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The Push-Up Isn’t the Problem. Ninety Degrees of Bent Wrist Under Your Body Weight Is.
Wrist pain during push-ups usually comes from bending the wrist back to about 90 degrees while it carries around two thirds of your body weight.
Pain on the back of the wrist is usually the bones pinching at the end of that range. Pain on the little-finger side is often the TFCC, the cartilage cushion on that side.
The simplest fix: do your push-ups on push-up bars, or on your knuckles. Both keep the wrist straight, and that protects it. Most push-up wrist pain settles in 2 to 6 weeks once you stop loading the painful angle.
Where are you right now?
- It started when you upped the reps: go to “What to change this week.”
- Pain on the back of the wrist: read “Where it hurts” first.
- Pain on the little-finger side, or a click: same section, then the TFCC link.
- It started after a fall onto your hand: skip to the red flags.
- Training handstands: the handstand section near the end is yours.
Why push-ups hurt the wrist
A flat-palm push-up asks the wrist to bend back to around 90 degrees. Most wrists only just reach that unloaded.
Now put your chest, shoulders and half your torso on top of it…and do 50 reps. The end of the range is where the small bones on the back of the wrist start to pinch together.
It’s rarely the push-up itself. It’s the angle, the load and the volume, all going up at once.
Where it hurts tells you why
- Back of the wrist, in the middle: usually impingement, the bones pinching at full bend. A lump there that comes and goes is often a ganglion cyst.
- Little-finger side: often the TFCC, especially if turning a door handle or a key also hurts. See TFCC tear.
- Thumb side, after a fall: the scaphoid until proven otherwise. See scaphoid fracture.
- Thumb side, worse moving the thumb: more likely De Quervain’s.
More detail in wrist pain by location.
What to change this week
- Use push-up bars, or go on your knuckles. Both keep the wrist straight, which is what protects it. Hex dumbbells work too. Most people can train pain-free this way within days. This is what I recommend long term, not only while it heals.
- Take some load off. Incline push-ups on a bench or wall carry less of your body weight.
- Grip the floor. Spread the fingers and press through the base of the index finger and thumb, not the heel of the hand. It shares the load across the hand.
- Turn the hands out slightly. Fingers at 11 and 1 o’clock suit many wrists better than straight ahead.
- Cut the volume, not the habit. Half the reps for 2 weeks beats zero reps for 2 weeks.
(Doing them on your knuckles? Use a folded mat or towel, and take the weight through the first two knuckles, the index and middle. They sit on the strongest bones in the hand.)
The Karate Kid’s “wax on, wax off” was a better wrist warm-up than most people do before push-ups.
Your wrist doesn’t need a break from push-ups. It needs a break from 90 degrees.
Building back to flat palms, week by week
Only if you want flat palms back. Push-up bars and knuckle push-ups are a perfectly good place to stay for good.
Pain during the exercise should stay at 3 out of 10 or less, and be back to normal by the next morning.
- Weeks 0 to 2 (OPEN): neutral-wrist push-ups only, on push-up bars or knuckles. Gentle wrist bends in all directions, 10 each, 2 to 3 times a day.
- Weeks 2 to 4 (OPEN): on hands and knees, palms flat, rock slowly forward into the bend and back. 10 slow reps. Add wall push-ups with flat palms.
- Weeks 4 to 6 (OPEN): incline push-ups with flat palms, lowering the incline as it stays comfortable. Keep your heavy sets on handles.
- Weeks 6 to 12 (CLOSING if it still hurts): flat-palm floor push-ups for most people. Pain that hasn’t improved by now needs a proper look.
Handstands
A handstand asks for that same 90 degrees with ALL your body weight on it. That’s why wrists that cope with push-ups can still complain upside down.
- Build the bend first with the hands-and-knees rocks above.
- Progress through pike push-ups, then wall handstands, before freestanding.
- Parallettes or blocks you grip keep the wrist straighter while the bend catches up.
- Short sets, often. 5 holds of 20 seconds beats one 2-minute grind.
See also wrist pain in yoga and wrist pain when lifting weights.
Is this normal?
Usually expected:
- A dull ache after a new push-up program that’s gone by the next morning.
- Wrists that feel stiff bending back first thing, and loosen as you warm up.
- A painless click now and then.
Check with a doctor or hand therapist if the pain is sharp, getting worse week on week, or there’s a lump that keeps coming back.
If it isn’t going to plan
It’s week 6. You’ve trained on handles, done the rocks…and the moment your palm goes flat, the same spot bites.
Pain that doesn’t move after 6 weeks of taking the angle out usually isn’t simple overload. A TFCC tear, a ganglion sitting in the joint, or a bone problem can all feel like “push-up wrist.” The longer you train through it, the more the joint lining and cartilage take the hit.
Get it assessed by a doctor or hand therapist. The fix is often simple once someone knows which structure it is. See sprained wrist or something worse.
When can I…?
Typical ranges for overload pain. A fall or a tear runs on a different clock.
| Activity | Typical timing |
|---|---|
| Push-ups on bars or knuckles | Usually within days, if pain stays at 3 out of 10 or less |
| Flat-palm push-ups | 2 to 6 weeks |
| Planks, burpees, down dog | 2 to 6 weeks, flat palms last |
| Handstands | 6 to 12 weeks, built up through pike and wall work |
Get it checked today if
- It started with a fall onto your hand, and the hollow at the base of the thumb is sharply tender.
- The wrist looks bent or out of shape, or you can’t bear weight on it at all.
- Your fingers are numb or tingling and it isn’t settling.
Get it checked if
- A lump on the back of the wrist keeps returning.
- Little-finger-side pain with clicking when you turn your palm up or down.
- No improvement after 6 weeks of taking the angle out.
- Pain at night or at rest.
Your wrist doesn’t hate push-ups. It hates 90 degrees it hasn’t earned yet.
Related: smartwatch wrist pain · gymnast’s wrist · tennis elbow from weightlifting
Written by Nigel Chua, hand occupational therapist in practice since 2005. Thousands of hands, wrists and elbows assessed and treated. My credentials are here. This article explains; it doesn’t examine. If your wrist pain started with a fall, get it checked before you train on it.
Part of: Hand, wrist and elbow pain by job, sport and hobby
Every article on this site is written using the Closing Window Method: name the window your condition runs on, find where you are in it, and act while it’s still open.