Powerful wrists can make life easier for many people, whether you are a professional baseball player or you just want to be able to easily open a pickle jar. Wrist power not only helps you in sports such as baseball, golf and tennis, but also helps to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. It comes from a combination of strong forearm muscles and a strong grip. You can help build wrist power with items you probably already have lying around the house.
Step 1
Hold a hammer parallel to the ground with a closed fist, then rotate your wrist so the bottom of your arm is facing the sky. This can also be done with another similarly weighted item such as a dumbbell. The the resistance offered in this exercise helps to build power in your wrist muscles. Rotate the hammer slowly because swinging the hammer can cause injury to your wrist tendons.
Step 2
Use surgical tubing or dumbbells for wrist curls. If you use tubing, loop the middle underneath your foot and curl upward, holding each repetition for a split second. With dumbbells, start with a lower weight, such as 10 or 15 lbs., to ensure that you do not hurt your wrists. During your workout, do two to three reps of 15 to 20 curls with each hand.
Step 3
Fill a bucket with sand or rice and then work your hand muscles by squeezing and relaxing your hands inside the bucket. The rice or sand particles provide effective resistance. As you work your fingers around inside the bucket, your hands, fingers and wrists will all feel the effects.
Step 4
Carry heavy dumbbells as you go for a walk. Find a weight that you can easily lift up but that also provides resistance as you carry it. Then with one dumbbell in each hand, simply go for a walk for as long as you can while holding onto the dumbbells. Your wrist and grip strength will improve because as you walk, your hands will have to constantly adjust to the instability. If you do not have dumbbells, heavy buckets of sand or other items that you can hold in your hand will suffice.
Things You'll Need
- Hammer
- Dumbbells
- Surgical tubing
- Bucket
- Sand/rice
