Gaming
Games
Hand exercises gamers will wish they'd always known
Kiss goodbye to any aches and pains on the controller. These ultra effective hand and wrist stretches will have you gaming pain-free for hours...
Save for a final boss or serious WiFi lag, nothing can derail a gaming session quite like a wrist-related injury. If you've ever had to stop in the middle of your game to flex your hands due to cramping, you'll know the pain...
Sure, you can become an elite player by deploying one of these 'brain hacks' or surrounding yourself with houseplants to improve focus, as League of Legends icon Faker does. But the biggest way to get in those valuable practice hours is by staying fit for purpose, keeping those limbs loose and flexible.
This guide, below, will not only provide some of the best stretches to ensure those combos continue unimpeded, but offer some understanding around why they're important and what effects these flexibility exercises will have.
What are the most common gaming-related hand injuries?
While gaming rarely tests your muscles in the same way weight lifting at the gym will, it does put a lot of stress on your hand and wrist muscles which can result in pain and cramps over time. Particularly where repetitive strain is involved.
Adel 'Big Bird' Anouche at Red Bull Kumite
© Red Bull
Injuries can include radial styloid tenosynovitis, otherwise known as gamer's thumb, where the two tendons which control the thumb become inflamed and cause irritation, leading to restrictive movement with the controller and, as a result, sub-standard performances.
Another common injury caused by too much button bashing is gamer's wrist. Symptoms for this range from tingling or numbness around the wrist area to clicking and straight up discomfort as you play.
Gamer's wrist can also flare up due to Carpal Tunnel and other general stress caused by highly repetitive motions in a very condensed area (AKA hitting your controller).
So, starting with the former, here are a few exercises designed to target and thwart these two particularly troublesome injuries.
The best stretches to combat gamer's thumb...
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1. Thumb Extensor Stretch
Take your thumb into the palm of your hand and close your fingers over it. Slowly start to bend your wrist toward the outside of your hand (where your pinky finger is). You should feel this stretch in your thumb and alongside the forearm area near your thumb. Hold this stretch for 30 seconds, and repeat on the other hand.
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2. Wrist Joint Circles
For this stretch, extend both hands out and gently rotate your wrists in a circle. Now, perform 10 to 15 circles rotating clockwise and 10 to 15 circles rotating counterclockwise. Done frequently enough, this simple exercise will strengthen your wrist for all types of other day-to-day activities, like, for instance, carrying your entire team in Call of Duty: Warzone.
Grabbing a cold one counts as a wrist exercise too....
© Alex Grymanis
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3. Joint Distraction Thumb Stretch
This stretch will help loosen up all of your fingers and thumbs. To begin, relax your hand and face your palm towards your chest. Using your other hand, grab the tip of your thumb and lightly pull on it so that you're extending your thumb outward. Hold for 10 seconds, then repeat on your other thumb and fingers on both hands.
The best stretches to combat gamer's wrist...
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4. Joint distraction wrist stretch
You can also do a joint distraction exercise for your wrists. To do this, relax your hand in front of your body with your palm facing towards you. Using your other hand, gently grab the hand facing you near your wrist joint and pull outward. Pull slowly until you feel slight discomfort. Hold this stretch for several seconds, and repeat on the other hand. Watch how it's done here.
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5. Prayer Position Stretch
This particular stretch helps loosen up your wrists and forearms. Start by putting your fingers and palms together with your fingers pointed upwards and your elbows pointing outward like you're praying. Hold this position for 30 seconds or more. To increase the intensity, slowly lower your hands while keeping them together. Watch how it's done here.
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6. Reverse Prayer Position Stretch
Remain in the same position as you were in for the prayer position stretch, except now you are going to press the backs of your hands together with your fingers facing down. Hold this stretch for 30 or more seconds. To increase the intensity, slowly raise your hands while keeping them together and keeping your elbows pointed outward.
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7. Supine Flexors Stretch
For this one, you'll perform the stretch on each hand separately. Start with your left side, and keep your elbow extended and your palm facing upward. Using your other hand, gently pull on the bottom half of your fingers so that you are pulling your wrist downward. You'll feel moderate discomfort but you shouldn't feel any pain. If you do feel pain, ease up a bit on your pull. Hold this stretch for 30 seconds, and repeat on the other hand. Watch how it's done here.
Hand and wrist exercises will improve other day-to-day actitivies
© Drew Gurian / Red Bull Content Pool
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8. Pronated Extensions Stretch
Here, you'll be using the same position you were in for the supine flexors stretch except your hand will be facing downwards instead of upwards. Use your other hand to gently pull down on the outside of your fingers so that your wrist is slowly lowered and you feel the stretch in the top part of your forearm. Hold this stretch for 30 seconds, and repeat on the other side.
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9. Joint Distraction Wrist Stretch
You can also do a joint distraction exercise for your wrists. To do this, relax your hand in front of your body with your palm facing towards you. Using your other hand, gently grab the hand facing you near your wrist joint and pull outward. Pull slowly until you feel slight discomfort. Hold this stretch for several seconds, and repeat on the other hand.
Do esports professionals suffer the same sort of injuries?
More than you'd imagine. Repetitive strain injuries are a major reason for pro players missing competitions and sometimes going months without playing. Almost overnight, niggles can turn into long-standing issues that, if not treated correctly, can even lead to early retirement.
Naturally, the average gamer who doesn't spend their nine-to-five bashing the same few buttons on a keyboard is unlikely to suffer any issues this drastic, but it does pay to think professionally from time to time...
Because even the most casual of gamers would benefit from a few simple stretches, increasing dexterity while also stopping hand cramps and the like before they begin. It's not all in the wrists, either. Stiffness and tendonitis in your forearms are also hazards of playing too long without a warmup. All the stretches listed in this guide will ease those aches.
What about my shoulders?
Don't forget to keep your shoulders loose as well. In 2018, a study of hundreds of esport athletes revealed that a staggering 42% reported back and neck pain due to gaming in competition.
Untreated shoulder tension can gradually cause pain to develop further down your arm, all the way down to your wrists and finger. So any basic movements or warmups to get your rotator cuffs will also help protect your wrists in the long-term, starting with these one-minute wonders:
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8. Hands On The Back
Holding your arms above your head, push one arm behind your neck and try and reach down towards your lower back as far as possible. Use the other arm to aid this movement by pushing down on top of the elbow. After 15 seconds, switch arms for another 15 seconds. Watch the stretch here.
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9. Punch Holds
Palms facing upwards, wrap your knuckles with one hand and hold that fist up to eye level. Leave a gap of about six to eight inches between the fist and your nose. Now, wrapping another fist with your opposite arm, push your arm through that gap, stretching as fully as you can and keeping the arm in that punching motion for 15 seconds. Repeat for the other arm. Watch the stretch here.
Can cold therapy can also prevent flareups, too?
Absolutely. You've had your warmup, you've won a couple of battle royales with your best mates, and now comes the cool down.
Just as professional athletes soothe aching limbs with cryotherapy and state-of-the-art ice baths, if you're carrying any soreness after a big gaming session it's well worth getting an icepack on it. Which brings us to the last stretch...
10. Ice Bowl Finger Flex
Fill a bowl with ice and cold water and leave your hand in for a few minutes at a time, remembering to occasionally flex your digits, opening and closing your fist. As your wrists endure the four stages of this ice treatment (cold, burning, pain, and numbness) this simple stretch will help take away any inflammation and swelling after a long gaming session, and even allow your recovery process to begin sooner.
So there you have it, a comprehensive list of some of easy stretches to strengthen your hand, wrists and forearms, in turn allowing you more time to practice on your PC or console in your bid for gaming supremacy.
And remember: no skipping wrist day.
