How to increase hand strength

Steve_F

I'm suffering quite badly from hand pump (sounds much better than it is ) especially in my fingers.

Just spent 8 days riding in Morzine/Les Gets area and my fingers were understandably sore after that. Had a rest off the bike for 11 days and went for a blast round Glentress red last night. My fingers were killing me on the climbs let alone when it pointed downwards.

Is there any trick for building up finger strength/resistance? I use the nutcracker style grip things every now and then and the powerball every now and then. Should I just increase the frequency or is there anything better?

Cheers

cee

hey steve....

I have been using the powerball for about 6months....

2 minutes each day at a reasonable rev count for each hand...this has been building and i usually try to raise it by a few revs at least every week...followed by 30 seconds each hand at whatever the maximum revs I can sustain for 30 seconds.....

so 5 minutes a day in total

In that time I have noticed a massive reduction in the amount of hand and arm pain during my DH sessions.

More effort required on your part

Use the tools you have more often.

robmanic1

cee, when you use your left hand does it feel like someone else?

Steve_F

Cool. I was doing a reasonable amount with the grip thing as it was quiet enough not to need the TV turned up but I'll pick the powerball levels up to daily too and see if I can improve things.

Cheers

TarkMalbot

Powerballs are great! 8)

Also if you do work in the gym try not using your thumbs when lifting. This will build up your hand strength.

Climbing is also really good and hanging off door frames by your finger tips and such like but that may be a bit too much to start with if your suffering from pain. Again this is where the powerball is good as the faster you spin the heavier it gets so you can just take it easy and build your way up.

ArroyoDave

Relax more and dont grip the bars so tight!

Steve_F

ArroyoDave wrote:

Relax more and dont grip the bars so tight!

Good plan and I have tried that but it's a very difficult thing to re-learn. Even climbing I find I grip the bars quite tightly.

Ripping the rear mech off (again) in the first climb helped today. No riding and the only thing I'm gripping now is a bottle of Coors!! Could be a messy day starting before 2pm!

hucking_fell

As well as a powerball I use 'climbing putty' to keep finger strength up. It's just firm but squishy stuff which you squish in your hand. Different firmnesses are graded different colours. I use the green stuff.

Those springy hand things can cause repetative strain type injuries. If using them time yourself to see how long you can hold a coin between the handles, rather than opening and closing your hand with them.

MilitantGraham

Broomstick, rope, weight.
Wind it up, Wind it back down.