Wrists & Forearms - Don't Let Them be Your Weakest Link!

I was surprised when I asked my boot camp ladies this week what area of their body they'd like to focus on strengthening this session and more than one said their wrists. Building up your forearm and wrist strength is really important for many day to day activities and sports including weight training, golf, tennis, baseball and climbing. You of course strengthen your wrists when you do your other upper body exercises, but for some of us this isn't enough.

Don't let your forearm or wrist strength be your weakest link. When dealing with wrists and forearms you may want to start with no weight or very light weight and gradually build up. You also want to do these exercises at the end of your exercise program, as your grip strength will be temporarily weakened. Also avoid these exercises on the same day or the day before you are playing a sport that requires a lot of wrist action. Remember if you are having wrist pain, cut back and consult your physician.

Here are some exercises to try:

1) Tennis Ball Squeeze - Simply squeeze a tennis ball as hard as you can for up to 90 seconds. This exercise mainly targets your grip strength and forearms.

2) Skipping Rope - This is a great cardio workout that also helps to build strong wrists and forearms.

3) Wrist Curls - Use light dumbbells or even cans of soup. Sit down resting your forearms on your knees. Hold your weight palms facing up, move only your wrists. Drop your wrists slowly towards the floor as far as possible then raise the weight back up slowly towards your body using your wrists only. Keep the rest of your arms still during the exercise. Do 3 sets of 12 repetitions to start.

4) Reverse Wrist Curls - This is the same as a wrist curl with your palms facing down.

5) Wrist Rolls - For this one you will need a stick, a piece of rope and a weight. Attach the end of the rope firmly to the middle of the stick and then firmly attach the end of the rope to the weight. The rope should be long enough to reach the ground when you are holding the stick out a shoulder height. Grip the stick with both hands in an overhand grip at shoulder width apart. Extend your arms straight out in front of your body. The weight should be on the floor. Using your wrists and forearms only, slowing roll the rope up until it reaches the stick. Keep your arms straight out in front of your body at all times. Then reverse, slowly unroll the rope until the weight reaches the floor. Repeat 3-4 times to start.