Hand Exercise Warmup Routine For Sports And Everyday Activities
Today’s Topic Highlights:
The hands are our first point of contact with the outside world. Almost everything we do involves gripping or grasping in some manor.
We know from multiple studies that grip strength is an indispensable biomarker for older adults. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to warm up and prepare the hands before performing any task that requires them.
Cooking, dressing, reading, laundry, gardening, golfing, and playing with the grandkids are all activities involving the hands. Warming up the hands and fingers for those tasks provides the same benefits normally derived from gym exercise warmups.
Golf, tennis, and pickleball all require fast wrist motions and forearm muscle recruitment. Injury risk increases when muscles, tendons, and ligaments are insufficiently warmed up prior to high speed movements.
The 4 hand warmup exercises outlined are: (1) hand and finger rubbing; (2) forearm squeezes; (3) wrist mobilizers; and (4) “Vulcan Salute” variations.
The hands are our first point of contact with the outside world. Almost everything we do involves gripping or grasping in some manor. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to warm up and prepare the hands before performing any task that requires them.
Think of all the common tasks you perform every day, mostly unconsciously, which involve the use of your fingers and hands. These likely include cooking, dressing, reading, and laundry, as well as perhaps gardening, golfing, and playing with the grandkids. All of these activities can be experienced with less difficulty by simply warming up the hands first.
We know from multiple studies that grip strength is an indispensable biomarker for older adults.1 We also know anecdotally that older people tend to have difficulty performing tasks requiring fine motor skill control. The solution to this is to take hand and finger exercise training more seriously, both for sport and daily activity.
Warming up the body prior to sports or gym training is beneficial for several reasons. It raises the tissue temperature of muscles, lubricates the joints, increases nerve conduction rate (which increases athletic performance), and reduces the likelihood of injury. All of these benefits apply equally and directly to the everyday activities previously mentioned.
Older adults who play sports should take this especially seriously. Not only do sports require the use of the hands, they involve using them at high speeds. Golf, tennis, and pickleball all require fast wrist motions and forearm muscle recruitment. Injury risk increases when muscles, tendons, and ligaments are insufficiently warmed up prior to high speed movements.
Below are 4 quick and effective hand warm up exercises that will prepare you well for any physical task. The entire sequence take only about 10 minutes. Follow along with the instructions and pictures provided for visual reference to proper form.