10 Simple Exercises To Strengthen Your Hands and Wrists

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Having strong hands and wrists is essential for a variety of everyday activities. Whether you’re a professional athlete, a stay-at-home mom, wall climber, or a student, having strong hands and wrists is beneficial for a variety of reasons. 

From improving grip strength, to increasing range of motion, to reducing pain and stiffness, there are many benefits to strengthening your hands and wrists. 

Luckily for you, there are a number of exercises you can easily do at home or in the gym, no matter your level of physical fitness. The exercises we recommend below range from simple hand and wrist stretches, to more challenging weight-bearing exercises, and can actually help build strength, improve flexibility, and reduce pain. 

So, if you’re looking for an effective and time-efficient way to strengthen your hands and wrists, keep reading to learn more about these exercises and get started today.

1. Have You Tried Grip Strengtheners? 

There are simple devices you can use to increase the strength in your fingers and hands. Grip strengtheners come in a variety of resistance levels, so you can choose the one that is most appropriate for your current strength.

2. Do Some Wrist Curls 

Wrist curls are great for strengthening your hands and wrists. To perform this exercise, sit on a bench with your feet flat on the ground. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and let your arms hang straight down at your sides. Keeping your elbows close to your body, bend your wrists and lift the dumbbells as high as you can. Then, slowly lower them back down. You can also do this exercise standing up, with your palms facing up or down.

3. Switch Over into Reverse Wrist Curls 

This exercise is similar to wrist curls, but you will be holding the dumbbells with your palms facing down. Keep your arms straight and bend your wrists to lift the dumbbells as high as you can. Then, slowly lower them back down.

4. Try Doing Finger Curls 

Now these are tricky to do at first, but very effective once you get the hang of it. To perform this exercise, place a rubber band around your fingers and then open and close your hand to work against the resistance of the band. There are ready-made finger curl devices you can buy pretty cheaply, but it’s easily done with a rubber band if you have any lying around your home.

5. Strengthen Your Pinch Grip: 

To strengthen your pinch grip, try using a more specialised finger strengthening device which will enable you to just squeeze each finger individually. Your index and thumb will of course be the strongest, but you will notice how weak your other fingers’ pinch strength will be. So aim for 30 seconds with each thumb and finger combination and then progress up to more time under tension and see how much stronger your pinch grip feels.

6. Hand Squeeze

This one is probably the easiest to perform, simply squeeze your hand into a fist and see how long you can hold it for, then, release and repeat. You can also use a tennis ball to add resistance. You might actually be surprised at how tough it is to squeeze a tennis ball for twenty seconds for three repetitions. Your hands will feel very different after.

7. Forearm Plank 

To perform this exercise, start in a plank position with your arms straight and your hands on a pair of dumbbells. Keep your body straight and hold this position for 30 seconds to a minute. You can also try doing this exercise on your hands and wrists, with your palms facing down.

8. Good Old-Fashioned Push-ups:

Not many people realise that while push-ups primarily work the muscles in your arms and chest, they actually also help to strengthen your hands, wrists and forearms. To perform a push-up, start in a plank position with your hands on the ground and your feet together. Lower your body until your chest nearly touches the ground, then push back up to the starting position.

9. Handstands 

As they are slightly more advanced, handstands may seem intimidating at first, but they are a great way to build strength in your wrists, arms, and shoulders. To perform a handstand, start by standing facing a wall and placing your hands on the ground about a foot away from the wall. Walk your feet up the wall until you are in a handstand position. Hold this position for as long as you can, gradually increasing the time as you get stronger. If you’ve never done them before, you’ll probably notice your upper body being very sore after these, but that’s normal.

10. Yoga Poses 

Many yoga poses, such as downward-facing dog, plank, and crow pose, require a lot of wrist and hand strength. Simply doing these poses can help to build strength in your hands and wrists.You don’t have to do a full yoga class to reap the benefits at all either.

So there you have it!

With all of these suggestions, it is important to start slowly and gradually increase the difficulty as you get stronger. It is also a good idea to stretch your hands and wrists regularly, not just before and after exercising. This is a great way to prevent injury and lessen soreness in your hands and wrists. 

With consistent practice, you will definitely see improvements in the strength of your hands and wrists.