Best Hand and Wrist Exercises for Gamers [April 2020] | Esports Physical Therapist | 1HP

Introduction and Overview

In this video, the presenter provides education on how to approach wrist pain and hand health for gamers. The video includes stretches and strengthening exercises for long-term relief and prevention of pain patterns experienced during gaming sessions.

Wrist and Hand Health Education

• Gamers often experience pain due to lack of endurance in handling long hours of gaming.

• Three essential exercises are recommended to build muscle capacity and aid in recovery:

• Perform 3 sets of 25 wrist extensions with palm facing down and up using a can of soup.

Stretches for Wrist Flexibility

• Two stretches are demonstrated to be done between games or after gaming sessions:

• Wrist flexion stretch: Stretching the top side of the forearm.

• Wrist extension stretch: Stretching the palm side of the forearm.

Self-Massage Technique for Temporary Relief

• A self-massage technique using a long towel is shown to provide temporary relief for wrist and forearm pain.

• Grip one end of the towel, wrap it around the forearms, apply pressure, keep elbows straight, make a fist, and bend into extension (wrist coming down or away from the ceiling).

• Repeat this movement for two sets of 12 repetitions.

Finger Stretches

This section focuses on finger stretches that target stiffness in muscles responsible for clicking, WASD movements, and mouse usage.

• Perform a two-way or three-way stretch by stretching two fingers at a time into extension.

• Hold each pair (middle two, first two, last two) for five seconds each.

• Repeat this stretch five times.

Strengthening Exercises for Long-Term Relief

The presenter introduces strengthening exercises to provide long-term relief for wrist and hand pain.

• Towel curl exercise: Grab a towel and curl it up towards the ceiling, bending the wrist.

• This exercise helps strengthen the same muscles targeted by the finger stretches.

Strengthening Different Grip Types

This section focuses on strengthening exercises for different grip types used in gaming.

• Pressing at different parts of the fingers strengthens specific muscles:

• Pressing at the first pad of fingers strengthens muscles used during palm grip.

• Pressing at the middle pad strengthens muscles commonly used with fingertip grip.

• Pressing at the fingertip strengthens claw muscles.

• Repeat each press or resistance ten times on each side.

Forearm Muscle Strengthening Against Wall

The presenter demonstrates forearm muscle strengthening exercises using a wall.

• Level one exercise involves simple wall push-ups to control movement along the palm and backside of the forearm.

Finger and Forearm Strengthening Exercises

In this section, the speaker demonstrates various exercises to strengthen the fingers and forearms.

Single Arm Bounces and Finger Push-ups

• With enough practice and strength, one can progress to single arm bounces.

• Advanced individuals can try finger push-ups on the ground, which require controlling the descent and ascent of the entire body weight with the fingers.

Wall Exercise for Forearm Muscles

• Start with hands against a wall in a specific position.

• Slowly control the descent into a full wrist flex position.

• This eccentrically loads the forearm muscles, helping to develop strength more quickly.

• Recommended to do three sets of ten repetitions.

Finger Curls with Towel and Weights

• Inspired by foot rehab exercises, this exercise involves using a towel and weights.

• Curl your fingers towards your hand while holding onto one end of a towel with weights attached at the other end.

• Repeat this exercise ten times per set.

Towel Squeezes and Curls

• Use a small hand towel for these exercises.

1. Simple squeeze: Hold a rolled-up piece of towel for five seconds, repeating for three sets of ten squeezes.

2. Lengthwise curl: Slowly curl the towel until it becomes rolled up at your fist, then squeeze for five seconds at the end.

Soup Can Exercises

• These exercises utilize soup cans as weights.

1. Soup can squeeze: Grab a wide-fitting soup can and squeeze it to work on grip muscles. Hold for several seconds.

2. Extensions: Maintain grip on the soup can while extending your arm upwards towards the ceiling to strengthen muscles along the top side of the forearm.

3. Palm-side curls: Turn your palm facing up towards the ceiling and curl upwards to work on muscles along the palm side of the wrist.

Timeframe for Results

• It takes approximately four to six weeks to see a difference in strength.

• Consistency is key, and noticeable improvements may be observed within one to two weeks.

Timestamps are provided for each section to easily locate the corresponding part of the video.