Wrist and Hand Exercises Should Be a Part of Your Regular Routine

Posted on: 29 January 2016

If you follow a strength training program, chances are you've been working your arms and shoulders, but have you been working your hands and wrists? If not, it's time to start. Working the muscles in your forearm and your hand helps protect your wrist from sprains and strains, and if you still end up injuring your wrist, your recovery time will be easier to deal with. Here are four types of exercises that will help you gradually build up more strength in these most necessary appendages.

Curls

Curls can take two forms, both of which involve gripping a light hand weight in your fist and doing several reps:

  • Extension: Your arm is out in front of you, resting on your leg or a table with your elbow bent, weight in hand with fingers curled under, and your hand extends past the tabletop or your leg. Lower the weight— you'll be stretching the back of your wrist—and raise the weight up again slowly.
  • Flexion: Same as the extension except your hand is turned around so that your fingers are on top of the weight. Lift the weight up as if you were doing a mini bicep curl with just your hand. Lower the weight slowly.

Rubber Band Exercises

These strengthen your fingers. Hold your hand up, palm facing up, fingers up and extended somewhat, with a relatively taut rubber band wrapped around the fingers about midway. Extend your fingers slowly to stretch the rubber band.

Gripping and Pinching

These two exercises strengthen your hand and fingers, giving you a stronger grip and letting you pinch items between fingers more effectively. For improving your grip, grab a soft ball or hand grip in your palm and squeeze. Then, pinch part of the soft ball between your thumb and index finger (the hand grip would likely be too tough for the pinching exercise). If you know any musicians, see if they have grip strengtheners meant for guitarists. These incorporate a spring-loaded hand grip with separate finger pads, so you can work on either your overall grip or a specific finger.

Stretching

Quick stretching exercises also help keep your hands in good shape. Practice extending all of your fingers so that your hand lies flat on a tabletop, and also practice extending your fingers out from a fist as if you were flicking water off all of your fingers (but slowly because it's a stretching exercise).

If you'd like more exercises for your wrists and hands, talk to a sports medicine doctor. These doctors are used to seeing all sorts of sprains and strains, and they can give you targeted exercises that will help you keep your hands and wrists in working order.

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