Fine motor control is one of the most important abilities your hands can possess. In this increasingly technological world, the ability to perform fine manipulations is more essential than ever. Many everyday functions require varying degrees of fine motor control, and smartphone utilization requires coordination in a league of its own.
If you have strong fine motor coordination, you have nothing to fear, but hand weakness and a lack of coordination can severely hamper your quality of life.
5 Exercises for Nimble Fingers
Fingers adept at fine motor control help you function flawlessly. The better your fine motor control is, the better you can manage everyday tasks such as getting dressed, flossing your teeth, chores around the home, functioning at work, or using technology.One word of caution: Fine motor exercises can be one of the most frustrating activities patients do in the clinic, and it could be the same for you. If you find yourself getting frustrated or feeling defeated, don’t stop. Instead, take a break and return to the exercise after a moment of rest.
1. Fine Motor Warm-Up
Before embarking on any great expedition with fine motor exercises, I always have my patients and clients warm up first. This exercise is a great all-around warmup.What it does: The fine, more delicate joints and muscles of the hands—especially the intrinsic muscle groups—will get warmed up and be prepared to function optimally throughout the following exercises and other everyday tasks.
Why I like it: Fine motor control can often be significantly increased by doing nothing more than warming up your hands and fingers.
Step 1: Start with your hands fisted, elbows bent, and your hands pulled in close to your underarms.
Step 2: Slowly push your hands out straight forward.
Step 3: As you complete the forward extension of your arms, open your fists until your hands and fingers are extended, drawing back toward your forearms in a “stop” gesture before returning to the start position.
Step 4: Moving your arms forward and then returning them to the starting position counts as 1 repetition. Try to complete 3 sets of 15 repetitions.
Modifications: If you can’t rotate your palms up in the start position, just turn them as far as possible. It will still be beneficial. The same goes for wrist extension. Bring them back as far as you can without worrying about not being able to move them all the way.
2. Coin Pluck ’n Tuck
Whoever thought that the small discs in your coin jar, or your pocket, could help you so much with fine motor dexterity? Trust me, this exercise will “change” your mind.What it does: This exercise works on finger dexterity when picking up the coins and tucking them into your palm.
Why I like it: This exercise is a tempest in a teapot, in a good way. Don’t trivialize it, because it really works your hands, especially when your hand starts filling with coins.
Step 1: Place a pile of coins on a table or counter.
Step 2: Pick up one coin at a time with your thumb and index finger, and use your other fingers to tuck it into your palm.
Step 3: Continue doing this until you can’t hold another coin. Next, reverse the process and try to feed one coin at a time to your thumb and index finger so that you can place it back on the table.
Step 4: Picking up the coins one at a time, then placing them back down one at a time, counts as 1 set. Try to perform 3 sets per hand.
Modification: You can use quarters only to make the task easier, or dimes to make it harder.
3. Shirt Buttoning
Conceptualize this activity as an exercise and not a functional challenge. Yes, you may very well be able to button a shirt, but buttoning your shirt isn’t the focus of the activity. By buttoning several shirts—and alternating the fingers you use—you can take buttoning from a simple task into a bona fide fine motor activity.More than buttoning several buttons along a placket—this exercise is about training your fingers for better dexterity and coordination. Can you tell that I’ve had this discussion countless times with patients over the years?
What it does: This activity provides a distinct challenge for intrinsic hand muscles with its different finger combinations and sustained activity.
Why I like it: This task uses an everyday activity of daily living to help make fingers better. If you struggle with buttons now, you might not by the time you do this a few times.
Step 1: Gather five to seven shirts with full button fronts.
Step 2: Lay them on a counter or table, and begin buttoning. Once you finish one shirt, move on to the next until you finish buttoning the entire group of shirts.
Step 3: Once you have finished buttoning the shirts, unbutton them. You may find that you have to take rests as you work on the shirts, and that’s perfectly acceptable.
Modifications
Make it harder: Do the buttoning with your eyes closed. (If you have finger numbness, this might not be an option.)
Switch the buttoning order, where one hand manipulates the button for one hole, and the other hand does the next.
4. Toothpick Pickup
The lowly toothpick, that scion of so much versatility, lends itself to us once again. Where the coin pluck ’n tuck got us started on the road to tabletop item retrieval, this exercise ups the challenge due to the small size of the toothpick. It’s not easy picking these little rascals up.I encourage you to do this exercise the right way—pick the toothpicks up between two fingers—instead of pressing on them with your fingers to pick them up by adhesion. The task itself isn’t the goal—the work your fingers must do to pick the toothpicks up is.
What it does: This challenging activity forces you to try to pick up toothpicks from a table or counter, providing a massive fine motor challenge that can require real concentration and determination.
Why I like it: If you can master this exercise, you’ve really accomplished something. It can be quite difficult for some people, but it really trains your fingers to deftly work together.
Step 1: Place up to 20 toothpicks on a counter or table.
Step 2: Slowly pick one at a time and place them into a container. Try to pick the toothpicks up first with the thumb and index finger, then the thumb and middle finger, next the thumb and ring finger, and finally the thumb and pinky.
Step 3: Picking all the toothpicks up and placing them in a container counts as 1 set. Try to perform 3 sets with each hand.
Modification: Can’t effectively pick up toothpicks? Use something a little bigger, like nails, screws, wooden screws—or even chopsticks.
5. Single-Handed Item Rotation
Fidget spinners have been popular recently, but I find that common household items make great tools for manipulation movement that can help increase your finger dexterity.What it does: This works on your hands in a steady stream of unpredictable, random movements, encouraging your fingers to grow skillful in a wide range of movements.
Why I like it: Irregular shapes manipulated rapidly equals a great workout for your fingers and can translate well to everyday tasks.
Step 1: Use a sponge, ball, small box, or even a “stress ball.”
Step 2: Turn the object over in your hands using your fingers to keep it going. Turn the object in random directions approximately every 5 seconds. Keep yourself guessing.
Step 3: Performing this activity for 1 minute counts as 1 set. Try to perform 3 sets with each hand.
Modifications: You can make it more challenging by not looking at the object as you manipulate it.
Together, these exercises create a routine that can help increase your overall finger dexterity and hand coordination. I recommend you perform the tasks at least three times per week for your best overall health and independence.
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.