Wrist Stretches: 6 Wrist Stretches to Try at Home

Wrist stretches are arm movement exercises that expand and contract the muscles of your wrist joint, fingers, and forearms. Stretching your wrists and surrounding area stimulates blood flow and can increase your short-term range of motion and flexibility. Many people perform wrist stretches before a workout routine, yoga session, or sports game to prepare their wrists, hands, and forearms for intense use or as a cooldown afterward to ease the muscles into rest.

Tight wrists can lead to hand pain, shoulder pain, joint pain, and wrist conditions like tendonitis.

Stretching your wrists can offer many wellness benefits, such as:

• Activating muscles and blood flow. Stretching your wrists can stimulate your forearm and hand muscles and increase blood flow to the area. Stretching makes it easier to use the forearm muscles when doing a strenuous exercise program like yoga, strength training, or lifting weights.
• Increasing your short-term range of motion. Wrist stretches increase the range of motion of your wrist, fingers, and forearms, allowing you to perform deeper stretches or fully activate a particular muscle. If you feel a lot of stiffness or tightness in your wrists or are about to do an arm workout and want to perform as much of each motion as possible, wrist stretches can be a great option.
• Increase long-term flexibility. Over time, consistent, safe wrist stretches can increase the long-term flexibility of your wrists, fingers, and forearms, allowing you to perform deeper stretches and hold them longer. Better long-term wrist mobility can also help mitigate wrist pain from sprains, carpal tunnel syndrome (pinching of the median nerve caused by repetitive motions), or tendonitis (inflammation of tendons).
• Relieve muscle soreness. While athletes commonly stretch before or after a workout to relieve muscle soreness, some personal trainers argue that arm-stretching doesn’t significantly affect sore muscles or pain relief. However, researchers suggest that stretching your wrists may offer relief in the form of a placebo effect since it activates your muscles and can help you believe that your soreness will subside.

Here are a few simple stretches that target the muscles of your fingers, wrists, or forearms:

1. 1. Open-hand extension and flexion stretch: Paired wrist movements called extensor stretches and flexor stretches are simple stretching exercises to help extend your wrists. To perform these stretches, stand straight with relaxed arms, then hold your right arm straight out in front of your body at shoulder height. Lift your right hand so that your palm is facing away from you (wrist extension stretch), and gently use your opposite hand to deepen the stretch. Next, drop your hand so that your palm is facing toward you (wrist flexion stretch), and once again, gently use your opposite-side hand to deepen the stretch. You should feel these stretches in your wrist and forearm.
2. 2. Prayer stretches: Prayer stretches work your forearm, wrist, and hand muscles. To perform a prayer stretch, sit in a comfortable position with your elbows bent inward at a 90-degree angle, your palms pressed together, and your fingers pointed upward. Slowly lower your hands down your chest, extending your elbows until you feel a gentle stretch in your wrists. Hold for several deep breaths, then release.
3. 3. Pronation and supination stretch: Pronation and supination are the names for the rotating abilities of your wrists. To stretch your rotation muscles, sit in a comfortable position with your right elbow supported by your right knee or a table with your palm facing up. Then, gently rotate your palm inward until it is facing the ground. Repeat several times for each wrist. You can add a light dumbbell to increase the difficulty.
4. 4. Radial and ulnar deviation: To stretch the radialis and ulnaris muscles of your wrist, stand straight with relaxed arms, then hold your right arm straight out in front of you at shoulder height. Angle your wrist palm facing to the left as if you’re about to give someone a handshake. Ball up your hand, then rotate your wrist downward, so your knuckles point toward the floor and upward, so your knuckles point toward the ceiling. Repeat several times, then perform the same motions with your left hand.
5. 5. Stress ball grip exercise: Grip exercises help strengthen the muscles and tendons of your hands, wrists, and forearms. For a simple wrist exercise for grip strength, sit comfortably and support your elbow on your knee. Grip a stress ball or other firm object that gives way under pressure, like an air-filled tennis ball. Squeeze for five seconds, then release and count to 10. Repeat up to 10 times for each hand.
   
6. 6. Wrist curls: Wrist curls are a strengthening exercise that involves using a low-weight dumbbell to increase resistance in your stretches. To perform wrist curls, get into your starting position by sitting on a bench or chair, leaning forward until your forearms can rest comfortably on your thighs, and suspending your wrists past your knees. Grip a light dumbbell in each hand, palms facing up, and gently extend your wrist to lower the weight, then curl your wrist back toward you to lift the weight. Repeat up to 10 times.

If you have a previous or pre-existing health condition, consult your physician before beginning an exercise program. Proper exercise technique is essential to ensure the safety and effectiveness of an exercise pro. Still, you may need to modify each exercise to attain optimal results based on your individual needs. Always select a weight that allows you to have full control of your body throughout the movement. When performing any exercise, pay close attention to your body, and stop immediately if you note pain or discomfort.

Incorporate proper warm-ups, rest, and nutrition into your exercise program to see continual progress and build body strength. Your results will ultimately be based on your ability to adequately recover from your workouts. Rest for twenty-four to forty-eight hours before training the same muscle groups to allow sufficient recovery.

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