Last Saturday I did some pushups in the morning and didn't feel any pain or anything at the time. Later that day however, my right wrist was killing me. Bending it forward or even just moving it side to side was extremely painful. I've since been icing it and have worn a wrist brace and although it's better than it was, there is still some pain there.

My question is, what damage could I have done simply from push ups? I'd never had a wrist problem before and am just hoping I haven't done any real damage here. And how long should I expect it to take for this to heal? I was just starting to see some progress on my lifting and hate the idea of losing any gains that I've worked for.

Thanks.

Use a couple of dumbbells (hexagonal ones that won't roll) to grip while you do pushups. This will allow the wrists to stay straight. The position of the wrist during a "classic pushup" is very hard on the wrist's structure and IMO, should be avoided.

-R