Topic: Wrist Strap and tingling hands Question

[Mark Tippit]

Hello, I am a new member to this website and am curious to see if any of you could give me some advice with a problem I've had over the last few weeks. First of all I am 51 yrs old and have been lifting four to five times a week regularly for a little over two years. Prior to that I tore my rotator cuff lifting and had to sit out for eight agonizing months. I have made steady progress in all areas with my bench (incline) 315x8 3 sets and maxing at about 380. My seated militarys are 245x8 3 sets and maxing around 275. Not too bad for an old guy I guess. Heres my question, I've been doing barbell shrugs in the 405 to 495 range and have used the narrower wrist straps to assist my grip. Recently I purchased some of the wider APT Pro WristStraps thinking wider would be better. Guy's I dont know if the wider straps have any thing to do with it or not but I started getting bruising on my right hand and have tingling that comes and goes in both hands. If any of you guy's could give me any advice with this I'd appreciate it. My wrists arent that big, are the wider straps the problem? Am I wearing the straps to high or low? Am I relying too much on the straps and need to use more of my own grip? Any thoughts? Thanks!   

[Mike Wittmer]

I think it is OK to use straps for your pulls and shrugs as grip strength may not be an issue for you.  I have seen
bruising from the straps cutting into the wrists.  You might consider trying wrist wraps for that.   Regarding the tingling, it seems unlikely the straps would cause that unless you are using a style that puts pressure on the palmer side of the wrist, or the entire wrist, and in that case it could be a circulation deficit. 

By the way, those are huge numbers for the presses.

[Pete_Stewart]

Could you not revert back to the narrower type strap and see if the problem persists?  Would that not answer your question as to whether it is the wider type strap causing this issue?