After strength training, the muscles of the arms and shoulder girdle should be relaxed and properly stretched. This is necessary to improve the blood supply to the tissues, because when the muscle is toned, the vessels are pinched and the blood cannot fully deliver nutrients. And good nutrition promotes faster muscle growth. Also, stretching the biceps, triceps and shoulders prevents injuries and increases joint flexibility and mobility. The set of stretching exercises given in the article will help you complete your arm workout correctly.
Recommendations before performing exercises
Stretching the shoulder girdle, like the rest of the body, is best done in a warm state. The best option would be to stretch after your main workout. If stretching exercises are performed on days free from training, then to avoid injury to ligaments and joints, you need to warm up the whole body well. An excellent option for warming up is running - run 2-3 kilometers and start stretching.
It is important to know that stretching exercises should not cause pain. You should not allow sudden movements - do the exercises smoothly with a gradual increase in amplitude. At the extreme points (when the stretch is maximum), hold for a few seconds. Focus on those muscles and joints that are currently involved.
Proper breathing allows you to increase the effectiveness of exercises - exhale when bending, when the chest naturally contracts. The most important factor in achieving good stretching is regularity of exercise.
Main symptoms of sprain
The main symptoms of twisting of this muscle group include pain in the biceps muscle area, weakening of the damaged biceps muscles. The pain can be mild or severe, even limiting the mobility of the limbs.
Symptoms, in turn, depend on the nature of the damage and are divided into 2 types:
- Sharp - a sprain is caused by a rupture due to increased loads, which led to injuries and strong impacts on this muscle group.
- Chronic - this type of injury occurs in people who play sports professionally and also work with heavy load on the muscles. A chronic type of strain occurs when the same stress is repeated over and over again on the biceps muscle. This type includes people whose daily life is strongly connected with the constant lifting of heavy objects, which greatly affects the condition of the hand.
Biceps stretch
Stretching the biceps is one of the important factors in the growth of this muscle. By stretching, the biceps stops shortening and losing flexibility. By improving blood supply, biceps recovery occurs 15–25% faster.
Here are a few techniques to help stretch this muscle:
- To perform the first exercise, you need to stand up straight, place your feet shoulder-width apart, clasp your hands behind your back so that your palms are pointing down. In this position, raise your arms straight up without bending your body. Try to feel the stretch in your biceps.
- Stand with your back to the door frame or horizontal bar post. Reach one arm back and grasp the doorframe with your hand so that your thumb is pointing up. Now try to turn your arm around its axis with the biceps down, while the hand should not turn around. Complete this exercise for both hands and move on to the next one.
- For this exercise you will need a horizontal bar. Simply hang from the horizontal bar using a supinated (reverse) grip. Hang by arms outstretched for as long as you can.
Content
- 1 Elbow extensor muscle stretch
- 2 Biceps stretch
- 3 Triceps stretch
- 4 Stretching the radioulnar supinators (muscles that rotate the wrist outward)
- 5 Stretching the radioulnar pronators
- 6 Stretching the muscles of the wrist flexors, palms down
- 7 Stretching the wrist flexor muscles, palms up
- 8 Wrist Extensor Stretch
- 9 Finger flexor stretch
- 10 Finger extensor stretch
- 11 Twisting fingers
- 12 Fusion between fingers/adductor
- 13
Triceps stretch
Stretching the triceps, as in the case of the biceps, promotes the growth of this muscle. Do not forget that the triceps give the main volume to the arm (70% of the volume), which is why this muscle should be well worked out.
Triceps stretching exercises look like this:
- For the first exercise you will need equipment, namely a towel. Take it in one hand and place it behind your head so that your thumb points toward the floor. Place your free hand behind your back and grab the towel. Pull the towel down and you should feel a stretch in your triceps. Complete this exercise for both hands and proceed to the next one.
- No equipment is required for this exercise. While standing or sitting, place your hand behind your head, grab your elbow with your free hand and pull it towards your head. Hold your hand in this position for 5-10 seconds.
- Place your left hand on your right shoulder. With your right hand, grab your elbow and push your left arm toward your body. Then switch hands.
A few words about anatomy
The biceps, or biceps brachii muscle, consists of two muscle heads and is located on the front surface of the arm.
It has two main functions - flexion of the arm at the elbow joint and supination of the palm, that is, turning it outward.
The biceps takes up only 30% of the total volume of the arm. The remaining 70% comes from the triceps.
Therefore, if you want to get big hands, pay more attention to the triceps muscle. But for now let's return to the two-headed one.
Shoulder stretch
Stretching the shoulders, in the absence of problems with the spine, can transform a stooped, hunched person into a person with excellent posture. Also, exercises to increase flexibility in the muscles of the shoulder girdle help improve blood circulation in the upper body and make breathing easier.
You can stretch your shoulders as follows:
- One of the simplest exercises: press your right hand as close as possible to your left shoulder, with your left hand you can press your right hand near the elbow. Switch hands and do it again.
- An effective exercise to improve the flexibility of the shoulder girdle is performed as follows: you need to put one hand behind your head and the other behind your back and try to lock them together as much as possible. Stay in this position for 10 seconds and switch hands. If you have problems with posture, then this exercise may not work for you. You'll have to stretch your arms one at a time.
- Stand facing the wall, rest your hands on it. Place your hands as close to each other as possible. Move your feet away from the wall as far as possible. Lower your head down and bend in the lumbar region. You will feel a stretch in your shoulders, chest and spine.
Perform the exercises presented every time after strength training. If you purposefully train flexibility, do them at least 3 times a week. Then the result will not be long in coming. Alternate exercises, combine them with others.
Try to develop the flexibility of all muscles at the same time - this will significantly reduce the risk of injury during sports.
Finger twisting[edit | edit code]
Finger twist
What are you stretching:
Small muscles of the fingers (flexors and extensors)
What are you abbreviating:
Nothing. This is a passive stretch.
How many times to repeat:
10 per side
How long to hold:
2 seconds
Note
. This exercise can also be done while sitting on a chair.
This stretch is used to increase mobility of a locked joint. Stand with your feet slightly apart and your knees slightly bent. Gently grasp the palm of the hand you will be working with. Take each finger in turn and turn left and then right. Repeat this with each finger, but already bent at the second phalanx. The stretch should be a little deeper, since the bent finger acts as a kind of lever, which makes it possible to stretch a little further. Turn your fingers first to the left, then to the right.
First aid
It is very important to know what to do with a sprain in the first time after receiving it, since the entire further healing process depends on this. Basic actions that should be performed as quickly as possible:
- fix the limb (with a regular or elastic bandage, splint);
- stop any movements with the brush;
- apply a bandage soaked in cold water or ice (wrapped in cloth);
- the hand should be raised, but without tension (place something soft under it).
After completing all the procedures, go to a nearby clinic, where you will receive professional medical care.
Treatment
How to cure arm sprains? The first half hour after injury is the most critical period. At this time, it is determined how well the treatment will go. And also how quickly the ligament will recover and the external manifestations of damage will disappear. Incorrect methods can only make things worse, lead to internal suppuration and the spread of the inflammatory process.
Having reached the doctor, you need to check the condition of the limb with an x-ray. It is possible that the injury resolved with complications. Or, under the symptoms of a sprain, there is bone damage or dislocation. The doctor will determine how to treat the injury in your individual case.
After the sprain is cured, it is necessary to do exercise therapy. Check whether the joints of the hands are susceptible to degenerative processes. And also be more attentive to the warm-up in the gym and the loads that the patient receives there.
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To relieve symptoms during the recovery period, the following medications are suitable:
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. They will reduce swelling and pain and block the inflammatory process. You should not abuse NSAIDs so as not to harm your gastrointestinal tract.
- Warming ointments. Never use them in the first 48 hours after a traumatic injury. However, then they will ensure blood flow to the affected ligaments and help relieve pain.
- Corticosteroids. These drugs are prescribed only by a doctor; they cannot be used uncontrollably. Suitable only in case of complications, and if the symptoms do not disappear for a long time. The use of such drugs should be minimized, because hormonal therapy is always somewhat unpredictable.
- Menthol ointments. They will distract damaged nerves from pain and reduce the level of swelling.
Ambulance
Here is the correct order of urgent actions after an injury:
We are treating at home
Self-medication is permissible only after the first 48 hours and after specialists have examined the victim. Many of the home remedies focus on heating, which should not be allowed at first. And no self-medication recipes can replace properly administered first aid.
Try the following treatment methods at home:
- Grate raw potatoes. You can add clay, sauerkraut, onions, and ground sugar. We make a compress and leave it on throughout the night's rest. We lay polyethylene on top and secure it with a scarf or other fabric.
- Finely chop the onion and mix with a few tablespoons of granulated sugar. Use as a compress.
- Boil finely chopped garlic cloves in butter. Once ready, add fresh eucalyptus leaves. We filter the water and use the pulp as an ointment.
- Infuse garlic in vodka at the rate of one small, finely grated head per glass. Thoroughly moisten a piece of gauze folded several times. Squeeze the juice of one lemon fruit onto this dressing. We use it as a compress, but only until the cold gauze reaches the same temperature as the skin. Then you can apply such a compress again - a new, cool one.
- Pour ten garlic cloves into half a liter of apple cider vinegar and add a glass of alcohol. Leave for a week, stirring occasionally. Add twenty drops of eucalyptus oil and mix again. Drain the liquid and apply it as a compress.
- When a sprain occurs in the summer, you can use compresses made from crushed elderberry leaves. After applying a bandage, you can change it only once every three days, the effectiveness remains the same.
In this video you will learn how.
Fusion between fingers/adductor[edit | edit code]
Toe adductor fusion
What are you stretching:
Muscles and fusions between the fingers, muscles between the thumb and index finger (mainly adductors, including the adductor pollicis)
What are you abbreviating:
Muscles and fusions between the fingers, muscles between the thumb and index finger (mainly adductors, including the adductor of the little finger and flexor of the little finger brevis), and the interosseous dorsal muscles
How many times to repeat:
10 per side
How long to hold:
2 seconds
Note
. This exercise can also be done while sitting on a chair.
Stand with your feet slightly apart and your knees slightly bent. Extend the hand you will be working with forward. Turn your palm down and straighten your fingers. Move your thumb away from the rest. Once you have pulled it back as far as possible, use your other hand to help push it back a little further. Place your other palm between your thumb and index finger and slowly open it. Spread each pair of fingers apart in this manner. Repeat the exercise with the second hand.
This stretch relieves tension between your toes. You should be able to open each pair of fingers 45°.
Treatment of sprains. Traditional and folk methods
After receiving an injury, you should first seek qualified medical assistance. The speed of restoration of hand function depends on a correct and timely diagnosis, as well as correctly prescribed treatment.
Mild to moderate ligament damage can be treated at home using medications or traditional methods.
Treatment of ligaments is carried out using warming ointments, such as Dolobene, Dimexide, Apizartron, Traumeel and others.
Severe injuries require surgery and hospital treatment.
Let's consider what needs to be done in the first minutes after receiving an injury. After all, a medical professional is not always nearby or there is an opportunity to immediately transport the victim to the hospital. The first thing the poet needs to do is apply a fixing bandage. To do this, use a regular medical bandage or an elastic one; if there are none, you can use any available means that will allow you to fix the hand. This could be a scarf, a scarf, a piece of fabric, etc. However, the bandage should not be applied too tightly, as blood circulation may be impaired. Then cold should be applied. It will reduce pain and prevent the development of severe swelling. Use whatever you have on hand: ice, a bottle of cold water, a cloth soaked in cold water, chilled metal objects. For severe pain, the use of analgesics and antispasmodics is recommended.
Treatment at home for mild to moderate sprains will take about two weeks. Ointments such as Nurofen-gel, indomethacin, and diclofenac help reduce pain and relieve swelling. If treatment was not started in a timely manner and tissue inflammation began, then I take anti-inflammatory drugs as prescribed by the doctor. Also, for a speedy recovery, you need to do physiotherapeutic procedures, UHF, and later develop the joint using special exercises.
You can use folk remedies. Cold is applied to the sore hand for 10-15 minutes, then a compress is made from essential lavender oil and secured with a bandage. Home treatment for sprains should be accompanied by daily light massages with pepper tincture. At night, you need to make warm compresses from alcohol and water in a 2:1 ratio.
If the injury is very painful, then you can make special pain-relieving baths for the hand from a decoction of wild rosemary.
Natural remedies are also indispensable and effective for sprains. You need to make a mixture of fresh onions, minced in a meat grinder and sugar. To prepare, take 2 large onions and two tablespoons of sugar. The resulting mixture is applied to the affected area for six hours. Afterwards the skin is lubricated with nourishing cream.
Making lotions from milk is useful for restoring ligaments. It should be heated to 35-40 degrees, moisten a cloth in it and apply it to your hand, wrap it, and hold it until it cools completely.
You can also treat sprains with a compress made from chopped onions, raw potatoes, cabbage and a spoon of sugar. The products are mixed and applied to the joint overnight. The brush wraps well.
An ointment made from garlic and animal fat is very popular. A few cloves need to be crushed with garlic cloves and mixed with a teaspoon of animal fat heated to a creamy state. Then place the mixture on low heat and bring to a boil, turn off and add a few drops of eucalyptus. Allow to cool slightly and can be used for its intended purpose. Rub into the skin with light massage movements.
Traditional medicine has another effective medicine, but it takes about two weeks to prepare the healing remedy. Therefore, we recommend preparing it in reserve. Moreover, its shelf life is a whole year, and it helps with bruises, dislocations, and sprains. According to the recipe, you need to take ten cloves of garlic and chop them. Then combine 250 milliliters of apple or wine vinegar with the same amount of vodka or alcohol, add garlic and place in a dark place for two weeks. Used in the form of rubs and compresses.
Remember that you can treat a sprain on your own only after consulting a doctor, especially for moderate and severe injuries. The doctor will select medications and give general recommendations that you can follow on your own at home.
Correct and timely treatment will allow you to completely restore the ligaments and motor activity of the joints of the hand.
Sprained wrists are a fairly common occurrence in adults and children. Most often, the hand and wrist are affected when the arms are sprained. Pain, numbness, discomfort in the damaged area - all these are easily recognizable symptoms of a sprained hand.
How to give first aid
At home, before the doctor arrives, it is necessary to ensure that the injured hand of the victim is completely immobilized and in an elevated position. Complete rest and an elevated position in this case will help to avoid more serious consequences and stop the formation of swelling. It is also recommended that you carry out the following activities yourself:
- it is necessary to fix the hand by applying a moderately tight bandage so as not to interfere with blood circulation, and if there is increased pathological mobility of the joint, apply a splint using improvised means;
- exposure of the affected joint to cold compresses made of ice or any other available means, for example, a plastic bottle with cold water;
- if the patient suffers from excessive unbearable pain, in which it is difficult to even move the fingers minimally, it is advisable to take any painkiller;
In this case, there is no need for further self-medication. If the symptoms do not go away or subside, and even more so, become more intense, after 1-2 days, then the victim should be taken to a medical facility
for examination by a specialist who will prescribe the correct treatment.
