Importance of hand exercises and stretches – FITNESS

We use our hands all the time; drawing, cooking, driving, washing, cleaning, and so on. Our hands are very important to us as they are vital to helping us complete daily tasks.

To extend the longevity in the strength and use of our hands we must do hand exercises. Doing exercises can strengthen our hands, and reduce stress on the body.

Here are three benefits of doing hand exercises and stretches:

1. Will strengthen forearm muscles – strengthening this area will make you stronger, and less likely to cause harm to your wrist when carrying heavy items. You will also have a stronger grip when you have strong forearms.
2. Lasting strength and power – you will gain better endurance. In doing so you will be able to grip items for longer periods of time and your hands will be able to handle more hands-on tasks for longer, and not feel strained.
3. Prevent injury – by doing hand exercises and hand stretches it will help you avoid the risk of your hands getting injured from tasks. For example if you take regular breaks from typing, and do some hand stretches, it will help your hands avoid overuse syndrome.

Overuse syndrome is serious and can lead to many health problems, as to why it is very important that we take care of our hands. We want to strengthen our hands, and be able to use them effectively throughout our lives without pain.

People can often take their hands for granted, and forget how important they are to them. It is usually when injury occurs that people then decide they need to make changes. It is better to prevent bad occurrences than to let them happen, and then have to deal with ongoing problems.

Here are some hand exercises and stretches that you can do:

1. Squeeze a hand grip ball – you can buy these in different strengths. The three balls in the above picture are of different strengths: soft, medium, and hard. Squeezing on each ball benefits the hands, making them stronger. You can build up strength with ease by starting with the soft ball, and working your way up to the hard ball. I love this exercise as it also massages my hands.
2. Hand grip stretch – a hand stretch that you can easily do is close your hand into a fist, hold for 30 seconds. Then open to see the palm of your hand, and stretch your fingers out long as far as you can for 30 seconds. Repeat a few times on each hand (you can do both hands at the same time if you like). This will strengthen, and relax your hands.
3. Fast hand grip stretch – you are basically going to do the same steps as the ‘hand grip stretch’ you just read, but in a faster motion. Close your hand to a tight grip, then open wide stretching your fingers out. You want to do this in sets of ten and repeat the sets three times.

There are many hand exercises, and hand stretches out there that can really help with taking care of your hands. Yoga can help with strengthening arms, wrists, and hands also.

If you have not been taking care of your hands as much as you should, start today. Just do little exercises and stretches when you can. It is especially important to take care of your hands if you use them more than usual; such as if you type a lot or game for long hours.

Thank you so much for reading, and do the best you can to take care of your health. Have a wonderful day!

Capili Jiron x x