Brushing your teeth, buttoning your shirt, pouring yourself a bowl of cereal are all routine daily activities that most of us might take for granted. Your hands may be one of the smallest muscle groups in your body, but they serve a large and important role for everyday functioning. This is why hand strengthening exercises are critical to maintaining healthy, strong hands!
Hands can become weak from medical conditions such as arthritis or poor fitness, and can affect your ability to hold onto objects or lift things. The good news is that exercising your hands can help to reduce any pain, improve range of motion and enable you to perform the various tasks of daily living with ease. So, show your hands some love and keep them strong by incorporating hand strengthening exercises into your daily routine.
Try these 3 daily hand strengthening exercises to strengthen your hand muscles and maximize results.
Quick tips for hand strengthening exercises:
- Perform each hand strengthening exercise approximately 10 times, 3 times a day
- As your hands strengthen, you can gradually increase the repetitions as long as they don’t cause or increase pain
- Stop exercises if you experience pain, and schedule a consultation with a hand therapist
1. Finger Presses
Finger presses will help to strengthen the muscles in your fingers, the palm of your hand and thumb. If your fingers and thumbs are strong, it will allow you to hold and pick up objects easily and without pain. Press your thumb to your fifth fingertip for about five seconds, then repeat with digits one through four by pressing your thumb to your fingertip.
It may seem like nothing, but squeezing a ball is an effective hand strengthening exercise to strengthen your intrinsic hand muscles. Use a small ball that fits in the palm of your hand like a tennis ball, wrap your fingers around it and squeeze as hard as you are able. Hold for around five seconds and repeat 10 times. This hand strengthening exercise will improve your grip strength, your ability to open jars and hold on to things easily.
3. Wrist Extensions
To improve range of motion and increase the strength in your hand, you need to show your wrists some love too. Strengthen wrist flexors by sitting or standing with your elbow bent and palm facing up. Hold a light weight and curl your wrist up, pause, then lower. Repeat 10 times for three sets.
Add these hand strengthening exercises into your day to improve your range of motion and ease aches and pains.