Hands are the king of function. They are directly involved in almost every functional task you perform. In fact, the only things moving as I type these words are my hands and fingers. Strangely, however, even though hands and fingers are frequently used, they are often neglected when it comes to strengthening and flexibility training.
The great majority of us tend to rely on daily use alone to maintain the strength and functioning of our hands, but there is a risk in this: progressive decline.
Over the years, I’ve worked with many patients who have had decreased hand function unrelated to specific joint, muscle, or tendon pathology. Instead, they were simply deconditioned. We don’t tend to think of hands specifically when we think of muscular deconditioning and weakness, but muscles indeed power hand function and strength, and these can grow weak over time, even though we use them often.
One problem with hands, however, is that they have many joints and muscles involved in their function, and it can be challenging to address each one individually.
No Grain, No Gain
One solution may lie in something as simple as a bucket of rice and a few simple tools. Exercises using rice allow for specific strengthening of the small muscles of the hands in addition to the larger muscles of the forearms. For this set of exercises, instead of saying “no pain, no gain,” we might say “no grain, no gain.”My patients generally tolerate these activities well, but I recommend consulting with your health care provider to see if they are right for you. Also, if you have sensitive skin, it’s a good idea to wear gloves while you do this exercise to prevent skin irritation.
Rice bucket training is a grip strength and rehab exercise for hand overuse or injuries. They’re also popular among rock climbers for maintaining a strong grip.
6 Rice Bucket Exercises for Robust Hand Strength
For this series of exercises, you'll need a bucket or a large kitchen pot and about 10 pounds of uncooked white rice. I found 5-pound bags for only $5 each—definitely go for inexpensive here.
The rice can be used again and again when properly stored. If you decide to repurpose it at some point, it makes a great filling for eye pillows or other types of gifts you can give your friends and family next Christmas. I find it poetic that the very thing you used to strengthen your hands can go on to gift others in different ways.
1. Power Grip
Let’s grab hold of rice bucket exercises by grabbing hold of some rice. This exercise is great for strengthening your grip and provides excellent finger mobility.Step 1: Place both open hands flat on the rice with your fingers spread out as far as possible.
Step 2: Slowly close your fingers to grab as much rice as possible, then squeeze it as hard as you can for 1 second.
Step 3: Relax your grip and return to the starting position.
Step 4: Performing a grasp and release counts as 1 repetition. Try to perform 3 sets of 15 repetitions.
Modification: If your hands are wider than the bucket, you can perform the activity one side at a time.
Increase the challenge: Increase the number of repetitions and the length of the squeeze by a few seconds.
Why I like it: This exercise works on grip strength by encouraging the use of each finger individually.
2. Power Extension
Having worked on grip strength, let’s now work on finger extension, the muscles responsible for opening a clenched hand.Step 1: Hold your fingers such that all of your fingertips are touching.
Step 2: Push them deep into the rice, at least up to your wrist, before opening your fingers as far as you can in 1 second while maintaining downward pressure.
Step 3: Pull your hands out of the rice and return to the starting position before performing the second repetition.
Step 4: Pushing your hands into the rice and opening them counts as 1 repetition. Try to perform 3 sets of 15 repetitions.
Modification: As in the Power Grip, you can do this exercise one side at a time.
Increase the challenge: Increase sets and repetitions.
Why I like it: Finger extension is largely ignored among most exercises, but this one focuses squarely on it.
3. Wrist Flexion/Extension
This “paddle hand” exercise is great for strengthening your wrists. Not only that, but the resistance your fingers will experience during the exercise can also work them isometrically.Step 1: Hold your right hand and fingers like a blade and dig your hand deeply into the rice.
Step 2: Keeping your fingers straight out and together, move your wrist into flexion and extension while keeping your forearm still (you can hold onto your forearm with your other hand to keep it from moving). This is a back-and-forth movement.
Step 3: Each flexion and extension counts as 1 repetition. Try to perform 3 sets of 12 repetitions.
Increase the challenge: Increase the number of sets, repetitions, and/or movement speed.
Why I like it: In keeping your fingers rigid and straight, this exercise becomes more challenging as the repetitions pile up—yet it’s easy to perform overall.
4. Fist Boring
This exercise focuses on your wrists specifically, working the muscles of your forearms while your hands are clenched.Step 1: Ball both hands into fists.
Step 2: Initiate motion by placing your knuckles on the rice and then boring down into it by rotating your hands in circles as you push them down. Be sure to move your fists without using your forearms—because they are attached, both will move, but focus your attention on moving the wrist.
Step 3: As soon as you move your hands down as far as you can, pull them back out and start again.
Step 4: Boring all the way down, then pulling your hands out, counts as 1 repetition. Try to perform 3 sets of 12 repetitions.
Increase the challenge: Increase sets and repetitions to increase task difficulty.
Why I like it: This is an excellent all-around wrist and forearm exercise, providing great range of motion and solid strengthening of the muscles involved in wrist circumduction (circular movement).
5. Spoon Twist
Thus far, we’ve focused on the movement of your hands in rice. Now, let’s focus on moving things in the rice, such as a wooden spoon or mallet, whichever fits in your container. This increases the difficulty of rotating your hands in the rice. While using a wooden spoon or mallet can be very convenient, you can use other things like rulers, forks, and even sticks or short dowel rods.Step 1: Hold a wooden spoon in a fisted grip in your right hand such that the ends project out evenly from both sides of your fist. Place your knuckles on the rice and press down by rotating your hand side-to-side so that your hand and spoon bore down into the rice to the top of your wrist.
Step 2: From here, rotate your hand as far as you can to the left and right for 15 repetitions before switching hands and performing the same movements on the other side.
Step 3: Rotating your hand left and right 15 times counts as 1 set. Try to perform 3 sets of 15 rotations per hand.
Increase the challenge: The wider the object you hold in your hand, the harder it will be to rotate your hands side to side.
Why I like it: This exercise takes it up a notch by forcing you to deal with the extra resistance of whatever you hold in your hand as you perform the rotations.
6. Spoon Stir
Now that you have a nice, sturdy spoon in your hand, let’s use it for what it was created for: stirring. This is a good finger and wrist strengthener, especially given the use of a larger spoon.Step 1: Hold a large wooden spoon in one hand.
Step 2: Place the head of the spoon fully into the rice and stir using your wrist. Move the spoon in as large a circle as you can without moving your forearm.
Step 3: Stir 1 minute in a clockwise direction, then reverse and stir in a counterclockwise direction before performing the same movement with your other hand.
Step 4: Stirring for 1 minute in both directions counts as 1 set. Try to perform 3 sets with each hand.
Increase the challenge: Want to make it harder? Push the spoon further into the rice to make it harder to stir, and/or increase the size of the spoon you use. You can also try a handhold variation: instead of holding the spoon where the bowl is on the thumb side of the hand, you can hold it where the spoon is straight up and down and the bowl is on the pinky side. Remember to keep your forearm still while you stir.
Why I like it: The stirring motion involves many muscles and can provide a surprising amount of challenge over 2 minutes, both for your fingers and your hands.
Together, these exercises can do wonders for increasing your hands’ functional strength and mobility. I also find that they often help decrease hand and wrist pain in my patients, though I cannot guarantee that this will be true with you. What I am certain of, however, is that your hands will get stronger and more capable if you perform them at least three times per week. Good luck, and I hope you find them beneficial.
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here.
Copy
