Having more mobile wrists and stronger forearms might not sound glamorous, but they could be the difference between progressing your upper-body strength and stalling out. That certainly proved true for YouTuber Chaplin Performance.
While Chaplin felt fine dumbbell pressing, the moment he switched to a barbell bench press, his neck, shoulders and upper rib cage became irritated. To address it, he developed an exercise – dubbed the Chaplin wrist raise – designed to unlock stubborn movement restrictions in the upper body. The move focuses on improving the wrist’s ability to pronate which, when limited, can show up as flared elbows during the bench press and an inability to transfer maximum force into the bar.
‘This applies a concept that we know from the lower body, but for some reason rarely apply to the upper body,’ he says in a recent video. ‘Movement in the distal parts of a limb – the hands or feet – often influences motion more proximally, through the spine, rib cage and pelvis. The Chaplin wrist raise is a direct analogue to an exercise you’ve probably done a million times: the calf raise.
‘Just as the calf raise trains the muscles in the back of the leg and unlocks movement not only at the foot and ankle, but also further up the chain, this will train the muscles of the wrist, forearm and hand to do the same.’
How to Do the Wrist Raise
- Stand just under an arm’s length away from a wall and press a yoga block against it. Place your fingertips on the top edge of the block while the heel of your hand presses into it.
- Keeping your hand fixed, pronate your upper arm by rotating it upwards so your elbow points towards the floor.
- Press the base of your fingers into the block and maintain that tension as you lift the heel of your hand away. Control the movement throughout before returning to the start position.
- Switch arms after each set.
Benefits of the Wrist Raise
Improved Wrist Mobility
To achieve full forearm pronation, the radius must rotate over the ulna. Not everyone can access this movement effectively, which can make maximal muscle activation more difficult and force other areas of the body to compensate.
The Chaplin wrist raise helps unlock movement of the radius, allowing fuller forearm pronation and potentially relieving tension or discomfort when gripping a fixed barbell.
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Stronger Arms
Greater forearm rotation can improve grip on the barbell because the muscles on the thumb side of the forearm become more active. These muscles can produce significant force, meaning improved wrist mobility may also improve strength output.
The yoga block also keeps the hands out of excessive extension. If the hand is fully extended, the exercise becomes more of a finger flexion movement, shifting tension away from the wrist. That places greater stress on the fingers while offering less carryover for wrist strength.
Unlocks the Upper Body
As Chaplin explains, improving this movement helped him bench press pain-free while becoming stronger at the same time – though the benefits can extend beyond pressing movements.
‘Forearm movement differences made the bench feel off because I was applying uneven force into a symmetrical bar. Not only was I weaker, but it irritated my shoulders, upper rib cage and neck. It would tighten me up, sometimes for the rest of the day, so I avoided it,’ he says.
‘That changed once I realised my forearm movement was the limiting factor. Since addressing it, I’ve been able to progress my bench press and improve how I move through the shoulders, rib cage and neck.’
