Strengthen wrists: The 4 best exercises for more mobility and stability

Why strengthen wrists?

With the wrist muscles are all the muscles that support the wrist. wrist move and stabilize. Most of them originate in the elbow joint, from where the muscle fibers run across the wrist partly to the fingertips.

The wrists are one of the weakest limbs of the body. They are mainly supported by the forearm muscles and these in turn are a relatively small group. So it's no wonder that the wrists are not designed for heavy weights. It's a pity because we put a lot of strain on them all the time, both in everyday life and in sports. No matter whether you're carrying shopping up to the second floor, doing pull-ups, handstands or planks, climbing the climbing wall, standing in the boxing ring or doing yoga - without power in your wrists, you'll get tired sooner than you'd like. It, therefore, makes sense to strengthen them specifically.

Which muscles move the wrists?

A distinction is made between two large muscle groups: The flexors and the extensors.
The flexors are on the side of our palm, whereas the extensors are on the other side of the hand.

The extensors cause the wrist to extend:

1. Musculus extensor carpi radialis brevis
2. Musculus extensor carpi radialis longus
3. Musculus extensor carpi ulnaris
4. Musculus extensor digiti minimi
5. Musculus extensor digitorum

The flexors are responsible for bending the wrist towards the forearm:

• Musculus flexor carpi radialis
• Musculus flexor carpi ulnaris
• Musculus flexor digitorum profundus
• Musculus flexor digitorum superficialis
• Musculus flexor pollicis longus
• Musculus palmaris longus

What are the risks of neglecting your wrists?

1. Immobility

The mobility in our wrists should not be neglected: it can limit our training and our everyday life immensely. If your wrist mobility is low, you will quickly notice this in Calisthenics. Exercises with your own body weight, such as the handstand, require a free wrist.

2. Ineffective training

Although your target muscles still have power, you have to stop your training early because your wrists are weakening. If either the strength or the required mobility is lacking, you will not be as efficient in your training as you probably wish.

3. Injuries

The wrists are very susceptible to injury. If the muscles are strengthened all around, you protect the bones, tendons and ligaments in the unstable joint. This prevents you from overstretching or overbending.

Strengthen wrists: The best 4 exercises