Twitching of the right thumb for a few days after farmer's walk

[Trixi]

Hey everyone, so I have been trying out the farmer's walk exercise a few times, and each time I did about 3 walks or so, and I had heard that I should start with about 50% of my total bodyweight, which in my case would be a total weight of 50 lbs (I am 4'11 and weigh 100 lbs), and I tried walking for about 80 feet or so (not sure if it was that far, but something close to it).
I did feel that it started to get quite tough after a few attempts, and I felt that my grip wore out a few times.
And last week I started noticing that my right thumb was twitching quite a lot, like making very noticeable jerking movements by itself fairly often.
It did start to go away after a while though, and I haven't really noticed it at all today.
I was just wondering if this is something that typically happens, and if it might have been because I have overexerted myself or used bad technique?
Or it is something that can happen from time to time?

 

[beefnewton]

It just happens occasionally for me. Like hook grip on a deadlift, sometimes I'll just get in a wrong spot and piss a nerve off for a week or so. 50# seems somewhat high (to me) for farmer carry/walk given your weight, particularly starting out, but it may be that you never have the problem ever again. Stuff like that just seems to happen. I've got butt wink right now due to getting sloppy with back squat form. It's always something. I'd go lighter for a bit personally and get really comfortable with the grip and focus on the form, keeping shoulders back and square and hitting obliques. @genetic freak will have better to say. I'm just a troll.

 

[genetic freak]

It just happens occasionally for me. Like hook grip on a deadlift, sometimes I'll just get in a wrong spot and piss a nerve off for a week or so. 50# seems somewhat high (to me) for farmer carry/walk given your weight, particularly starting out, but it may be that you never have the problem ever again. Stuff like that just seems to happen. I've got butt wink right now due to getting sloppy with back squat form. It's always something. I'd go lighter for a bit personally and get really comfortable with the grip and focus on the form, keeping shoulders back and square and hitting obliques. @genetic freak will have better to say. I'm just a troll.

Haha. Not a troll brother, this was a great answer.

There are a lot of things going on with the farmer's walk. You have grip strength, a little elbow strain, traps are getting worked and compression in the spine. All of those things can lead to some nerve irregularities in your hands. My guess would be it is stemming from your hands, wrist or forearms. There are a few things you could do.

If grip is not something you are concerned about, strap up. Straps will take pressure off the grip and allow everything else to work as intended.

If you want to still train your grip, try wrist wraps or a compression sleeve on your forearms. Do not go too tight or your grip will suffer when the pump gets too great.

Last thing I would try, elbow sleeves. Same as the wrist wraps or forearm sleeves, not too tight.

 

[Trixi]

Thanks guys, I do feel fine now, so that it good;
maybe some very mild twitching on rare occasions, but I cannot say for sure if they have actually been twitches.
I do want to train my grip strength though, so I guess I will try to find a weight that is fairly manageable, and that doesn't suddenly feel really heavy.
I might try some wrist straps, too.

Oh, I was also wondering, does this make a big general difference for women?
As far as I know, men generally have more robust bones, right?
It seems as if this would matter a lot as well.

 

[Glycomann]

It just happens occasionally for me. Like hook grip on a deadlift, sometimes I'll just get in a wrong spot and piss a nerve off for a week or so. 50# seems somewhat high (to me) for farmer carry/walk given your weight, particularly starting out, but it may be that you never have the problem ever again. Stuff like that just seems to happen. I've got butt wink right now due to getting sloppy with back squat form. It's always something. I'd go lighter for a bit personally and get really comfortable with the grip and focus on the form, keeping shoulders back and square and hitting obliques. @genetic freak will have better to say. I'm just a troll.

Can I call you two Buttwink and TwitchyFinger now?

 

[jipped genes]

I cannot add a thing. Twitching is better than when you get dead finger and you cannot really even move your finger. That has happened to many of us I reckon. Doc told me it is when a group of nerve pathways are broken. I had it happen twice climbing a rope in crossfit (Crossfit also known as injury factory for me)

 

[genetic freak]

Thanks guys, I do feel fine now, so that it good;
maybe some very mild twitching on rare occasions, but I cannot say for sure if they have actually been twitches.
I do want to train my grip strength though, so I guess I will try to find a weight that is fairly manageable, and that doesn't suddenly feel really heavy.
I might try some wrist straps, too.

Oh, I was also wondering, does this make a big general difference for women?
As far as I know, men generally have more robust bones, right?
It seems as if this would matter a lot as well.

Skeletal structure in men is stronger in most areas. However, I do not think this is the issue. It would much more likely be some inflammation around a nerve, either local or radial, that is causing the twitch.

 

[Trixi]

Oh I forgot to respond here, but yeah, it went away after a couple days. ^-^
I am using slightly heavier weights now too, about 55 lbs for each hand, but I try to be careful.

 

[genetic freak]

Good!

 

[jipped genes]

Glad it's better.