Improving Grip Strength, Part 2 of 3

In a previous post I mentioned that there were three primary nerves traveling into the hands that might affect your grip strength. Today we're going to cover another one of those nerves, the Ulnar nerve travels down your arm and into your pinky finger, a little bit into your ring finger, and you might also experience discomfort on the pinky edge of your wrist. You may also have a little bit of discomfort or weakness on the inside of the elbow or in your triceps. If push-ups are hard for you or if doing any kind of tricep exercise is uncomfortable, give this exercise a try. 

Let's talk about an assessment, so we can see if this exercise is an important exercise for you. You might try a grip strength test, such as opening a jar, hanging from a pull-up bar, or you can do a simpler test by bringing your pinky finger and thumb together, then ask a partner to try to pull them apart. If it's really easy to pull the pinky apart from the thumb (not the thumb, but the pinky), this may be a really good exercise for you. You can also assess a tricep exercise, such as a push-up. 

As with all the nerve techniques we are going to keep the tension low about a 3 out of 10. I'm going to reach my fingers down, my elbow is straight and my shoulder is down. Maintaining a long spine. Then I bring the back of my hand up facing the ceiling. From there I'm going to bend my elbow like I'm squeezing a piece of paper or maybe a tennis ball in the crook of my elbow, still keeping a bent wrist. Then, I bring my elbow up, so that it's directly in front of my shoulder. If this is your 3 out of 10 on tension, you're going to stop. If this is not your 3 and you have more room to go, open the elbow out to the side, any amount. Finally, I tilt my head away. From there, I will lift my shoulder and that reduces the tension in my tricep and then press my shoulder back down, repeating this for 5-7 repetitions. Now I'm just going to wave my hand for 5-7 repetitions. Then, slowly come out of that stretch and gently shake out your arm.

After trying this, go back to your assessment, whether that was opening a jar, testing a pull-up or push-up. Did you assess better or stronger? Did any discomfort decrease? 

Please share this post with anyone who might find it helpful.