Building strength in your wrists is an often overlooked aspect of a training program. Although a small joint, wrist strength and function is important for preventing injury. Many exercises that you find in a fitness program, especially pushing movements (bench press, push-ups, dumbbell fly’s, etc.) can create problems in your elbows and shoulder complex.
The best exercises to help prevent this kind of injury and build strength in your wrists are even better because you can perform many of them while doing something else like watching TV. These exercises are even better when you can use regular household items instead of needing to buy more equipment. Enter wine bottle wrist rotations.
Wrist Strengthening Benefits:
- Helps prevent common injuries like carpal tunnel and tendonitis
- Builds strength that allows your wrists to be more resilient to overtraining from other exercises
- Increases blood flow and circulation to our hands for increased mobility and health
Here is how to perform wrist rotations with a wine bottle:
- Hold a wine bottle in your hand bottom’s up (with the top end in your hand)
- Start with your wrist in position holding the bottle straight up at 90 degrees
- Slowly rotate the bottle in one direction until it reaches parallel to the ground
- Pause once you reach that position for a second or two and then slowly return to the starting position
- Rotate the other direction and repeat going from side to side
The wine bottle wrist rotation is a simple movement and you should perform between 10 and 15 reps each direction, each hand and repeat for three to four sets. The best way to do this exercise is with your partner (bonus points for them training with you) and the payoff of the combined effort is you get to share a bottle of wine later on that evening…(remember, hydration is a 24 hour affair.)
This movement is also easy to progress. Once the above program becomes easy, you can use additional implements that have more weight:
- Dumbbell
- A Heavy Book (this will also alter your grip to crush grip which beneficial)
- A Griddle (or similar heavy pot/pan)
Building wrist strength and stability will help you prevent injury and build stability in a joint that does not normally see a lot of attention. This stability will also transfer to hanging exercises like pull-ups, monkey bars and overhead movements like shoulder press and explosive lifts like push press.
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