Wrist-friendly exercises

Gym exercises that do not load the wrist, to train if you have tendinitis, carpal tunnel or a wrist injury: machines, cables and leg exercises.

The wrist suffers in exercises where it holds a lot of weight bent backward (barbell bench press, push-ups, planks on your hands, skull crushers) or grips heavy loads (deadlifts, straight-bar curls). With tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome or a healing fracture, it is wise to avoid them.

Machines with neutral-grip handles and cables let you train chest, back and arms with your wrists in a more comfortable position. Leg machines and most ab exercises do not involve the wrist either.

Below are the exercises in our catalog that do not load the wrist according to our classification. Wrist wraps or lifting straps can help on some exercises, but they do not replace seeing a professional if the pain persists.

82 exercises do not load this joint.

Lower body

Quads

• Barbell back squat
• Goblet squat
• Hack squat
• Smith machine squat
• Leg press
• Leg extension
• Walking lunges
• Jump squat
• Box jump

Glutes

• Reverse lunge
• Bulgarian split squat
• Box step-up
• Kettlebell swing
• Machine hip thrust
• Barbell hip thrust
• Floor glute bridge
• Cable glute kickback

Hamstrings

• Conventional deadlift
• Romanian deadlift
• Barbell good morning
• Leg curl (seated or lying)
• Nordic hamstring curl

Abductors

• Hip abduction machine
• Seated banded abduction
• Side-lying leg raise
• Clamshell

Adductors

• Hip adduction machine
• Standing cable adduction

Calves

• Standing calf raise
• Seated calf raise
• Leg press calf raise

Upper body

Chest

• Machine chest press
• Pec deck fly
• Cable crossover

Shoulders

• Machine shoulder press
• Dumbbell lateral raise
• Cable lateral raise
• Front raise
• Reverse pec deck
• Face pull

Back

• Assisted pull-ups
• Lat pulldown
• Straight-arm cable pulldown
• Barbell bent-over row
• Seated machine row
• Single-arm cable row
• Seated cable row

Biceps

• Biceps curl (machine or seated dumbbell)
• Cable curl

Triceps

• Cable triceps pushdown
• Overhead triceps extension

Core

Abs

• Machine crunch
• Standing cable crunch
• Floor crunch
• Reverse crunch
• Dead bug
• Lying leg raise
• Flutter kicks
• Scissor kicks
• Single-leg lowering
• Hollow body hold
• Tabletop crunch
• Toe touch crunch
• Front plank
• Captain's chair leg raise

Obliques

• Bicycle crunch
• Heel touches
• Side plank
• Machine torso rotation
• Pallof press
• Cable woodchop
• Russian twist

Lower back

• Back extension

Cardio

Cardio

• Stationary bike
• Recumbent bike
• Elliptical
• Rowing machine
• Incline treadmill walk
• Stair climber
• Arm ergometer
• Treadmill running
• Jump rope

If you have an injury, pain or a medical condition, check with a professional before doing this exercise.