We use our hands a lot. They are the way that we interact with the world around us and how we are able to carry out our daily tasks and functions. The wrists are one of the vital connections between our hands and our bodies. Without them the vast dexterity of our hands is lost. Wrists flex, extend, rotate, supinate, pronate and basically encompass every possible movement you can have. They are a highly flexible and adaptable joint and remarkably co-ordinated and complex. It serves as the bridge between our hand and our forearm and all the way to our shoulder. In definition of human movement (mobiliser vs stabiliser) the wrist is a mobiliser allowing movement and facilitating movement through the entire arm chain.
The wrist involves not only the 8 carpal bones, but also the 2 main bones of the forearm (radius and ulna) as well as the metacarpals of the fingers. This highly complex structure is broken down into major and minor articulations (joints) and for diagnostic purposes, these joints are all classified under their own label or joint. But they all do make up the wrist in general and so you can see how important it is to be clear about keeping the various aspects of the wrist healthy and strong.
When we look at the role of the wrist, it is rather similar in function to the hip joint. According to the Functional Movement System by Gray Cook we view the main joints in sequence as either a mover or a stabiliser. The wrist has a similar role meaning that it can mobilise as well as stabilise in movement, particularly when we are loading our arms with lifting or weight bearing. Conversely it can also be weak as well as immobile resulting in elbow or shoulder issues as joints further along the chain attempt to correct the fundamental incapacities at the wrist. Its a vital joint and one we rarely appreciate… until something goes wrong.
Whilst we lift, load, throw, press and push things around in the quest of fitness and movement, too often we ignore the small joints that are a paramount support base of movement for us. Having become a devotee of the handstand, I have become all too aware of the importance of the wrist and hand as a platform for our movement capability. Add to this my occupation and profession as a touch practitioner and you can see how vitally the wrist is to ensuring good movement practice.
As I’ve mentioned in other articles, strength isn’t everything and whilst having strong wrists is important, particularly when it comes to shoulder stability and arm strength, mobile and stable wrists are even more vital. And yet most of us (myself included) don’t do enough to help our wrists be as mobile as we need. For those of us who don’t crawl or get onto all fours regularly say in a yoga practice or gymastics class, (which sadly is many adults - statistical data is sadly inadequate) the nature of putting weight through our hands and wrists may sadly leave us woefully weak and immobile at this joint and it only takes a simple fall to result in a fracture of the joint.
So what can we do? Here’s a few simple exercises that help with keeping our wrists mobile and flexible as well as getting a good basis of stability ready for weight bearing. There are some great basic mobility drills you can employ that you can do seated at your desk:
Wrist Roll - interlacing your fingers and making a giant double fist and rolling in a figure 8 pattern
Wrist Wave - interlacing the fingers and creating the ‘mexican wave’ effect by lifting one elbow and flowing in a wave pattern laterally through to the opposing elbow
Wrist Extension - common stretch where you extend the arm directly forward and use the opposing hand to pull the fingers downward towards the floor.
Prayer Stretch (with Reverse Variation) - Placing hands together in the prayer position in front of your chest. Move the palms directly up in front of your face and bring your elbows together to touch and then reverse the motion bringing the palms back down in front of the chest. The Reverse Variation (I think is even better) is to invert the prayer position and bring the back of the palms together with fingers facing downward. Push the hands downward towards the floor keeping the back fo the palms together and then lift back up to the chest.
These are great exercises that you can do seated at the keyboard and are really good for keeping your wrists and forearms open if you happen to be doing quite a bit of typing or device use. Doing 3-5min of these exercises can make a real difference if you are finding your forearms and wrists getting tired through a day of data entry.
If we are to go a little further down the mobility track, there are other mobility exercises that involve a little more movement.
Bear Circles - on all fours with hands under the shoulders and knees under the hips. Put your torso weight through your wrists and then begin to make circles above your wrists with your shoulders - about the size of a basketball. Putting some weight through the wrists and then creating the circular motion helps to stimulate flexion of the wrists and some mobility through the joint space by creating the circles.
Bear Circles Inverted - The same position and movement but this time the back of the hands are in contact with the floor. The fingers are point back towards the knees and the dorsal part of the hand is in touch with the floor. This creates wrist extension and helps with rotation and wrists flexibility in this rarely used palm position.
The Fist Bump - this is an excellent stretch and mobiliser for tight forearm extensors. Make two fists and keep them tight together as you place the back fo the palm on a table or desk, bending the elbows. Make sure to squeeze the thumbs in the fist and have the first carpal bones from the palm touching. Slowly try to extend your elbows and bring your arm pits to face away from your body. It may take a couple of goes before you can fully extend your arms but this is an excellent wrist mobiliser and flexibility exercise. Keep the fists tight and the two fists together.
Strengthening
OK so if we must strengthen there are numerous ways to strengthen wrists and movements of the wrist. Some of the basic ones are still the best and whilst this list is not conclusive, these help with creating some strength in the forearms and the wrists.
Rope Twist - getting a piece of rope that is fairly thick (think boat thick) and trying to twist this rope as if you were wringing out a tea towel. Oddly tiring this exercise helps with grip strength and helping to work the medial and lateral rotators of the wrists.
Ball Squeeze - with a soft ball, such as a stress ball, you can simply contract and release a squeezey ball to help with basic wrist strength. The larger the ball, the harder the squeeze. It again helps with grip strength and wrist strength.
Elastic Band Extender - you see very fancy versions of this one around and websites galore will sell you inventions that do essentially the work of a large rubber band. Place a circular band around your finger tips as you make a shape akin to a chicken beak. Work on extending the fingers away from each other in all directions and then control the contraction back into the closed position.
Wrists really are important for us and they are more than just the connection for our hands to our arms. Weight bearing in the hands is something we all too often let go of as we forget to get down and up off the floor. They really are important to keep our interaction with the world on a very fundamental level. They are also vital to address if we are to keep conditions such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and fractures at bay (keeping in mind wrist fractures are among the top 3 fractures in seniors). Pay some attention to them and don’t forget to include them in your movement patterns or even your warm up. They may be small but they are vital to linking us to actions and movements that we should be doing.
There are some brilliant videos and youtube tutorials that take you through mobility and ROM work for the wrists. The links will be added below.
https://youtu.be/px1KLSO2E8E
https://youtu.be/cWtvCGCYbYc
