How to do upper body exercise if you have arthritis in hands

Would you like to strengthen your upper body, but have trouble holding dumbbells or handles?

Painful hands, thumbs and fingers used to be something we expected only at a certain age/stage of life.

Unfortunately, due to “cell-phone-itis,” many younger people have unnatural bone deposits in their hands and thumbs.

I noticed more bone growth on my left thumb only 2 years after using a smart phone. I had used my left hand the hold the phone while using my right to navigate.

Left thumb showed more bone growth after using smart phone two years.
Right thumb looks more normal.

In this video I show how to use thera-bands or exercise bands to do upper body exercises even if you have arthritis in hands.

Keeping our upper bodies strong is so important at every age and stage of life!

Resistance exercises – or strength exercises – have many benefits including: 

  • Increase muscle mass
  • Increase bone density
  • Raise metabolism due to more muscle mass

Here are some more tips to vary the exercises I show in the video:

  1. Vary the height where you anchor the band
  2. Change your distance from the anchor
  3. Roll the band more times around your arm to shorten the band to make it harder.

 

You might benefit from these blog posts:

Exercise Safely with Osteoporosis

Best Balance Exercises

What You Need to Know About Bone Density Tests

 

I like to give credit to everyone I learn from…I got this idea from Margaret Martin, who has a great YouTube channel about exercise for osteoporosis. Check her out!

Let me know how this works for you! What challenges do you face re: exercise and what do you to overcome the challenges?

I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below!

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