Are Wrist Wraps Worthless?

“Wrist Wraps Are Just Another Unnecessary CrossFit Product”

That’s what I thought.

This past spring, my buddy sponsored by Manimal Wear gave me a pair of their wrist wraps. I’ll admit that I had no idea what the fuck these things were for at the time. So they just stayed in my gym bag in its plastic bag for a good 2 months or so.

Then around the summertime, I hurt my wrist (again) going for a 1 rep max power clean. I think I was going for 235#. At around the 225#-ish mark is when my wrist safety would go to shit on cleans. It was one of the main factors that held me back in my clean development.

At least I was able to figure out it also had to do with my rack flexibility. My shoulders were able to get to the proper positioning over time thanks to a bunch of videos on Mobility WOD. But still…my wrists were still prone to injury if my catch positioning messed up just one tiny bit. On top of that, anything overhead – jerks, snatches, overhead squats, etc. – was affected by these small wrist strains I’d experience here and there.

That’s when it hit me…uh…I should give these wrist wraps a shot.

You Can’t Be Totally Dependent Upon Wrist Wraps…

…but at least for me, they give me that extra room for error when improving my form as I get heavier in cleans and overhead lifts. With this extra leeway, I was able to get that 240# power clean, 185# overhead squat, and banging through an ascending ladder of 135# thrusters was actually possible in a recent WOD.

Everyone at the box keeps asking me if they help.

Um…yes.

I honestly can’t see myself without them for any workouts that could hurt your wrists. They provide enough support during those heavy and/or high reps, while giving you enough mobility for more technical shit in the same WOD. Yep, I’ve managed to string my double unders with these wrist wraps on.

Most of the CrossFit products out there are unnecessary. Rarely do I spend money on this shit unless it really does help, like the right pair of shoes, a jump rope of my own, and a comfortable pair of underwear. I don’t see a need for sweat-activated, graphic t-shirts or expensive handcare products when old, ready-to-dispose-of gym clothes and a foot file + moisturizer do the job.

With The Wrist Wraps, It’s Different

They actually protected me from a bunch of injuries and really stepped up my CrossFit progress. Having a pair was like a paradigm shift for me.

Plus, wrist wraps are cheap as fuck compared to most CrossFit gear out there. I don’t mind dropping $12 every time a pair gets too smelly from the sweat.

Kip it real, my friends.

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KippingItReal

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Brad

I’m really liking all of the recent posts man! Kip it up!

That being said, I’m a cheap ass and use a pair of boxing hand wraps cut to a shorter length instead of wrist wraps. They seem to work for now, but maybe I’ll bit the bullet some time. Plus those look way cooler than my dirty off white thing frayed things.

December 13, 2012
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KippingItReal

Thanks, Brad! Well, as long as people like you kip reading, then I’m down as fuck to keep writing.

About your wrist wraps, that sounds good enough for now. As long as you keep your wrists safe. And I hear ya on the spending. Seriously…as much as I love my gym, I’m not going to spend $25 every time a new shirt comes out. If one’s really sweet, then yeah, I’ll buy one…

…but there’s no way I’m working out in that. I only wear old t-shirts and shorts at the gym. A lot of my shirts are those free giveaways from college haha.

December 13, 2012
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Katherine

I’m this-close to buying a pair of PR wraps (couple of peeps at my gym love them). From their FB page: PR Wraps are superior because they are made of 100% breathable, naturally antimicrobial cotton. Our patented wraps were designed to drastically reduce bacteria on your workout gear, combating the post-WOD smell often experienced in similar products.

I don’t think I’d mind dropping a little more cash ($25ish I think) on something that makes me smell less like a dude 🙂

December 17, 2012
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George

Kip, thanks for the shout out bud. I’m one of the owners of MANIMAL and the reason we designed these wrist wraps is because I broke both my wrist in high school and had a tendency to strain my wrist every couple of months in training.

My shoulder mobility was and still is great and my form was good as well, but it didn’t make a difference. The stress we put on our wrist during training, especially with the heavier weights makes this a necessary to tool to have.

With that said, people should know we designed these wrist wraps ourselves. They support better, last longer and are more versatile than other wrist wraps out there because you can use them for heavy lifting or workouts where you need range of motion, like double unders. My max set of double unders is 235 with these wrist wraps on so….

Other wraps like PR Wraps are hitting the scene because just like your post says, people like to buy shit to look cool and want their wrist wraps to have superwoman on them and have the colors to match their super cool long socks….The point is, a thin piece of stitched nylon heavily wraps around your wrist is the same as tape and can be made by hand for dirt cheap at Home Depot.

I’ve been using my first pair of our wraps for almost 2 years now and they do not smell at all. I wear them pretty much every do, as i mostly train CrossFit Football and I sweat a ton.

We’re in the process now of making a new design that has improved features and will last even longer.