Wrist Pain From Push-Ups: Why It Happens and How to Build Tolerance

Push-ups hurt the wrists mainly because a flat-palm push-up bends your wrist back close to 90 degrees while it holds up well over half your bodyweight. Many people simply don't have that much comfortable extension yet, especially after years of typing and phone use. You can usually keep doing push-ups by taking some of the bend or the load away, with fists, handles or an incline, while you build your wrists up to the full version.

This guide is about the why and the how of building tolerance. If you'd rather go straight to a checklist of form errors, I've written up the push-up mistakes that hurt your wrists separately.

Why do push-ups hurt my wrists?

The angle is bigger than people realise

With your hand flat on the floor and your shoulder above it, your wrist is bent back a long way. Physiopedia gives a normal wrist extension range of roughly 0 to 70 degrees, and a flat push-up asks for something close to 90 at the start. If your wrists are stiff, the push-up takes them right to the end of their range and keeps them there, which is where they tend to feel pinchy and sore.

The load is bigger too

In a force-plate study by Ebben and colleagues, a standard push-up loaded the hands with about 64% of body mass, compared with roughly 49% from the knees and around 40% with the hands raised on a 60 cm box. So a set of 20 push-ups adds up to a lot of weight going through a bent wrist.

Your wrists aren't used to it

Most of us spend the day with wrists bent the other way, curled round a phone, a mouse or a steering wheel. If you suddenly add daily push-up challenges or a new class, the joints and tendons haven't had time to adapt, and overuse aches like wrist tendonitis can follow when volume jumps.

Small form details add up

Hands too far forward, weight dumped into the heel of the hand or hips sagging all change how the load lands on your wrist. The mistakes checklist covers each of these with fixes.

Is it normal wrist ache, or something to get checked?

A stiff, tired feeling in the wrists and forearms after a lot of push-ups, which settles within a day, is usually your body adapting to something new. A pinch at the back of the wrist that goes away when you change hand position is usually about the angle, and the variations below should help.

It's different if you have sharp pain in one spot, swelling, pain that's still there the next morning and getting worse each week, pain at night, clicking with pain, or tingling and numbness in your fingers. The NHS advice on wrist pain is to see a GP if it hasn't improved after two weeks of home care, or straight away if there's numbness or tingling, and to get urgent help after a fall with swelling or a change in shape.

Which push-up variations are easier on the wrists?

You can change two things: how far the wrist bends, and how much weight goes through it. This table shows how the common options compare.

Load figures come from the Ebben study above and are averages, so your own numbers will vary a bit.

Fists and handles

Both keep your wrist straight, like holding a hammer, so the bend that causes most push-up wrist pain simply isn't there. For fist push-ups, put a folded towel or mat under your knuckles and keep the weight over your first two knuckles with your wrist dead straight. With handles or hex dumbbells, grip firmly so the wrist doesn't wobble, and pick a pair that won't roll.

Incline push-ups

Putting your hands on a bench, a box or the edge of a sturdy table reduces the load and keeps a flat palm, so they're the best bridge back to normal push-ups. The higher the surface, the easier it is, and you can lower it over the weeks.

How do you build your wrists up to flat-palm push-ups?

If flat push-ups hurt now but you'd like to do them comfortably, a gradual plan works well. Do this two or three times a week, and only move on when the current step feels easy for a full week. It should feel like effort and a mild stretch, never sharp pain.

1. Weeks 1 to 2: do your main push-up sets on handles or fists, plus 2 sets of 10 slow wrist rocks on all fours, shifting your weight gently forward over flat hands and back.
2. Weeks 3 to 4: add 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 flat-palm incline push-ups with hands on a bench, before your main sets on handles.
3. Weeks 5 to 6: lower the incline to a step or low box, and add 2 sets of 20 to 30 second plank holds on flat hands.
4. Weeks 7 to 8: try 2 to 3 sets of 5 to 8 flat-palm push-ups on the floor, finishing your volume on handles.
5. From then on: gradually swap more of your sets to flat palms, keeping handles for high-volume days.

Twice-weekly forearm work speeds things up, and you'll find a simple routine in my guide to building stronger wrists.

What's a good wrist warm-up before push-ups?

Two or three minutes is plenty, and it makes a noticeable difference, especially if you've been at a desk all day.

1. Wrist circles: 10 slow circles each direction, fingers loosely interlaced or hands free.
2. Prayer and reverse prayer: hold each for 15 to 20 seconds, as a gentle stretch only.
3. Wrist rocks on all fours: 10 slow rocks forward and back with hands flat, then 10 with fingers turned out to the sides.
4. Fist to spread fingers: 10 reps, squeezing hard and then spreading the fingers wide.
5. Easy push-ups: 5 incline push-ups before your first real set.

The same routine works before handstands and pole, and there's a longer version in my wrist warm-up guide.

Masha's tip: If push-ups only hurt in the first set and feel fine after that, your wrists are probably just stiff. Give the warm-up a fair go for two weeks before you change anything else.

Do wrist wraps help with push-ups?

A wrap won't change the angle of your wrist much, so it's not a replacement for the variations above. What it does give is firm compression and a bit of resistance as the wrist bends back, and many people find push-ups and planks feel more comfortable and stable with one on, especially in long classes or when building up volume. It's a good support while you build tolerance, and you can wear one with handles or flat palms.

Our wraps were made for exactly this kind of load, because pole and handstands put body weight through a bent wrist all the time. They sit low on the wrist so your hand can still spread on the floor.

If you're also pressing in the gym, my guide on wrist pain on the bench press covers the barbell side of things, and wrist pain in handstands covers the upside-down version.