We’ve hit that point in the summer TV schedule where the two most exciting things (that aren’t in repeat) are Big Brother and American Ninja Warrior. Of the two, American Ninja Warrior is my favourite, I love watching the “ninja’s” making their way through crazy obstacles while I sit on the couch and eat my evening snack. So often I find the number one thing that does the ninja in is not their upper, lower or core strength (which are all crazy strong), but their grip strength. Many times they find themselves hanging by their fingertips and after a minute, their grip falters and they fall into the water below.
I’m sure many do spend time dedicated to improving their grip strength, and some of it is built into their obstacle training, I can’t help but wonder how many of them take their grip for granted until they find themselves hanging there.
This is what I was thinking about the day my HandFixx toolkit from FlexFixx arrived in the mail and I was playing around with it. I was shocked at just how terrible the strength in my hands was, I could barely apply any force in some of the exercises in the user guide. What the heck!?
I guess I hadn’t really thought much about it when I first agreed to work with FlexFixx to promote their new product. I was excited to think about the ways I could use it for dexterity training in my older adult classes but haven’t really thought much past that. For years we’ve worked on dexterity exercises in that class, which is really important, but equally important is training the actual muscles in our hands.
Not familiar with the muscles in your hand and fingers? Me either, but they include the Opponens Pollicis, Opponens Digiti Minimi, Abductor Pollicis, Abductor Digiti Minimi Brevis, Flexor Digiti Minimi Brevis, Flexor Pollicis Brevis and Opponens Pollicis Brevis.
And while I opened this post talking about contestants on American Ninja Warrior, grip strength and hand therapy is something we should all be doing to both maintain and improve hand mobility and strength. But also to help aid in post surgery rehabilitation or help with injuries and ailments.
[Tweet “Take your training to the next level with @FlexFixx’s HandFixx toolkit!”]
Anyone remember that time I fell UP the stairs on my doorstep in the rain and smashed my arm it bits?
I didn’t actually break it, but I bruised the bone and damaged the nerve and was in quite a state for a month or two.
nothing says fun like teaching Zumba with your arm in a sling
After that injury, I had to spend a lot of time doing the dexterity exercises I get my participants to do in order to regain the movement through my hand. Having a toolkit like this to aid in my rehab back then would have been wonderful.
When you purchase the toolkit, it comes with a user guide filled with photos and descriptions of the hand exercises you can do using the eggs and balls included. Each person is encouraged to start with the soft yellow egg and slowly move their way up to the soft green ball, then the medium firm red egg and finally the blue ball as the resistance becomes easier. Personally, I’m still back on the yellow egg and hope to incorporate them into my older adult circuit class soon.
I’ve put together a video showing you some of the ways you can use the ball. Please keep in mind I am a novice so these certainly aren’t perfect, but will give you an idea of how many ways you can use this toolkit to improve your hand and finger mobility and strength.
Who knows, maybe after a few weeks of using the HandFixx toolkit consistently, maybe I’ll be able to open jars again, haha. I’ve been blaming it on having too small hands but maybe my hands are just weaklings!
Where to purchase:
You can purchase HandFixx and all of the other products in the FlexFixx line-up on Amazon.
Links to other FlexFixx product posts:
- Reflexology made easy with FootFixx
- How to Make Flexibility Training Easier with a FlexStrap
- Relieve Back Pain With BackFixx
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for FlexFixx, all opinions expressed are entirely my own.
The balls also look fun to play with. I’m a bit obsessive compulsive and when sitting I always feel that I have to be doing something with my hands. Maybe I could be doing hand exercises and not just driving other people crazy. They also look like they would be good for stroke victims, and perhaps for people who are trying to quite smoking.
Ohh that is quite the bruise!!! Oww! My son has these balls. He has autism and has poor grip as a result. They seem to be helping!
I bet they are super helpful for him! I love that there are tools like this!