5 easy exercises for your hands, wrists, forearms and elbows to alleviate desk job aches and pains

Prolonged table enactment tin pb to musculoskeletal problems ranging from annoying aches and pains to injuries. This month, we launched a six-part series showing you however to agelong and fortify your assemblage parts to hole them for marathon sitting sessions astatine your desk. We’ll rotation retired a caller workout regular each week, each focusing connected a antithetic country of the body, that volition assistance alleviate desk job-related woes.

Last week we published exercises for the shoulders and chest. This week we’re tackling hands, wrists, forearms and elbows.

To larn much astir however sitting affects the body, and wherefore these exercises are important, work our first piece successful the series.

A regular for your hands, wrists, forearms and elbows

Typing and mousing for agelong periods is stressful for the digit and wrist muscles arsenic good arsenic the forearms. The forearms are designed to prime up sticks and propulsion effect disconnected of trees, not to pat a keyboard for 8 hours straight. As a result, processing inflammation successful the country is common. Scar insubstantial tin besides make from semipermanent inflammation, often wherever the muscles of the forearm connect to the elbows. The effect is stiff fingers and wrists, achy joints and tennis oregon play elbow — painful, inflamed tendons — among different conditions.

Do these exercises to assistance agelong and fortify your hands, wrists, forearms and elbows. They’re demonstrated by trainer Melissa Gunn, of Pure Strength LA, whose squad trains table workers connected however to support their bodies done exercise.

1. Put each 5 fingertips unneurotic connected 1 hand, arsenic if grabbing a pinch of salt. Put a rubber set astir your fingernails and unfastened your fingers, pushing into the absorption of the set and spreading your fingers arsenic acold isolated arsenic possible, until you person a wide-open hand. Repeat 5 times connected each hand.

2. Standing oregon sitting, enactment the palms of your hands unneurotic successful beforehand of your chest, astatine thorax height, arsenic if praying. Slowly rise your elbows, with your thumbs against your body, and your hands volition people driblet down. Do it until you consciousness a agelong successful your fingers and forearms. Repeat 5-10 times.

3. Place your manus flat, thenar down, connected a table oregon table. Gently assistance 1 digit astatine a clip disconnected the array and past little it. You tin besides assistance each your fingers astatine erstwhile and past little them. Repeat 5-10 times connected each hand.

4. Lay your limb level connected a array oregon table with your wrist hanging implicit the edge. Keep your limb consecutive portion lifting your wrist up toward the ceiling and clasp for 5-10 seconds. Gently little your wrist down toward the level and clasp for 5-10 seconds. Repeat this 5 times for each wrist oregon bash some together.

5. Slowly rotation your wrists inward and outward, 5-10 times connected each side.

(Exercises came from Dr. Joshua T. Goldman, UCLA sports medicine; Melissa Gunn, Pure Strength LA; Tom Hendrickx, Pivot Physical Therapy; Vanessa Martinez Kercher, Indiana University-Bloomington, School of Public Health; Nico Pronk, Health Partners Institute; Niki Saccareccia, Light Inside Yoga.)