Is it August already!? My goodness I can’t believe it! How has you’re summer been so far? Have you been keeping up with stretching your body while you do all these fun activities outdoors!? I hope so 🙂 Lets add some more stretches to what you’ve already been doing.

This month we are stretching out the wrists and forearms! So many of us overuse our hands and arms doing repetitive motions everyday, which can lead to tennis elbow or golfers elbow. Maybe you’ve heard of tendinitis? Maybe you actually have had one of these diagnosis’s yourself. It’s not a pleasant thing to experience and it can last several months or even years if you don’t address it. The stretches provided throughout this month are simple and effective and should be easy to make time for. It will help treat these ailments mentioned above, and also keep those muscles from developing the dreaded it is if you don’t have it!

This first weeks stretch is an extension movement. You will not need any props for this one.

How to:

1. You can sit up tall or stand for this. Take the arms out in front of you. Straighten both arms. Extend the right hand so the palm faces away from you. Flex the left hand so the palm faces you. Spread the fingers of both hands wide till you feel a stretch through the fingers and the palms. Now take the left hand to cover the right hand Palm to Palm. The pinky fingers and thumbs on both hands should touch as shown in the two top photos marked hand placement.

2. From this position, gently pull the left hand back towards you to stretch the right hand, wrist, and underneath of the forearm. Both arms remain straight and at shoulder height, otherwise you won’t feel the stretch. Keep the palms in the same place throughout the stretch as shown in the bottom photo marked “the stretch”.

3. And that’s it! Stay here for 30 seconds to a minute and then switch hands. You can do this stretch once on each side, or 3-5 times if you like!