Hands + Fingers

How so I strengthen my hands and fingers?

What do you want strong hands and fingers for? open handed strikes? or gripping?

 

I don't know much about hand conditioning, do you want to be able to do mental finger tip strikes?

 

I used to use these grippy things to strengthen my grip, don't really know what they are called like a spring with 2 handles that you squeeze in your hands.

 

The best people to ask would be a rock climber!!!

 

http://www.bodyresults.com/S2preseason3.asp

 

Bretty

Finger tip pushups will strenghen the fingers and hands. A good way to strenghen the grip if you want that is if you lift weights, or buy one of those squuzy things which climbers use to strnehgen the grip.

A great way to build grip strength quickly is known as the "farmer's walk". Try holding two heavy buckets or dumbells, anything heavy, one in each hand. You should pick something so heavy that no matter ow hard you grip, you drop it within a minute. Do this two or three times with a minute or two rest in between, once perhaps twice a week.

 

If you mean increasing finger/knuckle/palm/knifehand resiliance to strike harder with less pain, try attacking reasonably soft objects at first, slowly building up the resistance of the material - take is slow and easy with this one!

"farmer's walk"

In Goju-ryu karate there's a traditional training implement called nigiri-game (I think that may literally mean "gripping jars") just for that, they're big ceramic jars with a lip at the top you grip with your fingertips. One way to train with them is to practice your stances while holding them out to the sides, i.e. stepping across the floor in zenkutsu-dachi. As your grip improves you can add sand to increase the challenge. Hand conditioning in my dojo includes basic gripping exercises (open your hands fully, clench them into fists as tight as you can, repeat 30 or so times, can be done slowly or very fast), makiwara work, and fingertip pushups. I've heard of conditioning your hands by thrusting them into buckets full of rice/beans/gravel/whatever, don't know anything about that method. That's all I can think of!

I squeeze a ball and work some fingertip pushups into my exercise routine. If you are going to do the pushups start easy, maybe even on your knees just to get your fingers and hands conditioned.

 

I saw a guy the other day doing what he called "eagle talon" pushups which utilize the first two fingers and the thumb. Very difficult and not for beginners.

I also squeeze a tennis ball. A good one for hand and wrist strenght is take a 5 or 10 lb weight tie a rope around it wrap the other end around a stick then slowly wind it up then down. start ith 5lbs then work your way up. As for conditioning finger tips and knuckles I dont believe in doing that (I need my hands for work)

1. Knuckle pushups. Keep the wrists straight and the weight on the first two knuckles. This is an excellent way to develop proper wrist alignment for closed fist strikes.

 

2. Kneeling on your hands and knees with your fingers pointing forward, rock your weight slowly forward to your finger tips and then back. This benefits both the wrists and the fingers.

 

3.Wrist Push ups are performed on the back of the hands, palms up. This improves both flexibility and strength.

 

4. Wrist twists, grabbing one hand with the other and twisting, using slow, steady pressure. The left arm is extended palm up. The right hand is placed palm up under the left hand. The fingers of the right hand grab the thumb side of the left hand and twist counter clockwise. Next, the left arm is extended palm down. The right hand is placed palm down on top of the left hand. The right hand grabs the left and twists clockwise. Repeat for the other arm.

 

5. Finger tip pushups. Cup the hands as if there is a tennis ball in the palm. Keep the fingers flexed in this fashion throughout the pushups. Do not let them lock straight. This is great for developing gripping strength.

 

6. Open and close the hands with the arms held out at full extension. Begin with the arms straight out in front parallel to the floor, palms down. Fully open the hands and then close them to a tight fist repeatedly at a rate of about once per second. Next, turn the palms up and continue to fully open and close the hands. Move the arms to straight up above the head, palms forward and then palms back. Move the arms to straight out to the sides, palms down and then palms up. This works the muscles and tendons of the forearm and builds a strong grip.

 

7. Dumbbell curls. The forearm is resting on support(table/bench) with the wrist extended out over the end. The wrist curls are performed slowly in both the palm up and palm down position.

 

Heavy bag work is effective for hand conditioning. Use hand wraps and bag gloves to develop your wrist strength and alignment. ... progress to bare hand bag work to toughen the hands. Serious wrist sprains can result from advancing too quickly before proper strength and alignment are developed so make this transition slowly from gloves to bare hands

Make a lot of posts at KF.

 

That Keyboard does wonders..... LOL

worked wonders for me!

 

nice post kickchick, alot of good advice.