Build Strong, Healthy, and Resilient Wrists
When you think about strengthening your body, your wrists might not be the first area that comes to mind. However, healthy and resilient wrists are crucial for everything from everyday tasks to athletic performance. Unfortunately, most training programs overlook upper extremity weight-bearing and hand-balancing exercises, which are incredibly effective at improving bone density and building straight-arm strength from your fingers to your shoulder complex.
The Overlooked Importance of Wrist Strength
Wrist health is often neglected in training programs. Yet, research shows that wrist fractures occur up to three times more often than hip fractures, especially in older adults. The wrists are vital joints that carry much of our upper body’s weight during pushing, pulling, and hand-balancing activities. Without regular loading through weight-bearing exercises, the wrists can become weak and vulnerable to injury.
Furthermore, wrist health isn’t just a concern for older adults. Many people in their late 20s and early 30s are unaware that weakening of your bone tissue doesn’t happen overnight! These conditions develop gradually over years of undertraining and underloading the body (e.g. osteopenia, osteoprosis). The earlier you start incorporating wrist-strengthening exercises into your routine, the better your long-term joint health and bone density will be. It’s not about preventing issues later—it’s about taking action now to build a strong foundation.
Exercises for Strong and Resilient Wrists
Below are some key exercises to target wrist strength and build resilience throughout the upper extremity. These movements can be scaled and modified to suit any fitness level by adjusting the position (kneeling, using a bench, counter, or wall). The video is a basic run through of each for demonstration!
1. Straight Arm Rockers (Fingers Backwards)
In this exercise, start in a kneeling tabletop position on your hands and knees, with fingers pointing back toward your body. Rock gently forward and backward, keeping your arms straight. This movement stretches and strengthens both the wrist flexors and extensors, building durability and flexibility in the joint.
2. Straight Arm Around the Worlds
In a quadruped or tabletop position, keep your arms straight and shift your weight in small circles, rotating around your wrists. This exercise targets the stabilizing muscles of the wrist, forearm, and shoulder, improving control and strength in the entire arm.
3. Wrist Smashes
In a kneeling position with the back of your wrists on the ground, place pressure into your wrists gently and bend your fingers back and forth. This exercise is very effective at stretching the tissues down the back of the hands and wrists that tend to be tight.
4. Straight Arm Rotations
From a tall plank or kneeling push-up position, rotate your shoulders so you feel like you’re “covering your armpits.” This builds strength and mobility in the wrist, which is essential for handling rotational forces in sports and daily activities.
5. Tall Planks
In a tall plank position, your wrists must your body weight, so make sure to spread those fingers to distribute forces. Holding this position for extended periods challenges the wrist stabilizers and strengthens the entire arm while improving core and shoulder stability.
6. Tall Side Planks
In side planks, your wrists experience lateral forces, strengthening the joint in a unique way. Start with a kneeling side plank, then progress to a traditional side plank as your strength improves. This exercise improves wrist stability and strengthens the shoulder complex.
7. Push-Ups (Quasi-Isometric Style)
Quasi-isometric push-ups involve making the full push-up motion as slow and controlled position from start to finish, which builds usable strength through every tissue.
8. Push-Ups (Eccentric Style)
Eccentric push-ups, where you slowly lower yourself down, reversing the motion with a forceful push to develop explosive pushing strength.
9. Fingertip Push-Ups
These are great to strengthen and condition the fingers that often get overlooked. Keep you fingers extended and use them well through the ground. I keep this one modified on my knees or to a counter due to the inherent weakness of my fingers relative to the rest of my arm.
10. Plyometric Push-Ups
In plyo push-ups, the wrists must absorb and rebound from impact. This explosive movement strengthens the wrist joint and engages fast-twitch muscle fibers, improving wrist resilience and dynamic control. Start these at a wall to first get comfortable!
The Long-Term Benefits of Weight-Bearing for Wrist Health
Regularly incorporating upper extremity weight-bearing exercises into your routine provides long-term benefits. These movements are not only effective at building wrist strength but also help improve bone density, preventing bone loss and conditions like osteoporosis. As mentioned, wrist fractures are more common than hip fractures, making it even more important to target this often-overlooked joint.
Strong, healthy wrists aren’t just for athletes—they’re essential for anyone who wants to move well, avoid injury, and maintain overall joint health for years to come. Start incorporating these weight-bearing and hand-balancing exercises into your routine today, and build the wrist strength that will serve you for life.