Strengthen Your Wrists with These 6 Must-Do Exercises

Wrist strength isn’t something most people think about until weakness, pain, or discomfort starts interfering with daily activities. Whether you struggle with opening jars, supporting your body during push-ups, or maintaining control in sports like pickleball, stronger wrists can make a significant difference.

The good news? You don’t need hours in the gym to build wrist strength. A Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research study found that just six weeks of wrist exercises significantly improved strength and motor control.

Wrist Strength vs. Grip Strength

Before diving into the exercises, it’s important to understand the difference between wrist strength and grip strength:

• Grip strength helps you hold onto objects and involves muscles in the hands, fingers, and forearms.

• Wrist strength is your ability to stabilize, produce, and resist force at the wrist joint. While strong wrists contribute to grip strength, training your wrists alone won’t fully improve your grip you’ll also need to train with heavier loads.

The 6 Best Wrist-Strengthening Exercises

1. Wrist Isometric Holds

Isometric exercises strengthen your wrists by engaging muscles without movement, improving stability and control.

How to do it:

• Sit with your forearm resting on your thigh.

• With your opposite hand, gently push your wrist down, up, and side to side, resisting the movement.

• Hold each position for 3–5 seconds, working up to 10–15 seconds.

• Perform 3–5 holds per position.

2. Quadruped Wrist Rocking

This exercise improves wrist mobility and strength, helping reduce discomfort during exercises like push-ups.

How to do it:

• Start on all fours, hands under shoulders, fingers pointing forward.

• Gently rock your hips forward, pressing weight into your wrists.

• Rock backward to relieve pressure.

• Perform 5–10 reps.

3. Wrist Curls (Flexion Strength)

Wrist curls strengthen the muscles responsible for curling your palms toward your forearms, improving wrist flexion.

How to do it:

• Sit with your forearms resting on your thighs, palms facing up, holding light dumbbells.

• Let the weights roll into your fingers, then curl your wrists up.

• Slowly lower back down.

• Perform 2–4 sets of 8–15 reps.

4. Wrist Extensions (Reverse Curls)

This move strengthens the opposite motion of wrist flexion, improving stability in exercises like push-ups.

How to do it:

• Sit with your forearms on your thighs, palms facing down, holding light dumbbells.

• Curl your wrists up, bringing the backs of your hands toward your forearms.

• Lower back down slowly.

• Perform 2–4 sets of 8–15 reps.

5. Wrist Rotations

Wrist rotations improve mobility and control, essential for activities like turning a door handle or opening jars.

How to do it:

• Hold light dumbbells with your forearms on your thighs, palms facing down.

• Rotate your wrists, turning your palms up toward the ceiling.

• Slowly return to the starting position.

• Perform 2–4 sets of 8–15 reps.

6. Wrist Deviations

This exercise strengthens the wrist’s ability to move side to side, improving overall stability.

How to do it:

• Hold light dumbbells with palms facing in toward each other.

• Move your wrists up and down in a controlled motion.

• Perform 2–4 sets of 8–15 reps.

The Bottom Line

Wrist strength plays a crucial role in daily tasks, weightlifting, and sports performance. Adding these six exercises to your routine can help reduce pain, improve stability, and build strength in just a few weeks.

If you found this article helpful, share it or subscribe to our newsletter for more expert fitness tips.