Wrist mobility exercises can be done before, during or after a workout.
Why Should You Do Wrist Mobility Exercises?
We recently began production on our upcoming DVD on Hand Balancing, so I’ve been spending a lot of time practicing my balances and learning new skills on the ground.
Hand balancing can be hard on your wrists, so be sure to include proper wrist mobility exercises in your practice!
You see, the wrists are a complex joint full of bone, ligaments, connective tissue, muscles and nerves. They weren’t specifically designed to take the entire weight of our bodies for extended periods of time. However, if properly trained, they will adapt enough to pull off some pretty impressive hand balances. But, they have to be trained.
Eight Wrist Mobility Exercises
So, this week’s video tutorial is all about wrist mobility stretches and exercises! The goal of mobility work is to actively increase the range of motion at a joint while increasing the extensibility of the involved tissue, as well as increasing temperature and lubrication. In this week’s tutorial, I’ll show you eight mobility exercises that will seriously prepare your wrists for any workout. These include:
Wrist Roll
Ascending and Descending Wrist Roll
Finger Locked Lateral Wrist Stretch
Wrist Wave Stretch
Prayer Position Stretch
Reverse Prayer Position Stretch
Shaka Wrist Stretch
Sagittal Shaka Stretchh
Incorporating Wrist Mobility Work
These exercises should be done before and after any hand balancing or Animal Flow practice, or regular resistance training. They can also be useful to provide some relief between sets in the middle of your practice. I even recommend it if you’re spending extended periods of time typing on a computer. Even just dedicating five minutes as part of your warm up and another five minutes as part of your cool down can make a world of difference. Remember, the goal is to train to last, and you’ll be missing out on serious training time if you’re taking time off for injuries. If you can, I recommend getting into the habit of doing them throughout the day!
If I ever get my dream gym with a large matted area, I would want to have a large bucket of rice off to the side for prehab. There are far too many bones in the wrist and hand to not eventually tweak something. Thanks for the article
I totally agree Colt, and I look forward to getting an invite to your dream gym when you open it up!
Hey Mike,
Excellent video tutorial as usual. I’ve been practicing the Animal Flow and my wrists are doing all right, but I’m finding my ankles are getting fatigued and a little sore pretty easily from lifting my heels for some of the movements. I know I could just practice the movements with heels on the ground for relief, but I’d like to do them as the video suggests. Could you offer some tips or do a tutorial on ankle mobility and pre-hab?
Thanks much,
Mariana
Great post Mike!
When I studied Aikido which utilizes a lot of wrist locks, we spent time before each practice using the same wrist locks as stretches and mobility increasers. I still use those today along with some of the ones you mention in the video.
Another tip I’ve picked up, because my forearms and wrists seem to get knots and trigger points in them alot, is to use a lacross ball or a spikey massage ball to roll my hands, wrists and forearms. Used consistently, this has helped to remove the trigger points and alleviate any pain.
I’ve got really thin wrists (6.5″ around) so all the training can be hard on them! Gotta keep em mobile! lol… take care my man!
Hello Mike,
Thanks for your article.
It’s awesome and it’s just on the right time as I do have some long-pending issue with my wrists.
By the way, how long should we do the drills? 30 sec, 1 minute or more?
Also, if possible could you later cover also mobility for elbows and shoulders?
Thank you again and take care
Rach
Excellent series of movements. The wrist are so often neglected in functional movement.
So true Perry!
HI Mike, I just went through the wrist exercises, it really worked, i will try and do these on a daily basis!!
HI Mike, I just went through the wrist exercises, it really worked, i will try and do these on a daily basis.
Hey Louis, that’s a great idea. I use them every time i’m going to do an Animal Flow or hand balancing workout and I never experience any pain. Keep training hard my friend.
Excellent advice, thank you !!!!!
You’re welcome James! Thanks for the comment
Thanks for sharing this great article! That is very interesting I love reading and I am always searching for informative information like this.
Glad you enjoyed it Dan! I can’t tell you how much these mobilizations have helped me practice the Animal Flow and hand balancing with out any pain or discomfort. Keep checking in for new videos every couple of weeks
Makes perfect sense. For years I have neglkected my wrist and always wondered what in the world I could do to stregthen them. I will hopefully get rid of all these little aches. Thanks for the video.