Hello there! Here we are together today for another Wellness Wednesday post by WNYMMA 🙂 I hope everyone has had a stellar week so far filled with unexpected good times! Coach Hanna here to converse about a Movement Moment because today is all about wrist mobility!
Why are we discussing wrist mobility?
We use them more than we recognize! Let’s not underestimate this crucial joint any longer and focus on how we can keep our wrists healthy for our physical performance and quality of life in general 🙂
The wrist is the point of transition between the arm and the hand. It is a complex joint full of bone, ligaments, connective tissue, muscles and nerves. It also has multiple ranges of movement being rotation, flexion, extension, adduction and abduction. Keeping all this in mind and creating perspective, it allows one to realize the importance of focusing on the wellbeing of our wrists!
How do we keep our wrists healthy and able?
A major factor in keeping our wrists healthy is utilizing correct technique during exercises including proper hand grip, aligning the body correctly and knowing which muscles to focus on.
Below I am going to share with you 4 movements to get you started on creating deeper mobility awareness in the wrists 🙂
1. Wrist Rotations Interlace your fingers and draw your palms together into a comfortable hug. Keeping this, move your wrists around in every possible direction. Hold any position that feels a little tender/limited for a few seconds then continue rotating. You can repeat this often throughout your day.
2. Prayers Stand up and place your hands together in front of you in a prayer position. Maintaining contact keeping your hands together, lower them as far as you can. The longer you can keep your hands together, the better you’ll stretch the wrists. When you’re at the bottom, reverse hand position so that your fingers are now pointing downward and your hands remain together. Come back up keeping the hand position 🙂
3. Plank push–up position Get into a plank position (elbows fully extended) and turn your hands backwards so your fingers are pointing toward your toes. Keeping a rigid torso, shift your body forward so you have an angle from shoulders to wrists. If you can, hold this position for 20-30 seconds and repeat. If it gets too intense, drop down to your knees and complete the exercise.
4. Wrist walks Place your palms on a wall keeping your arms straight and fingers pointing up to the ceiling. Keeping contact with the wall, walk your hands down the wall. Go as far down as you can without letting your palms come off the wall. Once you reach the point where you can’t walk your hands down any further, turn your hands down so your fingers are now pointing to the floor. Now in reverse, walk your wrists back up the wall as far upward as you can. Feels good hey? 🙂
BONUS TIP
Make sure that when you are working on your computer, you are keeping your wrists in a neutral position when typing. This adjustment works magic on the joint! Beneath is a short video on how to type in a way that puts less strain on our wrists 🙂
So no more ignoring the wrists, WNYMMA community! Let’s keep them young and fresh doing as best as they can 🙂
Til next week, ya’ll – may the rest of the week hold you well!