Wrist Strengthening Exercises

We spend a good part of our day at the workplace. Be it a white collar job, which involves constant usage of computers, or a blue collar job, which involves manual work; our wrist and hands are constantly being moved and used. Since our wrist is a very complex, but delicate joint made up of eight bones, it is more liable to experience pain and injury.

Here's a warm-up exercise, which simply involves rotating your hand from the wrist, for 10 times in the clockwise and anti-clockwise direction. It is a good warm-up exercise, before you begin with the comparatively strenuous workouts. This exercise is also helpful in improving the strength and flexibility of the wrist joint.

A hand gripper strengthens the wrist and hand muscles. Hold the hand gripper in one hand. Then, using the strength of your hand, specifically the fingers, try to press the handles of the hand gripper, so that they meet. Repeat this 10 times, initially. Later you may increase it to, 2 sets of 10 repetitions with each hand.

Chinese hand balls made up of glass, marble, bronze, and steel, are available in varied sizes. Choose the size that you can hold easily. Keeping your forearm parallel to the ground, hold 2 balls in one hand. With your fingers, rotate the balls on your palm. Move the balls in both, clockwise and anti-clockwise direction.

Continue this for 2 minutes, and then change the hand. You may increase the time to 5 minutes after a few days. You can do this workout even while sitting in the office. It is one of those exercises, that have many other benefits, like, it can provide relief from arthritis or rheumatism in wrist joints.

It strengthens the hand and the forearm as well. Besides Chinese hand balls, Chinese massage rings are also used for strengthening the wrists.

This exercise can be easily performed at home and without any equipment. Simply tie an object with minimum 2 kg weight, such as, a 2 liter water bottle to one end of a long rope. Take the other end of the rope and tie it at the middle of a steel pipe.

The pipe should not be more than 2 feet in width. Now, hold the steel pipe from near its ends and try to wind up the rope by twisting your wrists and hands. When the rope is fully winded, unwind it by using the same procedure. Repeat it for 3 times.

Dumbbell exercises are very beneficial for the body. Take 1 dumbbell of moderate weight in each hand. If you are a beginner, use a light-weight dumbbells. Rest your forearms on a table or bench. Hold the dumbbells in the hands, with palms facing the floor. Now, lift the dumbbell by using only your wrists. Remember not to overstretch.

Then, bring the dumbbells back to the starting position. Repeat this at least 10 times. This workout is known as wrist curls, and is done to strengthen the wrist muscles and the upper side of the forearm. The same exercise can be done by making the palms facing upwards instead of the floor.

These are known as reverse curls, and they help in strengthening the lower part of the forearm along with the wrist. Ideally, workouts, such as, wrist curls and reverse curls, should be done 20 times, i.e., 2 sets of 10 repetitions with each hand.

These are some exercises, which will not only strengthen the wrists, but also the fingers, hands, and forearms. Including these in your workout programs will ensure that next time, you won't have a problem carrying objects, or opening a stubborn lid of a jar.