7 Common Wrist Injuries from CrossFit & How to Prevent Them (2025 Guide)
Wrist pain affects up to 25% of CrossFit athletes and can turn your favorite WODs into torture sessions. Whether it's shooting pain during front squats, aching handstand holds, or that stabbing sensation when catching cleans, wrist injuries are among the most frustrating setbacks in functional fitness.
As a physiotherapist who's treated CrossFit Games athletes and Olympic gymnasts for over 15 years, I've identified the 7 most common wrist injuries that plague CrossFit athletes. The good news? Most are completely preventable when you understand what's happening in your joint.
In this comprehensive guide, you'll discover:
The 7 most common CrossFit wrist injuries and their warning signs
Why traditional "rest and ice" advice often makes things worse
3 simple prevention exercises that stop 80% of wrist problems
Exact treatment protocols and return-to-training timelines
When to self-treat vs. when to see a physiotherapist
The two injuries I see most often—dorsal wrist impingement and scaphoid impaction syndrome—can sideline you for months if ignored. But catch them early, and you could be back to pain-free training in just 2-3 weeks.
Hip Extensor Muscles: Complete Anatomy Guide + Best Strengthening Exercises (2025)
Hip extensor muscles are a group of four powerful muscles that straighten your hip joint by moving your thigh backward. These muscles are essential for walking, running, jumping, standing up from chairs, and maintaining proper posture throughout daily activities. The 4 main hip extensor muscles are: - Gluteus maximus - The largest and most powerful hip extensor muscle in your buttocks - Biceps femoris - The outer hamstring muscle at the back of your thigh - Semitendinosus - The inner hamstring muscle - Semimembranosus - The deep hamstring muscle The gluteus maximus is the primary hip extensor and the most powerful muscle responsible for hip extension, generating up to 3 times your body weight in force during explosive movements. The hamstring muscles work as secondary hip extensors, supporting the glutes during movement. Strong hip extensors are vital for athletic performance, injury prevention, and daily function. Weak hip extensor muscles can lead to lower back pain, poor posture, and reduced mobility. This comprehensive guide covers hip extensor anatomy, function, common problems, and the best strengthening exercises to optimize your hip health.
Do I Have Rhabdomyolysis?
If you’re wondering if you have Rhabdomyolysis, you need to check if you have any signs and symptoms of the condition. These include, muscle pain and weakness, specifically difficulty straightening the arms from the elbows, or delayed onset muscle soreness that is more than normal after a workout. Check your urine, One of the hallmark signs of rhabdomyolysis is dark, reddish-brown or tea-coloured urine. This discolouration is due to the presence of myoglobin in the urine.
Affected muscles may become swollen, tender, and painful to the touch. Fatigue and a feeling of overall weakness can accompany rhabdomyolysis, often making it difficult to perform everyday activities. This is a big sign that something is wrong, as usually the patient notices a sudden drop in energy levels.
Why you Continue to Lose Members at your Gym
I’m constantly reading up on articles written here and overseas on various topics, such as ‘inexperienced coaches will injure athletes, ‘gyms are too close to each other, ‘membership costs need to be reflective of value’ ect
Whilst this is true, the main issue I see with gyms today is that they don’t realise that once you’ve committed yourself to being in the health and fitness profession, it’s your responsibility to look after new members like they’re your family.
Poor Movement Patterns exist only in your Brain
Poor movement can exist anywhere in the body. Poor movement patterns exist only in the brain.
The Initial assumption of pain and motor control stemmed from basic inhibition (e.g. knee joint inflammation causing inhibition of the Inner Quad VMO muscle). When pain exists, you can occasionally get an increase in muscle activation (high threshold strategy) depending on the given role of the muscle (agonist or antagonist).
