The Story Behind Warrior Blocks

Pain was coming. There was no life flashing in front of my eyes, just the inevitability of what’s coming next. Pain. Just ahead, a car made an illegal U-turn directly in my path.

It was entirely blocking my way with nowhere to go and no way to stop. Within seconds a crowd gathered. Shortly thereafter, I found myself strapped to a board, my head and neck secured, paramedics loading my shocked body into an ambulance. The good news is, I’m still walking and talking. The less pleasant reality is that I’ve had to adjust to a new normal. (Who hasn’t lately?!) As the nurse in the ER said, I’m one of the lucky ones. It took a while for that to truly register, as I became acutely aware that they weren’t searching my pockets to confirm organ donor status. The doctor said that, if I was hit any harder, the little bones in my wrists would have shattered. As it was, they all swelled up, a lot. I didn’t know bones could even get swollen. (I learned it’s called a bone “edema,” which is just a fancy way to say swollen.) Broken or not, it hurt like crazy, so much that it took two hands and lots of pain just to turn a key in a lock or twist open a door knob.

I was forced to wear braces on both wrists for about the time it takes a baby to emerge from the womb. (I’d later learn that the braces caused nerve damage, though without them, my wrists would have been even worse off.) Over time, I started thinking about birthing my own little creation. Something that would allow me to practice yoga once again. You see, I found out the hard way that human wrists aren’t really built to bend backwards. Doctors and physical therapist told me that even people with healthy wrists should practice yoga (or any fitness routine that involves a pushup-like pose) on their knuckles or, harder still, on fingertips. This, they shared, would allow for a more natural, neutral wrist position. Just try doing plank on your knuckles, let alone crow pose. Virtually impossible! Once I healed, I tried every possible product on the market to integrate into my practice. Yoga blocks with curves, foam wedges, even squishy discs to place under my hands. I was disappointed to find that all still left my wrist bending backward (technically known as “hyperextension”). Metal bars for military push-ups are okay for plank, but aren’t laterally stable and are prone to flip over if force is applied at an angle, such as for downward facing dog. Given the range of angles and pressure that could be exerted in varying yoga poses (think one arm plank or handstand, for example), I needed a solution that was rock-solid stable.

As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. If I was going to continue to practice yoga in my new normal, I needed a solution that would be safe and anatomically correct. Enter Warrior Blocks, the evolution of the yoga block, ergonomically designed specifically to help maintain neutral wrists, which is great for all yogis (and cross-trainers), whether they be super strong or recovering from wrist injuries. (Other benefits such as the way they cause an external rotation of your upper arms are detailed in the Anatomical Benefits section of this site.)

So, I’m going to follow in my father’s footsteps and produce a product that will make yoga and other fitness routines safer and more accessible. (Warrior Blocks are perfect for military push-ups, handstand dips, burpees, plank, etc.) Big Saf left some big shoes to fill and hope he would be proud of my efforts. I’ve already done a short production run to make sure we have the highest level of quality as we prepare for full production. Good news! Everything came out great! Please keep watch for launch announcements by signing up on this site. That way, you’ll be able to get a pair as soon as they’re available and, as a show of my appreciation, you’ll also get an extra discount for being an early part of the Yoga Ranger corps. Stay tuned for more…