The Best Wrist Straps

Protecting the wrists during sports and exercise activities by wearing supportive wrist straps can prevent serious injuries, according to the University of Michigan Health System website. Three of the best support wrist straps to use are hanging, lifting, and repetitive wrist straps.

  1. Hanging Wrist Strap

    • You want to avoid wrist injuries when working out with weights, but you also want to be able to complete more repetitions in each set, according to Muscle and Fitness magazine. Muscle and Fitness says the way to do this is to use wrist straps. When a bodybuilder lifts his entire weight as he hangs from a bar and raises his chin to the bar before lowering his body, he is doing a "wide-grip pull-up." The best wrist strap to handle such a load is the Progryp Pro Hooks II. This wrist strap relieves stress placed on your hands and wrists during a heavy lift. It does this by using steel hooks in the wrist straps that are attached to the bar during the exercise. This prevents over-fatigue in your hands. The Neoprene padded support built into the wrist straps helps make your lifts more comfortable for your hands, too. According to the website Bodybuilding.com, pricing on this particular wrist strap should run around $17.99.

    Lifting Wrist Strap

    • Hanging from a bar to do chin-ups isn't the only exercise that benefits from wrist strap use. Wrist straps also are used when your wrists are not strong enough to handle a heavy weight lift, such as a lat pull-down gym exercise, or when you need to improve your grip. For the lat pull-down exercise, you don't really have to worry about padding or hooks, since you will be standing on the floor or sitting on a bench for this exercise. So you can use a different type of wrist strap: one that more evenly supports weight distribution, such as the Schiek leather lifting wrist strap. This strap is more durable, lasts longer, and is approximately $18.95, as per Bodybuilding.com's website.

    Repetitive Sports Wrist Straps

    • Tennis and golf require you to use repetitive motions with your wrist, so a wrist strap specifically made to deal with repetitive motions is preferred over weight-lifting exercise wrist straps. The best repetitive sports wrist straps will help absorb shock as your tennis racket or golf club makes physical contact with the ball. A study conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), as well as the HAKO Research Laboratory, concluded that one wrist strap stands out in preventing tennis elbow and carpal tunnel syndrome: the Tenex Elbow Shock Absorber wrist strap, available at around $35.