Hand-Strengthening Exercises

The simplest exercise for building grip strength is squeezing a rubber ball or foam device. Once you have developed some hand strength with a ball or soft object, you may be able to work up to a more challenging device such as the one shown in figure 4.12. Make sure that all fingers and the thumb contribute equally to the squeeze to balance the force exerted, and completely relax between squeezes. Also, devices exist that allow you to squeeze one finger at a time so that you can build their strength individually. A simple way to strengthen the finger extensors is to bring all your fingers together and put a rubber band around the ends of the fingers. Then try to spread your fingers.

Figure 4.12 Hand-strengthening exercise.