Hi All and WELCOME to the next installment of 'Stretch of the Week'.  I had a client just this afternoon who mentioned he had a good variety of stretches in his regular regime, but he didn't know any for his forearms ... so this led me to put up these stretches this week and leave the lower body alone for a week or two.

These stretches are really good for anyone who uses their arms a lot at work or play - and yes, that does cover just about everyone.  If you do not regularly and thoroughly stretch your forearms you can end up with really achy arms, or even Carpal Tunnel Type symptoms.  You may even find that you start loosing power when you grip/grasp things, and/or lift anything ... even your coffee cup, and that's serious stuff.

The stretches for today are very simple and easy to do regularly throughout your day, and focuses mainly on the muscles of the forearm exstensor group.  They are very similar to the stretches from Week #8, but those stretches included the muscles of the forearm flexor group as well.  You can certainly do all of these stretches, but always remember that they are not the same, and they target different muscles.  As you do these stretches, the differences between them will become very obvious,  just be sure to remember which stretch you are doing and don't blend them together.  If you do blend them together you will end up doing none of the stretches correctly or effectively and in essence just be wasting your time.

Don't ever under estimate the importance of stretching and the benefits it holds.

As far as technique goes for these stretches, it is important to hold your upper arm locked and stable.  The muscles being stretched attach to the distal Humerus (upper arm bone) and locking this will enable the stretch by securing one end of the target muscles.  These are more stretches that you can hold as long as you like and just relax into the position and breathe naturally.  Just make sure you do not move too quickly or sharply and all is good.
This stretch is beneficial to anyone recovering from Tennis Elbow, Golfer's Elbow, Thrower's Elbow, Wrist Sprain, Wrist Dislocation, Wrist Tendonitis, Carpel Tunnel Syndrome and/or Ulnar Tunnel Syndrome.

Always rememberthat while stretching may be recommended to aid recovery out of injury, you should always be very careful when stretching through rehabilitation.  Your soft tissues are likely to be more vulnerable to re-injury if you stretch too much or too hard during this time.  Always check with your Health Care Professional who is guiding you through your recovery to make sure it is appropriate to start stretching, and please - ALWAYS FOLLOW THE RULES FOR SAFE STRETCHING (The first posting on this stretching blog).

Image taken from "Upper Body Stretches" wall chart by B. Walker.

Hi All and Welcome to the next installment of 'Stretch of the Week'.  This page of our website had a 2 week sabbatical while I was on holidays interstate ... sorry for the break in transmission ... but I am back in clinic all refreshed and ready to share more general stretches for you to help you keep your body in condition, and today I thought we would stretch our wrists.

So many people work with keyboards and/or computers these days.  Whether you work in an administrative/office environment or not, i'm confident you will find a keyboard of some description that you use frequently.  It doesn't even need to be work related - just look at how many people are on Facebook or Myspace or any number of other social networking websites ... then there is the ever popular Text Messaging on your mobile phone ... or maybe you work in the Trade or Manual Labour industry using your hands and arms to do just about everything ... Do you ever take just 5 minutes to stretch your forearms and wrists?

Maybe you find yourself feeling tight and/or achy in your forearms - either occasionally or even frequently ... Stretching your forearms and wrists is so simple and easy, and you don't even need to move your body from in front of your computer to do it!

I am in the habit of identifying which muscles are the focus of the stretch each week, but there are so many small muscles, tendons and ligaments through the forearms that this week it is sufficient to say there is precious little soft tissue from your elbow to your fingers that is NOT being stretched with these techniques.

Technique:
You can do this stretch anywhere, at anytime.  Stand or sit, whichever is more comfortable for you, just be sure to be stable and balanced.

To stretch your Forearm Flexors - Reach your arms out in front of you and interlock your fingers.  Roll your wrists so that your palms face outwards and away from your body, then gently push your hands out.  Do not let your fingers get too loose because it is the extension chain from your elbows through to your wrists and fingers that create the stretch.

To stretch your Forearm Extensors - Reach one arm out in front of you with your hand and fingers pointing down, creating flexion in your wrist.  Use your other hand to hold the fingers of the flexed hand ... following me ... then gently pull your fingers towards your body while bracing the outstretched arm to keep that elbow extended and the arm straight.  Again, it is the extension in the elbow coupled with the flexion in the wrist and fingers that creates the stretch.

Both stretches should be felt closer to the elbow than the wrist if done effectively, because this is where the bellies of the muscles are.

NOTE:
There are multiple ways yopur can stretch these muscle groups, some include kneeling on the floor and resting on flexed wrists.  I have chosen these techniques because I feel they are safer techniques for Stretching Beginners.  If you rest your body weight on flexed wrists, it is way too easy to cause yourself more harm than good ... in my personal opinion.

As far as breathing is concerned, it is not necessarily as important with these stretches as it is with other stretches.  The focus behind timing your stretch with your exhale breath is that stretching is more effective and you get greater benefit for effort when you do that.  These stretches are so simple that you can hold them for as long as you like, and in that situation you can just breathe normally and it wont affect your benefit for effort too adversely.

Tip:
It can be easy to over stretech these muscles and cause injury.  To avoid injury/soreness from over stretching, do not apply too much force too quickly.  Be gentle but firm with your technique, regularity and frequency are the key to increasing your benefit for effort.

Always remember to relax into your stretches - don't fight against the stretch (it may cause more harm than good), and always do each stretch 3 times, at least twice each day.

Taken from "The Anatomy of Stretching" by B. Walker pp61 & 65.