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Hand & Wrist Exercisers
Hand and wrist exercisers are useful for improving your fine motor skills after a stroke or increasing joint mobility from conditions like arthritis. They are also helpful for improving grip strength in athletes.
Hand Exercise Equipment Features
Adjustability
The resistance of a hand exerciser can be fixed or adjustable. Fixed grip strengtheners might be more affordable than adjustable ones, but you have to buy equipment with more resistance once your strength increases. If you’re recovering from a stroke or you need to improve grip when you have arthritis, a fixed exerciser can be a great choice. An adjustable exerciser is great for weightlifters and bodybuilders who need to progressively increase their resistance level with each session.
Level of Resistance
Your goals and your exercise level should determine the level of resistance you go for. If you need an exerciser for rehabilitation, you need to go for an exerciser with low resistance and one you find comfortable using. Athletes, on the other, need greater resistance in order to improve.
Design of an Exerciser
Hand exercisers are designed to exercise your forearm, hands, wrist, or your fingers. Depending on your individual needs, you’ll require a different design.
Material and Durability
You need a unit that serves you for the long haul. Metallic units with few moving parts, while more expensive, will last longer than a hand exercise ball, for example.
Types of Hand Exercisers to Choose From
1. Grip Strengtheners
These are designed to help people rebuild their grip strength after a condition such as a stroke or arthritis. You can also use them if you need to firm your grip to improve your performance in sports such as golf, tennis, or weightlifting. You need adjustable grip strengtheners so that you can increase the resistance as your grip improves.
2. Putties/Clay
Clay is ideal for rehabilitation from strokes and arthritis, among other conditions. It offers simple training for weak hands and can help improve your hand muscle strength. They are also great when you have smaller hands and you have difficulty maneuvering traditional hand exercisers. Besides using them for rehabilitation, the exercise putty is good for stress relief.
3. Finger Exercisers
Finger exercisers help people who suffer from finger ligament strain. If you use your fingers a lot to do different tasks, you may need an elaborate exercise routine. When used consistently, the finger exercisers help you improve the dexterity of your fingers. The tools may not be useful in strengthening other muscles such as the forearm and wrists, but it helps your fingers.
4. Balls and Hand Rings
Balls and hand rings are ideal when you need a simple, yet versatile hand exerciser. They do not offer adjustable exercise, but they help you improve your wrist, forearm, and finger strength. This equipment can relieve stiffness and pain in your joints.
5. Mirror Therapy Box
This is a mirror designed to trick the brain into repairing damaged neural pathways after a stroke. It facilitates neuroplasticity, which is the ability of the brain to reorganize after stroke. You will exercise using the unaffected hand so that the brain thinks you are using two unaffected hands. The exercise requires repetition and consistency so that the brain learns fast.
6. Therapeutic Gloves
These gloves are for people who lose the functionality of their hands after a stroke. The gloves will improve your grip and hand functionality so that you can perform different tasks at home more easily. You can use them for tasks such as grasp and release and exercise your fingers and your hands as you do so. Most of them can adjust their resistance.
What Conditions Do Hand and Wrist Exercisers Help With?
Arthritis and Pain in Joints
Hand exercisers help increase blood flow to aching joints by stretching muscles around that area. This, in turn, helps relieve pain in those joints. If you have arthritis, which causes pain in your joints, choose one of our hand exercisers that feels comfortable during use.
Stroke Recovery
Hand exercisers can help you rebuild strength after a stroke or facilitate the healing of nerves damaged after a stroke. Picking a trainer with adjustable resistance helps you start with simple exercises and progress as your strength increases.
Repetitive Strain Injury Prevention
If your fingers or hands do the same task every day such as typing or writing, exercising the fingers and hand strengthens it to prevent damages from the repetitive tasks.
You can also use the trainers to release stress as they allow you to channel your frustrations and anger into the ball.
What Is the Difference Between Fixed and Adjustable Grip Strengtheners?
Fixed tension grip exercisers have one resistance level. These strengtheners have few moving parts, which make them stronger and more durable. However, you have to buy a unit with a higher resistance level every time your strength increases.
Adjustable grip strengtheners have different tension/resistance levels, so you can increase as hands allow. They are beginner-friendly, especially if you are using them for rehabilitation. These units have more moving parts, which might affect their durability.
Types of Grip Strengtheners
- Coil strengtheners – These feature a coil from a metal such as aluminum alloy. When you grip the metal, you tighten the coil, which goes back to its original shape when you release it. They are used to exercise the fingers, hand, and wrist.
- Spring trainers – These have two handles and a hinge at the center and are bound by a spring. The spring determines the resistance level of the equipment.
- Articulated strengtheners – These are finger trainers that allow you to exercise each finger individually. They have several springs, which offer resistance from a central platform.