One of the most common questions asked when it comes to wrist wraps and Crossfit is whether wearing wrist wraps are necessary or not. And just like most things, when it comes to exercise, especially accessories in sport, wrist wraps are not essential to Crossfit.
Having said that, shoes are not entirely necessary for Crossfit either, nor are shorts or tank tops, I mean you can get away with doing Crossfit in a pair of loose baggies, T-shirt and flip flops. Granted this scenario is a little extreme, but the fact is, you just don’t need those accessories.
You can happily do Crossfit without wearing wrist wraps, most people do, but the real consideration to wearing or not wearing wrist wraps comes from whether you are experiencing any pain in your wrists following a workout. Or whether you feel that your wrists are hurting and the rest of your body can do more.
This is a good sign that your wrists are weak and are giving out on you, before you can get a good workout in.
So whilst wrist wraps could be thought of as an unnecessary accessory, some folks see a marked improvement in both their fitness and strength.
Having those little accessories can improve your performance in the gym, and it is this same philosophy that needs to be applied to wearing wrist wraps.
The real benefit of wearing wrist wraps for Crossfit is that they will eliminate (to some degree) the weakness in your wrist, which means that for certain exercises such as pull ups the focus on the movements tends to move away from your any weakness in your wrist and more towards your lateral muscles where it really should be.
So sure, whilst you don’t need to wear wrist wraps, they can prove to be helpful in all of your exercise routines where your wrist take a beating.