#wrist flex

[whatshesworth]

[boundperformance-blog]

Wrist Flexors: Part 1

Muscular balance

For care of the forearm, I have long been aware of the need for muscular balance.  The wrist flexors run down the inside of the forearm, and curl your palm to your forearm.  Wrist Extensors pull the back of your hand towards the elbow and are often neglected.

There are two simple tests to raise awareness to potential imbalance between these two directions of movement.

First, relax your hand completely and with your wrist in a neutral position (neither flexed or extended) note how curled your fingers are.  If your fingers are in a 'claw' and curl in towards your palm tightly, even while relaxed, the muscles which flex your fingers are tighter than the extensors.

Another great awareness builder is to hold your arms in front of you, straight elbows, hands at the height of your eyes.   Try to pull your fingernails back towards your face, and notice in a short period of time, the effort of the muscles along the back of the forearm.  

Extending the wrist and fingers can help stretch out tight wrist flexors and correct muscle imbalance.

Upa yoga: “Directional Movement of the Arms”  <- (link)

Put a rubber band around the fingers and thumb, work the muscles by stretching the band

Strong flicking action, focusing on the fingers extending

Preventing a 'claw', keeping your fingers nimble and preventing misalignment of joints (caused by one muscle pulling, but the counter muscle not being strong enough to stabilise the action) are all great reasons to correct any muscle imbalance.