Wrist Stretches

Wrists help us do so many important motions in our daily lives, but we rarely (if ever) think about taking care of the joints and muscles of our wrists! Especially with the increased screen time and typing we all do now, our wrists are very active during the day and easily get stressed. If you do a lot of planks (or yoga or gymnastics), play tennis, or do aerial dance (I did this in college and definitely needed to stretch my wrists a lot), your wrists may also be more tense. So here are some simple, yet very effective, wrist stretches you can do!

I took these pictures at Pure Barre soon after I started working there last summer - never would have guessed how much the world would change in less than a year! I miss this studio space and the community so much!

Sit or kneel comfortably on the floor. Walk your hands out a bit in front of you, and flip your hands so your palms press into the ground, with your fingers pointing towards you (see the above picture). Try to straighten your arms as much as you can, and lean back gently to intensify the stretch. Hold the stretch, taking deep breaths in and out. You may even feel the stretch up into your forearms.

Next, bring your arms up in front of you, and flip one hand so your palm is away from you and your fingers point down towards the floor. Keep the arm straight on the side you are stretching, and lifted to about shoulder height. With your other hand, gently pull your fingers back towards you. You can work through pulling one finger at a time if that feels good, and then all the fingers at once. Switch sides and repeat.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/951464_83efb06185de4332845eb86bcb7e7c38/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Another great way to release tension in your wrists is simply to interlace your fingers, and roll your wrists out as if you were making a figure 8 shape. Have some fun with this one! After all these stretches, shake out your wrists, and I hope they feel less tense.