“I have a ‘wonkey’ wrist,” exclaimed Sharon, one of our personal training clients. “Whenever I pick up my cat Ozzy, my wrist shifts around and hurts.” Sharon expressed this wrist issue sends pain through her fingers and thumb. When she gets pots and pans from the bottom shelf of her kitchen cabinets, pain in her wrist makes her avoid the activity altogether. Poor Ozzy the cat does not get picked up as much either. This condition of wrist pain is common in the general population. It can be caused by a previous injury, arthritis, overuse, or underuse. Even though wrist and hand injuries are painful and detrimental to our everyday productivity, there is nothing some regular upper body strength training exercises can cure.
Muscles of the upper extremities are comprised of pushing and pulling muscles. The big pushing muscles are the triceps and pectorals. The strong pulling muscles are the biceps and scapular muscles. Let’s not overlook the wide array of muscles attached to the forearm surrounding the wrist. These muscles assist in grabbing onto objects, lifting objects up and down, pulling toward us, and pushing things away from us. If we want to efficient move objects like the attention starved Ozzy the cat effectively, having optimal upper extremity strength is critically important.
The push up is one of the simplest and most effective exercises to master. Regularly exercise utilizing the push up offers significant strength adaptations in the upper extremity pushing muscles and wrists muscles. The action of supporting one’s weight over the ground uses the muscles of the triceps and pectorals. Stressing the muscles throughout the upward and downward action utilizes a sequential pattern of coordinated muscular contractions in which the wrist, elbow, and shoulder joint must work in unison to create a successful execution of pushing the body up from the ground. To perform, find either an inclined surface or wall to place your hands. Maintain elbows in by your side to emphasize efficient triceps engagement. Ensuring to “roll the elbows” forward so the “eyes of the elbow” or “elbow pits” are facing in front of the body ensures the humerus is packed correctly into the shoulder socket. Then perform your “push up.” This technique will emphasize sufficient engagement of the triceps and muscles of scapular stabilization and decrease the likelihood of shoulder injuries from exercising. Furthermore, if the wrists hurt because the palms are on a flat surface, use a hexagon shaped dumbbell or push up stand to put the wrist in a neutral position. Perform your pushups for 2-3 sets of 5-10 repetitions anywhere from 1-3 times per week.
The bicep curl is one of the quickest and most effective exercises to assist in upper body pulling muscle strength. We always tell our personal training clients in Napa that these exercises are too easy that they are commonly overlooked. The bicep curl action consists of grasping an object with one hand, keeping the elbow isolated by the side of the body, and flexing at the elbow to bring the forearm closer to the humerus. This exercise is traditionally performed with dumbbells. However, there are a cornucopia of objects in every human being’s dwelling that can be used as resistance to perform an efficient and effective bicep curl. Utilizing a gallon jug of water, a quart sized can of paint, an upside down bottle of wine, or in some cases an adequately sized skillet can serve as a object with sufficient weight to stress the upper body pulling muscles attached to the upper arm and forearm. To perform, grasp an object that can be comfortably held in the hand. Stand or sit down with the elbow pinned to the side and shoulder blades “parked” against the rib cage to ensure proper posture. Lift the object to change the angle of the forearm and humerus to where tension can be felt in the biceps and forearm muscles. Perform these biceps curls for 2-3 sets of 5-10 repetitions anywhere from 1-3 times per week.
Ozzy the cat and many other important objects need to be firmly grasped, moved around, and loved by Sharon and the rest of us who have furry friends and objects to move around the house. However, if Sharon and the rest of us have insufficient strength and our hands hurt, how is Ozzy and the rest of the home pet crew going to get the TLC they need? Pain and weakness is never fun. The brightside of weakness in the human body is that weakness and pain are curable. We need to train though. The human body is designed to adapt to a struggle once we consistently tend to it. Once we perform strength training exercises that target our trouble spots, pain and weakness will decrease.
After a few months of strength training 2-3 times per week, Sharon can now pick up Ozzy and give him the much-needed feline bonding he needs. Make sure to listen to your body. Address the trouble areas and develop a strength training regiment that will help us pick up pets, pots, and whatever else needs to be picked up to assist us in our everyday lives.
Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.
