How to increase the size of the wrist. The work of small muscles: how to pump up the wrists

A strong man must be strong in everything. It makes no sense to pump only the press or only the legs. The body must be worked out evenly, not forgetting even the smallest muscles, including the muscles of the hands.

Why pump the muscles of the hands

For most athletes, grip strength is important. This is especially true for representatives of power sports and wrestlers. A bodybuilder can argue with this statement, because pumping brushes will not affect his appearance. However, this indicator is important not only in competitions, but also in everyday life.

One of the common myths says that grip strength is completely dependent on the size of the forearms, however, these indicators are not directly related. On the other hand, some forearm exercises still involve the muscles of the hands, but if you want to fully work them out, then you will need to include additional exercises in your training program.

You can pump up the muscles of the hands not only in the gym, but also at home. Some exercises do not require additional equipment at all, while other exercises require basic equipment that most sports fans have at their disposal.

Grip strength types

To understand how to train the muscles of the hands and grip strength, let's first understand what grip strengths are in general:

  • Squeezing. You can appreciate it with a handshake. Trains a squeezing grip mainly with the help of expanders.
  • Retaining. With this power, you can hold objects for a long time. In sports, the holding force is used, for example, during the "straight leg pull" exercise.
  • Plucked. Also known as strength thumb. It allows you to hold an object between your thumb and forefinger.
  • Wrist strength. Take a chair by the leg and try to keep it on a straight arm. In this case, you will feel your wrist strength. The strength of the entire forearm directly depends on it.

Exercises to work out the muscles of the hands

Here are a few exercises, both simple and complex, but very effective exercises that will help you tone your hand muscles.

  • Clench your hands tightly into fists and hold this position for 30 seconds. Repeat 2 times.
  • Sit on the bench top rest your hands on your thigh, take a dumbbell with a small weight in your hand. Notice the palm is facing up. Raise the dumbbell by bending and unbending the arm at the wrist. Do 3 sets of 20 reps. Repeat the same but with palms down.
  • Stand at a distance of about 60 cm from the wall. Push yourself up against the wall, and then push yourself with a sharp movement. Repeat 50 times. Over time, you can increase the load and perform the exercise on each arm separately.

Do the exercises regularly to achieve the effect.

Expander training

The advantage of training with expanders is that they involve not only the muscles of the hands, but also other muscles. To obtain maximum effect, follow the rules for training with an expander. Start your workout with a light warm-up using an expander with a low level of rigidity. Repeat each exercise 5-15 times, unless otherwise indicated in the description of the exercise. Don't practice every day! Give yourself time to recover. Optimal quantity training with an expander - 2-3 times a week.

Here are a few simple exercises with this simple trainer:

  1. Squeeze and unclench the expander. Work for time (1-1.5 minutes - 1 set) or for the number of repetitions (100 repetitions - 1 set). Do 3-7 sets with 3-5 minutes rest between sets.
  2. Squeeze the expander until it stops and hold it in this position for 3-5 minutes.
  3. Squeeze the expander all the way and unclench your fingers as slowly as possible.

How to choose an expander

There are 2 main types of carpal expanders:

  1. Carpal expander in the form of a circle (donut). It is made from thick rubber. The main advantages of such an expander are ease of use and availability. The disadvantage is that it is impossible to adjust the stiffness. However, you can purchase several of these simulators with different levels stiffness and gradually increase the effort.

2. Butterfly expander. It consists of 2 handles connected by a spring and vaguely resembles pincers. There are models on which you can adjust the stiffness. This is convenient, since one simulator is suitable for warming up and for a full workout.

Steel carpal expanders stand apart. Among them there are models whose rigidity reaches 160 kg. These are trainers for advanced athletes, they are not suitable for beginners.

Here you can find different expanders that will help you pump the muscles of your hands and increase your grip strength.

Finger work

Fingers also need to be paid attention. It is possible that your grip is quite strong, but your fingers are thin and weak. The main problem is that there are practically no muscles on the fingers, there are solid tendons. As you know, developing tendons is much more difficult than muscles. However, if you show diligence, you can succeed in this matter.

The ideal finger strengthening exercise is the finger push-up. However, even if you know how to do push-ups correctly and a lot, do not try to immediately start push-ups on your fingers. They are really difficult and can be easily injured.

To begin, get into a plank position like a push-up, but place one knee on the floor. Rise up on your toes and gradually lift your knee off the floor. Try to hold this position for at least 5-10 seconds, gradually increase the time. If you feel pain or severe discomfort, do not force yourself, kneel down gently and shake your fingers.

As you get used to the pose, try tensing your palms. And only after that proceed to push-ups on the fingers. Also increase the number of push-ups on the fingers gradually, do not do them daily, let the muscles rest.

A male handshake should be strong, which is why every man should know how to pump up his hands. Hand strength can be developed by home workouts by working on the wrist muscles.

Workout at home

To develop and train the wrist muscles, home workouts are enough. The simplest exercise that affects these muscles is push-ups, but push-ups should be difficult and familiar to everyone, but on the fingers. It will be quite difficult to do this for the first time, so the masters of sports advise starting their workouts with gradual complication, for example, you can first reduce the load and do push-ups from a hill (stool, chair), placing your feet on the floor.

It is important to correctly distribute the load on all fingers at the same time, otherwise the load will be distributed on the first 3 fingers, leaving the little finger and ring finger without "work".

As soon as the muscles get used to the load received, the exercises should begin to complicate. To increase the load, the hand must be trained with separate fingers. Gradually it is worth moving from push-ups on 5 fingers to 3, ideally, reaching up to one finger.

Particular attention should be paid to the little finger and ring finger.

The right approach

To pump up your hands at home, it is important to approach training correctly by choosing effective exercises:

  1. 1. Pull-ups on the bar help to develop tenacity very well. Only the grip is made not for the crossbar, but for the ends of the ropes, which must be firmly clamped with your hands.
  2. 2. The most common way to train the muscles of the hands is the carpal expander. When choosing a suitable model for training, it is important to check the device in action; when buying an expander, you need to shake it in your hand, making sure that it will be really useful. The expander should not be too soft and too tight. You need to try to do trial squeezes of the expander and, if you can easily complete 20 repetitions, then you need to consider buying a more powerful option.
  3. 3. A very original and, most importantly, effective method for pumping up hands is a method that represents a method of crumpling paper sheets. To start training, it is better to use newspaper spreads. The sheet is laid out on a flat surface, and you need to start kneading it with one hand until a tight lump is obtained. When muscle strength increases its level of inflation, training should be made heavier, for this you need to increase the amount of paper crumpled at a time, you can use thicker paper for training.
  4. 4. Paper helps to train the muscles of the hands not only during its wrinkling, but also when it is torn. If you constantly tear paper of various thicknesses into small pieces, then the muscles of the hands will also actively train.
  5. 5. For training, you can use a specially made wooden stick with a diameter of 3 cm. In the middle of the stick, you need to make a hole through which a very strong rope is threaded. Attach something heavy to the end of the rope. It can be a dumbbell, a barbell disc, a bottle of something. The exercise involves making rotational movements with a stick, so that during these rotations a rope is wound around the stick, pulling the attached load along with it. The rotation is repeated several times. Complication involves an increase in load, changing the weight of the load upwards.

Almost all bodybuilders are puzzled by the issue of training the muscles of the hands. The beauty of the shape of the hands of the hands is very important element for both men and women. Today there are a huge number various complexes aimed at developing particular group muscles.

To develop the muscles of the hands, it is necessary big weight. But before you start training directly, you need to stretch your muscles. Warm-up is carried out in order to prevent the occurrence of injuries and sprains during training. After a short warm-up, you can already move on to doing push-ups or pull-ups, which effectively work all the muscles of the arms.

To the main strength exercises for the arms include flexion and extension at the elbow, folding the hand with various weighting agents, which can be a barbell, dumbbells. It is important to remember to gradually increase the load.

To begin with, it is worth choosing a projectile that can be lifted about 10-15 times, no more. As soon as this number of times is exceeded, you need to move on to the next weight category.

In the event that it is not possible to visit sports training in the gym, you can make maximum efforts by choosing high-quality exercises for home workouts.

Available exercises

You can pump up your wrists and their hands at home. To do this, it is important to opt for quality exercises. Experienced coaches advise novice athletes to use the following exercises suitable for home use:

  1. 1. In order to start pumping arm muscles, it is not necessary to run to a sports store and buy various Sports Equipment. In the conditions of the house, it is quite possible to get by with improvised means. For example, for training, you can use household items and utensils. The hand must be placed on the edge of the table so that the palm is turned up and the fingers hang down from the edge of the table. A load is placed in the hand (which can be a dumbbell, and if there is none, then it can be replaced with a bottle filled with water, salt, sand, flour, etc.). The load must be lifted by hand, without tearing it off the table.
  2. 2. Further, for training at home, you can use push-ups. To begin with, the hand should be prepared for training by doing a few bench presses on the fists, and then it is worth switching to the bench press on the fingers. The complication of the exercise involves push-ups on the back of the hand. But this option is used only with very sufficient qualifications. It is not advised to beginners because of the high injury risk that this exercise carries with it.
  3. 3. In the case when there is a horizontal bar in an apartment or house, then for the development of arm muscles it is worth using pull-ups. To perform the exercise, you will need to arm yourself with two towels, which are thrown over the crossbar and tightly grabbed with your hands (in each hand, a towel). Grabbing both ends, you can start pulling up.
  4. 4. At home, the easiest way is to use a small simulator, which is an expander. Which today you can easily buy in the store. You can take it with you on the road, to work, study, walk, to complete the approach to the exercise at any time. As noted above, when purchasing an expander, it is important to try it in action, otherwise the result will not satisfy the requirements of a particular practitioner.
  5. 5. Modern inventions also do not stand still and offer various novelties used to train arm muscles. For example, several variants of modern expanders have been developed and produced. One very interesting and popular variant of such an expander is a ball with a rotating eccentric. The purpose of the exercise is to keep the ball in your hand, but that's bad luck, the eccentric makes the task so difficult that you have to make a lot of effort to achieve this goal.
  6. 6. The carpal expander is also convenient to use, you can take it with you and use it at any convenient time, and most importantly, it helps to strengthen your hands.
  7. 7. If there is no expander at hand, you can do without it. There is the following effective exercise- you need to clench one hand into a fist, and with the other hand grab this fist with all your might. You need to try to bend the brush, creating resistance, and after a sharp effort, relax the muscles. To perform the exercise, it is important to make every effort so that after 10 attempts there is no strength left for extraneous exercises.
  8. 8. A good result is also shown by the rotation of the hands clockwise and counterclockwise. Squeezing the hands together, you need to perform 10 rotations clockwise and counterclockwise, while creating resistance in the muscles of both hands. The exercise is repeated again, changing the position of the hands.

Hand muscle training is very useful for everyone from athletes to ordinary people.

When doing workouts, it is important not to forget about other muscles located in the arms.

A good effect is shown by complex exercises aimed at developing and training several muscle groups at once. To achieve good training results, it is important to have a clear schedule. In exercises, regularity and constancy are important. Ideally, it is better to schedule exercises for the whole day, delimiting them with breaks necessary for the muscles to recover.

It is important to understand that workouts performed from time to time or with long breaks will not give any results. Such training often results in microtraumas, which subsequently require time and effort to heal. Constant training will show very good result in the development and strengthening of the muscles of the hand.

A firm handshake, lifting a weightlifter in a competition, a decisive puck of a match and new record in pull-ups - all these actions are united by one link, they are impossible without a strong grip.

What is - strong grip? This can be described as the ability to apply the appropriate force with the muscles of the hands and fingers to a third-party object in order to achieve the desired result for the required time.

This ability and the developed muscles of the hand will be useful in everyday life, has a certain aesthetic character and is not the last in the training of athletes. various kinds sports. Martial arts, sports and street gymnastics, rock climbing, training with external weights (weightlifting, powerlifting, weight-lifting), game types(hockey, tennis), crossfit, as well as armlifting and armwrestling where is one of the fundamental elements.

In this article, we will look at how to develop a universal grip, as well as pump up the muscles of the hands and fingers at home. It is worth noting that there will be no specialization here, and the information and techniques presented will be useful both for novice athletes of all the aforementioned areas and enthusiasts. healthy lifestyle life and everyone who trains at home.

Theory and Foundations

The human hand is nothing but the most complex mechanism that works very skillfully and is capable of performing all kinds of tasks. If you decide to improve the mechanism, you must understand: 1. how it works 2. what methods can be achieved desired result. So some theory.

Anatomically, the human forearm and hand include 31 bones, 15 joints and 38 muscles, which, in the context of interest to us, can be responsible for the following functions:

  • flexion / extension and abduction / adduction of fingers;
  • flexion / extension and abduction / adduction of the hand;
  • pronation (inward rotation) / supination (outward rotation) of the hand.

Training plans and activities should take into account each of these features, in order to harmoniously develop and strengthen the hand. The training itself, in turn, lends itself to very simple laws that lead to success. This:

    Regularity. One workout will not bring absolutely no result, the load must be repeated so that the body adapts to constant work and becomes stronger. Picking up an expander once is not enough, you will have to take it again and again to achieve the desired result.

    Number of lessons. An indicator that is very important for the progress of each athlete. Chaotic workouts do not give a stable result, just as too rare a load does not stimulate adaptation. They took the expander only once a month - it's all the same that they never took it.

    Load progression. The load must change, only this can force our body to continue to adapt and, as a result, become stronger. You will not be able to develop the interosseous muscles of the hand with the same expander, only it will become easy to compress it - progress will stop, since you have adapted to this load, but no new stimulus has arrived.

    Simplicity. The truth is simple, the simpler the program, the harder it is to mess it up. You should not look for some secrets and complex techniques at the first steps, a linear progression (more/longer/stronger) and a smooth transition from simpler exercises to more complex ones are the formula for success and a proper foundation at the beginning of this path.

Types of loads, extreme, which we will talk about before the practical part. Akin to a complete set of tools or ingredients, only the use of all load options makes it possible to build a universal grip. So, at work, we can distinguish:

  • Static load. Work that keeps the muscles in a tense state for the required period of time - hangs, stops, holds.
  • dynamic load. Work in which the muscles of the hands contract and relax during the approach - squeezing-unclenching, flexion-extension.

So we moved on to the most important thing, exercises that are worth working with and training protocols that will allow you to combine them into a complete workout. We tried to pick up exercises that do not require special equipment and will be available to everyone, and we will start with them:

One of the most accessible exercises of today's series, which purposefully engages the flexor muscles in a static load. Its basic variation is hanging without touching the floor with a straight, closed grip. As soon as you overcome the milestone of 60 seconds in several approaches, feel free to move on to more complex options, the number of which is limited only by your imagination. As the next frontier, you can master hanging on a towel or rope, on a wider surface or with gloves (in order to increase the diameter of the grip), as well as hanging on non-standard supports (triangular, square, etc.). The height of virtuosity is hanging on one hand, hanging on the tips of your fingers or with an incomplete amount of their use, which should not be moved to immediately and with training experience behind you. Beginners who can't hang even 10 seconds can scale this exercise by hanging on the low bar or parallel bars.

Emphasis on the palms-fists-fingers

The second public exercise from our list, which will include all the muscles of the hand to work in a static mode. Since the classic version of this movement implies a position of push-ups from the floor with an emphasis on the fingers, it is worth paying attention that it is necessary to prepare for this exercise very carefully and carefully so as not to be injured. So, the first thing we start with is the emphasis on the palms and fists, which the athlete must comfortably and painlessly endure for 60 seconds in several approaches. Next, we choose any elevation that is above our feet (for example, a table) and first try to carefully transfer the weight of the body to the fingers and, as a result, stand. Passing the milestone of 1 minute, gradually use the milestone lower and lower until you find yourself on the floor. The advanced level is a smooth rise of the feet relative to the support of the hands, while maintaining an even position of the body. Hands on the floor - feet on a bench, chair, table, etc.

A cycle of exercises with a handle from a shovel

This list of movements is combined into one paragraph, since it requires the same equipment, which makes almost all muscles work in a dynamic mode. We will need - a shovel handle (a mop or any other strong rod), any rope, as well as any kind of burden that we can tie. Such a simple design is quite enough to train, the main thing is not to forget about the following. As mentioned earlier, the weight of the burden should increase over time (it can be a bottle, an eggplant or a bucket in which you change the amount or density of the filler). Here is a list of exercises that can be performed using such a simulator:

  • flexion of the forearm with the transfer of the projectile to the fingers and back;
  • extension of the forearm;
  • rotation for flexion of the forearm with the movement of weights;
  • rotation for extension of the forearm with the movement of weights.

It is enough to pass the milestone of 50 repetitions to move on to heavier weights.

Finger extension with rubber bands

This exercise is one of the few that is able to properly correct and balance the finger flexors, which are almost always under load. For work, we need a pack of stationery rubber bands. Our task, having put several copies on the extreme phalanges, is to perform a powerful extension, and then smoothly squeeze them back. As with the last exercise, hitting the 50 rep milestone is a sign to add a few more bands to your next workout.

Isometric strength development

This direction is well mastered by representatives of power shows, who bend, tear and crush various objects with their own hands in their numbers. The essence of these exercises is to apply maximum effort to counteract the resistance of another object, for a short time (6-12 seconds). General rules isometric exercises the following:

  • exercises are performed on inspiration;
  • the effort during the exercise is increased gradually to the maximum;
  • the exercise time is no more than 10 - 12 seconds for experienced athletes (for beginners no more than 5-6), while the maximum effort lasts no more than 2 - 3 seconds.

From the exercises, one can single out attempts to bend-break any strong rod (the same handle from a shovel will do) and squeezing a tennis ball with a full palm or only with the help of fingers. The first exercise will also be useful in that it makes it possible to strengthen the muscles responsible for pronation / supination and abduction / adduction of the hand, without involving new equipment. As a measure of progress, over time, in addition to using indestructible items, you can also use those that can be deformed. Try to bend nails, crush vegetables or fruits, eat raw eggs, etc.

Building a grip strength workout will not be fundamentally different from building any other workout. It should include:

General warm-up

Last at least 10-15 minutes and includes:

  • - active warm-up (running, jumping rope, jumping jacks, etc.);
  • - joint warm-up belt upper limbs(shoulders, elbows, hands, fingers);
  • - dynamic stretching (short alternation of tension / relaxation) of the target muscles.

This work allows you to bring the body into tone and prepare it for the upcoming loads.

Special warm-up

It is performed before the main work in order to reach the current volume of training. In a special warm-up, movements are used similar to those in training or as close as possible with an intensity of 50% or less.

For example:

  • - when setting 3x50 finger extension with 20 rubber bands, it will be appropriate to perform several warm-up approaches for 10-15 repetitions, gradually increasing the number of elastic bands from the minimum perceptible to working;
  • - if the training includes hanging on the horizontal bar for 3x60 seconds, you can hang for 10-15-20 seconds, respectively, as warm-up approaches, etc.

Workout

To begin with, 3 approaches in 3 exercises from the above, combined in one session, will be enough. With a static load, we focus on the milestone of 60 seconds, with a dynamic load of 50 repetitions to complicate the work. The ratio of work and rest in working approaches is 1:2.

Hitch

The final part, which should end each workout, lasts like a warm-up for at least 10-15 minutes. This block is necessary for initial recovery, injury prevention and improving well-being after training. It includes self-massage of the muscles of the forearm, for which they are perfect - support for the horizontal bar, lower leg, etc., at least 30 massage movements per pain point, as well as passive static stretching - at least 60 seconds for each available area (flexors, extensors, etc.).

Based on all the above data, let's look at an example of training:

  • Warm-up - 3 minutes of jumping rope + 20 rotations in all joints of the upper shoulder girdle(shoulders-elbows-hands-fingers);
  • Special warm-up- 3 sets of 10-15-20 seconds hanging on the horizontal bar / 3 sets of forearm flexion with a handle from a shovel 10/3 each approach extension of the fingers with clerical rubber bands, 15 each (smoothly increase the number) - rest according to well-being;
  • Workout - 3 sets of hanging on the horizontal bar 40 seconds work / 80 seconds rest; 3 sets of bending on the forearms with a handle from a shovel 3x50 after 2 minutes of rest; extension of fingers with rubber bands 3x50 after 2 minutes of rest;
  • Hitch - self-massage of 30 movements for each pain point; flexor and extensor stretch 3 x 60 seconds per area.

Considering that under such loads, not only muscles, but ligaments and tendons are restored, it is advisable to first stop at one workout per week, and only after the body adapts to smoothly switch to two, increase the number of exercises and approaches.

A little final tip - do not forget about the general level of physical fitness, as well as what you started all this for. After all, it is much easier to achieve results by training the whole body, and not just the hand, and at the same time see motivation in the form of a personal goal.

Summing up. Strong grip and developed forearm musculature, an integral part healthy person. In this article, we looked at how to train at home, what exercises to make up a workout from, and what things you should pay attention to. The main thing is that we managed to prove that this is possible and there are no barriers to this if you need the desire and the goal set. Train smartly and gradually, the result will not be long in coming. Good luck!

© USM Photography - stock.adobe.com


Armlifting exercises

Exercises deserve special attention. additional equipment performed within the framework of the competitive discipline "armlifting" (armlifting). The meaning of discipline is to lift a special projectile by an athlete and fix it at the top point. The static component here is less, the movement is more explosive, mainly ligaments and tendons are trained.

If your gym equipped with such equipment, be sure to include the following exercises in your wrist strengthening program:


For more information about the technique of performing exercises from armlifting, see this video:

Dynamic hand exercises

  1. Bending the brush with a barbell- the exercise consists in flexing the wrist joint with additional weight under different angles. The bar can be positioned in front of you with a grip from above or below, it is necessary to bend the wrists on maximum amount repetitions in full amplitude, try not to include the biceps in the work. The weight of the bar should be moderate, with a heavy weight you will not have time to properly “feel” the exercise, as the hands will stop bending after a few repetitions. Another variation of this exercise is the flexion of the hand with a barbell behind the back, so the load falls more on the muscles of the forearms. For those who are interested in how to pump up the palms of the hands and increase the strength of the fingers, you can place the barbell on outstretched fingers.

    © Makatserchyk - stock.adobe.com

  2. Compressing the expander- This exercise well increases the strength and endurance of the palms and fingers. You can start it with the usual rubber expander, which is easy to find in any sports store, and then move on to professional ones (for example, Captains of Crush), in which you can adjust the compression force from 27 to 165 kg. By the way, 165 kg obeyed only five people around the world.

    © michaklootwijk - stock.adobe.com

  3. Finger push-ups- This exercise perfectly develops the pinch grip, it also works the triceps and pectoral muscles. In this case, the fingers must be spread out to the sides as wide as possible and try not to bend them during push-ups. The load can be increased - start with five fingers and gradually increase to two. Push-ups on two fingers were the crown exercise of the master martial arts Bruce Lee.

    © Duncan Noakes - stock.adobe.com

  4. - a well-known exercise that perfectly develops the strength of the hands and forearms. The greatest load on the wrists will give you the option of climbing a rope without the help of legs - so the load will be continuous.

    © Jale Ibrak - stock.adobe.com

  5. Spreading fingers with rubber- all that is needed for this exercise is an ordinary tight elastic band. Wrap it several times around tightly clenched fingers and try to fully "open" the palm. Here we train short muscles abducting fingers, and palmar muscles.

    © Sviatoslav Kovtun - stock.adobe.com

Typical beginner mistakes

When working on the hands and forearms, it is quite easy to get injured, for example, pull the muscles of the forearm or stretch the ligaments of the wrist. To prevent this, check out the mistakes most often made by inexperienced athletes in the gym:

Pay due attention to recovery between workouts.Since the lion's load in any exercise related to grip strength falls on the ligaments and tendons, which recover much longer muscle, you should not rush things, everything has its time. It is not recommended to train the wrists more than once a week, in otherwise you just don’t have time to recover and risk injury.
Don't forget to stretch.Any athlete thoroughly warms up before training for large muscle groups, but should small muscles be an exception?
You should not overtrain your wrists by doing all the exercises from our article in one workout, two or three exercises will be enough. Do not forget to sometimes vary the load, modify something or add something new, our body loves variety, and for stable progress, from time to time it needs to be given new stress in training.

When it comes to arm training, pumped up biceps and well-developed triceps immediately come to mind. Few people care about strengthening and pumping up their wrists and fingers, although this is a necessary and useful thing. The strength of a handshake has always been an indicator of the level of courage, let alone the importance of pumped up hands for an athlete. Strengthen the hands for a strong grip and to prevent sports injuries.

Wrist muscle anatomy

The anatomy of the wrist muscles is quite complex and interesting. And the work to strengthen them is very laborious.

In short, our brushes consist of:

  • worm-like muscles;
  • palmar and dorsal interosseous muscles;
  • muscle groups of the thumb;
  • muscle groups of the thumb.

The muscles of the hands are directly related to the muscles of the forearm, so exercises aimed at strengthening the first group of muscles work out well the second.


How to pump up your wrists at home

Let's start with exercises designed to strengthen our grip and strengthen our forearms.

Squeezing and unclenching the palm

The first exercise is the most famous and simple, it does not require any additional sports equipment. But despite its simplicity, clenching and unclenching the palm is very effective and efficient. It is used both as a warm-up for tired hands, and as a rehabilitation exercise after serious injuries and even operations.

  1. Clench your fist with maximum force.
  2. Hold your fist clenched for 5-10 seconds.
  3. Unclench it by straightening your fingers as much as possible.


For this exercise, an auxiliary tool is already required, namely, an expander. There are many varieties of this sports simulator, but now we are only interested in carpal expanders. They, in turn, are divided into:

  • torsion
  • spring
  • U-shaped

The load of these expanders can be adjustable or fixed. And also there are rubber and silicone simulators, which are better known as "bagel" and "egg".

The technique for performing the exercise itself is very straightforward:

  1. We put an expander in the palm of our hand.
  2. Compress and decompress it.

When you can easily perform 50 repetitions of such an exercise, go to the next level - increase the load on the expander.


Finger push-ups are a great workout, thanks to which you can pump not only your hands, but also many other muscles:

  • large and small chest;
  • deltoid;
  • triceps;
  • forearm muscles;
  • trapezoidal;
  • latissimus dorsi muscles.

But do not rush to immediately start the exercise if you have never practiced it before. Incorrect distribution of body weight can seriously damage the limbs. First of all, you need to learn how to stand firmly on your toes. To get started, accept initial position for push-ups, but kneeling. If you feel that your fingers are able to withstand the load, then straighten your legs and stand on your fingers for ten seconds, then twenty, and so on, until you realize that you are ready for the exercise. Now to the exercise itself:

  1. Taking the starting position as for classic push-ups, but instead of the palms, we rely on the fingers.
  2. We take a breath and, bending our elbows, slowly lower ourselves so that the chest touches the floor.
  3. We return to the top position.
  4. We perform 10-15 repetitions.


You may not be able to immediately stand on your fingers, but do not despair: patience and endurance are the best helpers. No wonder this exercise is a profile one for martial artists, who easily do push-ups on one finger. You can also master the same skill if you constantly practice and move forward.

Video: How to push up on your fingers

Push-ups on the back of the hands

This type of push-up is useful primarily for strengthening the wrists. But if you do not have an urgent need for strong wrists, then you should not do this exercise, because it is quite traumatic.

  1. We accept the classic position for push-ups, but with an emphasis on back side palms;
  2. The palms should be pointing inward so that the fingers are facing each other.
  3. We perform push-ups slowly and without sudden movements.

At first, you will feel pain in your hands and wrists, do not be afraid, your hands just need to get used to the new type of load.


Barbell Wrist Curls

This exercise is rightfully considered one of the most effective and useful for both the hands and arms in general, because it affects a large number of muscles, including deep ones. Bending of the brushes is performed either with an empty bar or with a small weight.

  1. We sit down on the bench.
  2. We take the neck with a medium or narrow grip.
  3. We put it together with the forearms on our knees.
  4. We take a breath and unbend the brushes up.
  5. Exhale and bend the brushes down.

This exercise can be performed by slightly changing the starting position.

  1. We kneel in front of the bench.
  2. We take the barbell and put our hands bent at the elbows 90 degrees on the bench.
  3. We perform classic bending of the brushes.


The grip can be used both upper and reverse.

Video: Barbell Curl Technique

Curls with dumbbells

Bending the hands with dumbbells is a variation of the previous exercise with a barbell. The muscle groups that are being worked out are the same. But the indisputable advantage of dumbbells is that it is much easier to purchase them and keep them at home than a barbell. And that means. and training with them can be done at home at any free time.

  1. We take a dumbbell in hand.
  2. We place the forearm on the thigh or bench.
  3. We drop the brush.
  4. Raise the brush to its original position.


Another exercise with dumbbells that works not only the wrists, but also the biceps with triceps.

  1. We take dumbbells in both hands and stand up straight.
  2. We press our elbows to the body, we turn our palms there. We don't move our shoulders.
  3. We take a breath and as we exhale we raise the dumbbells, turning our hands with our palms up.
  4. Having raised the dumbbells to the shoulders, we fix our hands in this position for a couple of seconds.
  5. Rotate the hands 180 degrees so that the palms are facing down.
  6. On inspiration, we begin to lower the dumbbells and again turn the brushes so that they are facing the body.
  7. We lower our hands with dumbbells to the starting position.


Use light or medium dumbbells. The ascent should take about 2 seconds and the descent in 4 seconds. To get the most out of the Zottman Curls for your arms, do them in combination with other exercises.

Video: How to do Zottman curls

Exercises on the horizontal bar

The benefits of a horizontal bar for brushes will not be a discovery for anyone. If you have a good physical form, but not strong enough grip, you simply won’t be able to pull yourself up on the crossbar. Therefore, bypassing this projectile is not worth it. An excellent bonus of training on the horizontal bar will be the benefit for the spine and the whole posture in general.

Hang on the horizontal bar

In order to work out the muscles of the hands on the horizontal bar, it is not necessary to pull up. It is enough to perform the following algorithm of actions with high frequency:

  • Do at least 6 reps per barbell exercise.
  • If you are serious about strengthening your wrist muscles, then do the exercises with high frequency - at least three times a week.
  • Stretch your wrists: stretch your arm out in front of you, palm down. We bend the wrist so that the fingers look at the floor. Gently press this hand with the other hand for 30 seconds. We change hands.
  • Do not rush to pump up and strengthen your hands as soon as possible, do everything gradually, without overstraining your muscles.
  • Most people don't even realize how important physical training hands, so often in training this part of the body is deprived of attention. Meanwhile, a strong grip helps a lot when working on the horizontal bar, allows you to increase the results in exercises with a barbell and dumbbells. Push-ups and pull-ups on the horizontal bar will play an excellent service to other important muscle groups: for example, they will strengthen the back and work out the press.

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