Wristbands: why are they needed for sports and how to choose them? * Crossfit

Today you will not surprise anyone with a simple strip of fabric on your hand. Almost everyone has an Apple Watch, Samsung Gear or other smart gadget that will count your heart rate, tell you the time, and go to the store instead of you. But at the same time, many forget that wristbands are the same once popular strip of fabric, which has a completely different function, not at all related to beauty. Rather, it determines the safety of the athletes. How to choose the right wristbands and why you need them, let's take a closer look.

What are they for?

The easiest way to explain what wristbands are for is to draw an analogy with knee pads. Initially, these strips of tissue were applied to fix joints during serious injuries. Such fixation made it possible to properly heal a broken bone or to carry out prophylaxis so that a person does not accidentally repeat or aggravate his injury.

Later, people appreciated the possibility of fixing one of the most mobile joints in humans - the wrist. Since then, sports wristbands have been used in many areas:

in music, to reduce friction;
in the IT field;
in strength sports ranging from heavy-duty powerlifting wristbands to footballers.

And then, when almost everyone around began to wear wristbands, they gained their second wind, becoming a fashionable and rather pointless accessory.

Musicians

Why do musicians need wristbands? After all, they do not experience huge loads, do not do the bench press, etc. It's simple. Musicians (mainly pianists and guitarists) strain the wrist joint much more than one might think. After all, their entire load is transferred directly to the brush. Bypassing even the wrist muscles. In addition, the brush must be very mobile and, most importantly, must maintain a constant temperature.

Otherwise, musicians can get arthrosis of the wrist joints, since they are almost completely worn out during their professional career. Drummers also need such wristbands for the same reasons.

Wristbands are also worn for cold work. Musicians, mainly those who deal with string instruments, cannot afford to wear gloves in order to fully warm the wrist. At the same time, all the muscles in the palm are attached at the level of the wrist, so that they are properly warmed and maintained at a temperature that can maintain some of the mobility of the fingers during a performance.

For programmers

Programmers, too, constantly feel the need to maintain the correct position of the hand. And here this is not at all due to the fact that they work a lot with the joint. On the contrary, the brush on the keyboard is usually fixed in one position. The main problem is that this position is unnatural. Because of this, the hand without proper fixation begins to get used to the new position, which negatively affects its health.

Athletes

Here everything is more complicated, since many athletes use wristbands. People involved in strength sports, whether it be weightlifting, powerlifting, bodybuilding or crossfit, use mostly hard wrist bandages. They allow you to fix the hand in the correct position, stabilize the hand and reduce the risk of injury (in particular, protect against sprains). Between approaches they are removed so as not to block the access of blood to the hands.

Interesting fact: in powerlifting, press wristbands longer than 1 meter and wider than 8 cm are prohibited. But even the permitted options allow you to add about 2.5-5 kg to the bench press.

For joggers, the wristband keeps the hands warm, making running exercises more comfortable. Especially when you consider that hand movements also affect speed.

There are also elastic wristbands that are used in martial arts (for example, in boxing). They are made of a special material that allows you to fix the arm in one position, but at the same time does not interfere too much with mobility (which cannot be said about the press wristbands).

How to choose?

In order to choose the right wristbands, you need to clearly understand what you need from them. If it is a fashionable accessory, look at its appearance. If you need a wristband for winter jogging, use a woolen wristband, they will perfectly fix your hand and save you from hypothermia. If you are pressing, then choose extremely stiff wrist bandages that will not allow your hand to budge, no matter how you break the exercise technique.

A type	Key characteristic	Who are they suitable for?
Woolen	The best warmth	Musicians and programmers
Plain fabric	Fixation for performing monotonous movements	To all
Leather	Reinforced fixation of the wrist joint with the correct design	Athletes
Pressing	Reinforced fixation of the wrist joint, prevention of injuries	Athletes
Cross country	Fixation of the wrist joint, good warmth	Runners
Heart rate monitor wristbands	The built-in gadget measures the pulse (but not always accurately)	Runners

Material

The most important characteristic is the material. We immediately discard the leather wristbands. Whoever said anything about their benefits, in terms of fixing the palm and warming, modern leather wristbands are no better and no worse than the cheapest fabric ones. It is just a fashion accessory that has more durability.

Note: we are not talking about wristbands made of tanned leather of a special thickness, which is used by foreign athletes as pressing. In our market, they are almost impossible to get, and in terms of efficiency, they do not particularly enhance the fixation of the wrist joint in relation to the classic ones.

Lint wristbands are next on the list. This is a universal option that suits almost all categories of people. Their only drawback is the lack of hold for heavy exercise.

Finally - the press wristbands. They perfectly fix the hand in the area of the wrist joint, but are unsuitable for permanent wearing and are used exclusively during training sets with serious weights. There are fabric, elastic and the so-called power, which are usually made of cotton and synthetics. The first two types are not as hard, fabrics are easy to clean, but do not fix the wrist as well as power ones.

The size

The second important characteristic that determines the importance of wristbands is their size. How to choose the right size for a person's wristbands? It's very simple - based on the manufacturer's size grid. Usually they are indicated in letters, and a table of translations into numbers is given.

The size of the wristband is the circumference of the wrist at its thinnest point.

Unlike knee pads, wristbands must be strictly sized. It's all about the size of the joint and the anchoring. For example, smaller wristbands of sufficient rigidity strongly block blood flow in the hand. From too free, no sense at all, except for additional heating. Wristbands should be within + -1 cm of measurement at the narrowest point of the wrist.

As for the wrist bandages, they are wound in several layers. Bandages longer than one meter are prohibited by the rules, but you should not take 90-100 cm either, as they stretch over time, which can lead to a violation. And not everyone can withstand such rigidity when wound in 4-5 layers. The best option is 50-80 cm for guys and 40-60 cm for girls.

Rigidity

Press wristbands differ in rigidity. There are no uniform criteria, each manufacturer defines the stiffness in its own way. The most popular are Inzer and Titan. When buying, read the description of the bandages, they usually indicate the stiffness and for whom this equipment is best suited - for beginners or experienced athletes.