Hands are the main tool of man. Without strong and healthy limbs, people lose their ability to work, even if their activities are mainly related to mental work. Any thought and idea can be checked only by hand. Since most modern people lack physical activity, the issue of maintaining physical fitness is becoming more and more important every year. Today we will talk about the health and performance of the hands, and also consider several sets of exercises, each of which has its own goal.
Hand strength exercises
First of all, we will discuss general strength training, which is suitable for healthy people. Strength gymnastics for the hands is aimed at increasing their performance and giving the muscles tone. The upper limb of a person consists of a flexor (biceps), an extensor (triceps) and a forearm, which is responsible for all movements of the wrist. Based on the purpose of the muscles, a training plan is built.
Biceps training
As already mentioned, biceps (aka biceps of the shoulder) is responsible for bending the arm. Therefore, in order to work it out, it is necessary to do precisely this movement, but with burdening. Biceps flexion has several varieties. We will briefly discuss the main ones.
Standing with dumbbells or barbell . Starting position: legs shoulder-width apart, arms with the shell turned with palms away from you, the body is even. Having fixed the body in this position, you can begin to move. Hands rise to the chest on exhalation, and lower on inspiration. At the same time, lowering them is somewhat slower than raising them. If you want only biceps to participate in the work, and the forearm does not “steal” part of the load from him, when lifting, relax your wrist, do not turn it to yourself. If you are doing this exercise with dumbbells, then you can raise your arms both parallel and alternately.
Hammer flexion . This exercise also connects the brachioradialis muscle of the forearm. The starting position is the same, only the hands are placed with palms to the body and create something similar to a hammer with dumbbells. When lifting, it is important that this “hammer” be level, and the brush does not finish the projectile. Otherwise, the principle is the same as in the previous exercise.
Bending the arms while sitting . Performed separately for each hand. Starting position: sitting with legs apart, the back leans forward, and the working arm rests with the elbow on the inner surface of the thigh. The grip and the technique of movement are the same as with standing bends.
Since today we are considering the general tone of the hands, rather than a concentrated study of a particular muscle, we can combine these exercises with others. For example, you can do bending, sitting not on a chair, but in a deep squat this will connect the hips and buttocks to the work.
Triceps training
Gymnastics for the hands must include the study of triceps. There are at least three reasons for this: this muscle gives the arm the main volume; in everyday life, it is less loaded than biceps; triceps is the area where “flabbiness” is primarily formed. As you already know, the main function of this muscle is to extend the arm. It is worth starting from this, planning a set of trainings. There are quite a few exercises for triceps. Let's analyze two of them.
Dumbbell bench press from behind the head . This is the simplest, but very effective exercise. It is performed with one heavy dumbbell. You can do a bench press from behind the head both standing and sitting, the main thing is to keep your back level. The projectile is taken with two hands and rises above the head. On inhalation, he neatly lowers behind the head by bending his arms, and on exhalation, he returns. That's all. If you wish, you can do the same with two smaller dumbbells in weight.
Bench Press Dumbbell Triceps . Starting position: lying on your back, working arm in an upright position. The dumbbell can be perpendicular to the body or parallel. Accordingly, in the first case, the shell descends to the chest, and in the second to the ears. You can do an exercise for two hands at the same time. Technically, the movement is no different from the standing dumbbell bench press.
Universal exercises
Gymnastics for the hands is aimed at maintaining muscle tone, so instead of concentrated muscle development, you can perform basic exercises in which several muscle groups and joints are involved. For biceps, an excellent basic exercise is pull-ups on the bar. In addition to the biceps of the shoulder, they train the back well. As for the triceps, it is perfectly worked out when push-ups on the uneven bars, in which the pectoral muscle is also connected. Push-ups from the floor have the same effect. Three of these exercises, each of which has several variations, is quite enough to maintain hands in normal shape.
Forearm
Typically, hand gymnastics does not include training for this muscle group. Moreover, even professional bodybuilders often overlook her. The reason for this is simple - the forearm works in almost all hand exercises, as it is responsible for the grip strength and position of the wrist. Therefore, usually with the efficiency of the forearm, no one has problems. However, just in case, we will analyze a couple of exercises.
Training the forearm is not difficult. Sit on a chair with your hips parallel to the floor. Take a dumbbell or barbell in your hands and place your forearms on your hips so that the brush hangs from them. In this case, the palms should look up. This is the starting position. Now you need to relax your hands and lower them, and then raise them as high as possible, without tearing your forearm from your hips. Try the same action, with palms down. Using the same principle, you can work your forearms with your hands down. The main thing is that only the brush moves.
Stretching
An important component of muscle health and strength is their elasticity. To achieve elasticity and good metabolism in muscle tissue, you need to stretch them. The main stretching exercises:
- Pull one limb in front of you, and then take its second by the elbow or shoulder and pull it toward the body. Press your hand down a little and feel your shoulder stretch.
- Raise your hand up and bend so that the palm is behind your head. With your other hand, press on the elbow with the first so that the triceps is stretched.
- Wrap both hands behind your back: one on top and one on the bottom. Try to close them in the castle. If you cannot reach, use a towel.
Stretching always occurs through mild pain, so do not be very sorry for yourself.
Warm up
Another important point is gymnastics for the joints of the hands. Remember the school physical education lessons, or rather, the warm-up that is usually done at the beginning. All sorts of rotation of the shoulder, elbow and wrist joints will provide the hands with health and performance. In addition, the warm-up should definitely be done before strength training.
Now let's proceed to the more specific types of gymnastics that are necessary during rehabilitation after various injuries.
Cardiovascular problems
Is hand motor gymnastics performed after a stroke? Let's look at this issue in more detail. After a stroke, the fingers may “disobey”. To get rid of this problem, you need to take care of fine motor skills. To train subtle movements, small objects are used that need to be sorted out in the hands. It can be, for example, a special ball with thorns. Gymnastics after a stroke includes the following exercises on motility:
- Sorting with two balls or simply walnuts.
- The separation of beans from peas. To enhance the effect, you can do this with your eyes closed.
- Puzzles and other small details that require precision.
And do not neglect all sorts of everyday movements (tightening / unscrewing nuts, turning on / off the light, and so on).
Injury recovery
How is hand gymnastics performed after a fracture? Can an injured limb be loaded at all? To regain your performance, you need hand gymnastics. With a fracture, especially if it is severe, you have to wear plaster for a long time. When a person is removed, the rehabilitation process does not end. Due to complete immobility, the muscles of the hands stagnate, and the blood flow in them decreases every day. To return the limb to life, it can take from two weeks to a month.
Here are some exercises to help speed up this process:
- To get started, take plasticine in your hand and slowly try to stretch it to a soft state.
- Sit on a chair and close your hands in front of your chest so that your palms snuggle tightly against each other. Without opening them, try to tilt them to the sides. Be careful when it comes to a broken arm.
- Take a tennis ball, try to throw it at the wall and catch it. At the same time, do not allow sudden movements and do not fuss.
- Sort through the balls, which we have already mentioned above.
All of these exercises are aimed at developing a brush, since most problems of the recovery period are associated with it. Perform them worth three times a day.
Gymnastics for the hand after removal of the lymph nodes
When axillary lymph nodes are removed, there is a risk of developing swelling of the arm. To cope with it, among other treatments, a person will need special exercises. Gymnastics for the hands is represented by such exercises:
- First you need to warm up the body and prepare it for activation of the lymphatic system. Light circular movements from the bottom up rub the face, neck and ears. Rub them up until the skin becomes a little warmer.
- The same thing needs to be done with the hips, stomach and sternum.
- Now we turn to rubbing our hands. First, the inner surface is rubbed, then the outer. It’s worth moving from palm to shoulder.
- When the body is warmed up, you need to lie on your back and tension / relaxation of the muscles of the hands for a minute. Each of the stages should take no more than 2 seconds.
First you need to do these exercises three times a day. Then, when the muscles get used, you can increase the load. The main thing during rehabilitation is not to bring yourself to fatigue.
Conclusion
Today we learned how to keep our hands toned and rehabilitate after some diseases. Gymnastics for women’s hands does not differ from men’s, as it is aimed at the general development of the limbs, and not at their “pumping”.