want. To avoid wrist injuries! Trust me, you do not want to injure your wrist while doing Crossfit.

Wrist injuries are a nightmare for almost every Crossfit lift and can linger for ages.

Added Gains

Not only do wrist wraps for Crossfit keep you injury-free, but many find they help with dem gains, son! Like we’ve talked about a bit already, you will be able to push past plateaus using wraps. The added wrist support will equal added weight on the bar. Guaranteed.

Many experienced Crossfit athletes love wrist wraps for this exact reason. Because they can move more weight with them.

What NOT to Do

Now, we want athletes buying wrist wraps for the right reason, especially because they can do so much for Crossfitters. However, there are times when you do not need wrist wraps. There are times when wrist wraps could be detrimental to your gains and overall Crossfit goals. So, we’re going to break that down for ya, too.

Here’s how NOT to use wrist wraps for Crossfit:

Never with Warm-Ups:
You should never wear your wrist wraps when warming up. We recommend them when working near your maxes on pushing movements. When you’re warming up, you shouldn’t be using wraps - as overuse can lead to underdeveloped wrists.
No Bodyweight Training:
You shouldn’t be using wrist wraps when training bodyweight movements like pushups and pull-ups. Your wrists can handle those movements with no issue. If your wrists hurt during bodyweight movements, there’s an underlying issue that a wrap shouldn’t be used to fix.
Flexibility Issues:
High-level Crossfit athletes will find huge benefits when using our Gunsmith Fitness wraps. Other people may need to focus on flexibility and mobility before incorporating wrist wraps into their training. Don’t mask flexibility issues with wraps, as that could lead to serious issues down the road.