I play Dance Dance Revolution and similar games to exercise. On especially difficult levels, I lean back and grab the bar behind me, putting some of my weight on it and on my arms and wrists, to be able to move more quickly while expending less energy. After having done this for a few weeks, my wrists are starting to ache.
This is what it looks like when I use the bar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZC-q9qY3Uw (That's not me in the video, but that is the posture I use.)
There are three ways I believe using the bar stresses my wrists:
- Of course, putting much of my weight on my arm for a couple minutes at a time while moving around a lot probably strains my wrists, especially if my wrists are bent backwards like in the video.
- I often switch from holding the bar to not using it in the middle of a song. In order to avoid disrupting my combo while transitioning, I push myself off the bar with my arms so I get off of it as quickly as possible. I've noticed that this often hurts my wrists a little more intensely as I transition.
- Likewise, when I first grab the bar in the middle of a song, I usually try to grab it as quickly as possible and might be dropping all of my weight right onto my wrists during the transition.
How can I use the bar and still transition onto and off of it quickly during play without damaging my wrists? Is there a certain posture I should be using or a particular way I should be positioning my weight on my wrists? Are there exercises I can do to increase my wrist strength so that they're less likely to be injured?