Keeping the hands strong and toned may help you perform not only daily tasks like typing, cleaning and holding onto the dog when the mailman comes to the door, but may also help prevent joint conditions like arthritis later in life. The hand is made up of dozens of muscles, all which must work in order to hold onto a pen, grasp a golf club or open a door. Learning some basic hand exercises will help maintain tone and strength at any age. Exercising the hands every day may also provide relief from typing or writing all day, and ease tension and stress.
Step 1
Exercise the hand by performing gripping exercises every day. You can use anything to engage the hand muscles, such as an apple, a tennis ball or a hand grip exerciser, which you can find at any sporting goods store. Squeeze the object in your hand, hold for a count of two, and then relax. Perform this squeezing or gripping exercise about five times to start, working up to sets of 10, 15 and then 20 every day.
Step 2
Close the hand into a fist. Tuck the fingers into the palm, and then close the thumb around the outside of the fingers. Contract every muscle in the hand, holding the contraction for about a second, and then release. You can do this exercise multiple times throughout the day, which not only strengthens the muscles in the hand, but provides relief from tension and cramping caused by typing or writing.
Step 3
Grip a heavy object with the fingers and allow the object to hang down by your side. You can grasp a weight plate, a gallon of milk or a bag of bird seed. One beneficial exercise is to grasp heavy dumbbells in each hand. Allow them to balance in the crook of your fingers. You're not grasping with your entire palm, but allowing the weight to rest on your bent fingers.
Walk with the object from one side of the room to another, resisting the urge to tighten your entire grip over the weight. You may also grasp weight plates in the fingers, or any other object that will force you to grip that object tightly in order to keep it from slipping. Beginning exercisers should use lightweight objects to start, such as a quart-size container of milk, a light dumbbell or a book.
Step 4
Grab an object in your fingers, such as a heavy book, milk jug, dumbbell or weight plate, and extend the arms out in front of you until the arms are level with your shoulders. Try to hold onto the heavy object without letting it fall, taking care to keep the back straight, hips tucked under the pelvis and the feet about 12 inches apart for good posture. Hold onto the object for between 10 and 30 seconds and then lower. You can do this exercise several times a day if you wish.
Step 5
Go outside and find objects you can use for grasping, such as cinder blocks, bricks or rocks, and practice holding onto them. Each object will require different muscles to hold the object depending on shape and size, which is a great way to work every muscle in the hand. Grasp objects in different positions for added muscle workout benefits. For example, you can first try holding onto an object with all the fingers and the thumb. As you grow stronger, try hanging onto the same object without the thumb, or even two or three fingers.
Things You'll Need
- Dumbbells
- Weight plates
- Cinder blocks
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