Arm and hand dexterity are essential for everyday tasks--everything from feeding yourself to going to the bathroom relies on upper-body strength, mobility and coordination. Children should perform exercises to properly develop muscles as they grow. Additionally, upper-extremity exercises help rehabilitate patients recovering from stroke or nerve damage.
Coordination Basics
Coordination is the ability to perform an activity as your mind thinks it. Coordination is required to lift a glass to your mouth to drink. It is required to button a shirt or reach for a doorknob. When coordination is impeded through developmental challenges or trauma, simple activities such as these become difficult, if not impossible. The goal of exercises to improve coordination is to train muscles to perform as desired. Those suffering trauma may never fully regain coordination, but rehabilitation can improve the abilities of many.
Exercises
An orderly progression from the shoulders down to the fingers engages larger muscle groups before moving down into the fine motor skills. Shoulder shrugs and rolls gently stretch the neck and upper back. Shrugs bring the shoulders up to the ears and drop them down. Increase coordination efforts by alternating one shoulder up while the other is down. Raise your arms in different planes, first directly in front of you, then to the side, then above your head. Bring the hands together, clapping, at the end of each exercise. Perform the "drunk driving" test of extending your arms and touching your nose with your finger while standing upright. Rotate wrists clockwise and counterclockwise. Move on to fingers by placing your palm on a flat surface and setting one finger at a time down on the table. Make an "O" with your thumb and forefinger.
Resistance Additions
Once basic coordination abilities are reached in any one exercise, work at building strength and stamina for the muscle group. Weights or resistance bands can be used to strengthen larger arm muscles such as shoulders, biceps and triceps. Smaller motor muscles in the hands can be strengthened using a tennis ball or other item you squeeze. Opening the hand with resistance works the opposite muscles of squeezing. This is accomplished easily with a rubber band around the extended fingers creating resistance.
Developing Goals
Establish goals attainable over time. When coordination has been impaired due to injury, it is easy to become frustrated with slow performance or the inability to perform what seems like simple tasks. Doing the exercises regularly, guided by an aide, can help train and strengthen muscles. Remember that trauma may lead to permanent damage. Work with doctors to establish a set of realistic goals that aim for success.
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