Hand wraps are pretty damn important for boxers and MMA fighters. Whether you’re just training at the gym or engage in combat, hand wraps - when combined with gloves - offer maximum protection from injury and pain that could otherwise take you out of the game. The thing is, hand wraps only offer max protection if you wrap them properly. Wrap them properly, and there’s a good chance that you’ll never suffer a hand injury. This article demonstrates the best hand wrapping technique so that you’re fully prepared to go hard in your next sparring session. 1. Choose Your Hand Wrap There are a few different types of hand wraps to choose from. At Beast Gear, for example, we offer advanced hand wraps that are vegan-friendly, and which reduce injury and allow you to strike harder than ever before. 2. Unroll Your Hand Wrap A hand wrap is made up of two sides: Velcro closure Loop Unroll it until you find the loop at the end. 3. Start the Hand Wrap Take the loop and loop it around your thumb, before pulling the rest of your hand wrap over the back of your hand. The idea here is to make it so that it becomes as tight and as secure as possible when you make a fist. 4. Wrap Around Your Knuckles 3 Times Your hand wrap needs to wrap under your middle knuckle. When you make a fist, the whole punching surface is then covered. Be mindful when doing this to spread your fingers out. If they’re too close together, your knuckles are going to feel pretty crunched when you strike the punch bag. 5. Wrap Around Your Wrist Next, cross the hand wrap over the back of your hand, before wrapping it around your wrist 3 times for maximum tightness. As you wrap, keep your wrist as straight as you can. When you punch, the last thing you want is your wrist to bend on impact. Instead, you want your arm to absorb the strike. 6. Wrap Your Thumb Wrap up and across your palm, before looping halfway around your thumb. Don’t wrap your thumb too tightly. If you do, you’ll limit blood circulation - or even cut it off altogether. If you’ve been susceptible to thumb injuries before, circle the thumb twice. 7. Return To The Palm Wrap back once more across your palm, as well as over the back of your hand before bringing the wrap halfway around your thumb in the other direction. This last bit is important as it secures your thumb from both directions. Then, wrap around your wrist, using your thumb as an “anchor” wrap between each finger, starting between your pinky and ring finger. All the while, keep your thumb fully extended so that the wrap is coming up from the base of your thumb. 8. Return To The Knuckles Wrap between each knuckle so that you maintain the natural separation between each one. Remember, you don’t want your knuckles to be too close together. Keep them separated for proper cushion and space between them. Then, using your thumb as the anchor, wrap back around the outside of your knuckles and wrap together 3 times. 9. Cross Over The Back Of Your Hand Cross over the back of your hand and then wrap three more times around your wrist - perhaps more if you have enough wrap left. If there is still some wrap spare, cross back and forth over the back of your hand, forming an X pattern. And with that, you’re all done. Before you go, though, make a fist and see how tight the wrap is. You don’t want your wrist to flex too much, but you also don’t want your wrap to be too tight. Follow these instructions each time you spar and you should be A-okay. Now go box like a Beast!
