Wrist work

[Guest sjeff70]

I was wondering why someone would train wrist curls over the wrist roller.  It seems like the wrist roller would be king over the wrist curls.  Both seem to work the same parts of the arm and wrist, but I would think you could overload the wrist roller with a lot more weight.  Is the pumping action in the wrist curls that important?

[Roark]

There are shearing forces at work when the wrist is

on the knee (or bench) and the hand is hanging beyond

those points, unsupported. I have never noticed these

shearing forces when doing roller work.

The wrist curl isolates- if you have your thighs on a decline

and your upper arms bent quite a bit toward your forearms,

thus preventing biceps involvement, and you slowly curl your

hands up and down.

The roller, if done improperly allows shoulder invlovement.

Use the wrist roller with almost straight arms and with your

shoulders a few inches higher than the roller bar.

Or, bend your forearms to the almost finished position of a

reverse curl, step in close to the roller so that the forearms

are nearly UNDER the roller; don't 'drop' to use your bodyweight as a 'wrenching' movement- just move the hands.

Wonderful exercise. Hope this helps.

[Bob Lipinski]

I prefer wrist rollers for the simple reason that they are much more fun for me- Wrist curls just bore me to tears, and I have trouble getting myself motivated. I look forward to my wrist roller sessions however, and am motivated to add weight. Sometimes this little difference is enough to choose one exercise over another.

[Jager]

Question:

What is the best diameter for a wrist roller?

I was thinking about making one out of 4" diameter pvc pipe

Is this too big?

[Guest sjeff70]

Thanks, Roark.

Yes, wrist curls are boring!  Perhaps variety might be an issue down the road, who knows.  Nevertheless, I see your point.  

I'm thinking of ways I could devise a wrist roller at the gym I go to.  I would think you'd have to have a reason to use a 4", diameter roller.  I wouldn't use 4" because it wouldn't seem to have any carryover to the other stuff I do.  I don't have any evidence or experience to back this up, but if everything else I do revolves around 2" bars or 3" bars, I wouldn't go any bigger than that.  Maybe if I was doing hub lifting where the spread is about 4".  If that is all you have though, go for it.  How are you making your wrist roller?    

Jeff

[Guest Harlan Jacobs]

Jagar,

       I made one out of pvc with a diameter of 2 3/8 .  I also made supports that go on both ends. So all I have to do is roll the weight . With the ends supported I can use alott more weight than without.