Stretching the Upper Extremities

There is a huge amount of stress and tension that is kept in the hand/ fingers: it is also an area no one purposefully thinks about mobilizing!

Pulling fingers gently out, wiggling the in wide circles, pressing into the palm and holding when it is uncomfortable can improve  the feeling of tension. 

The hands have a lot of tendons and ligaments as well as some small muscles which are used constantly; give them a break!

The biceps, the most well non muscle in the arm can be trick y to stretch as you have limited range to work in. 

The best way I have found is the following: 

Put the arm against something sturdy, straighten the arm fully then turn the body away until you feel a pulling across the chest, shoulder and arm. I have found having the hand horizonal, the the thumb facing forward pin points the biceps the most, as shown in the image above. 

The triceps, found on the back of the arm, used a lot however less well known than the biceps!

The triceps are an easier muscle to stretch than the biceps. 

If we are stretching the right tricep:

Put the right hand on the right shoulder, hold it closer to the shoulder with your other hand, then lift the right elbow as high as you can without your body moving- especially don't let your mid back arch inwards! 

Similarly to the hands, the forearms are used a lot and not stretched properly very often. Stretching can be difficult in the forearms, so rolling can be extremely beneficial. 

Hold ur arm out straight in front of you then point all fingers straight down at the floor. Bending your hand down should pull down the top of your forearm. If this doesn't pull, move your arm around, make sure you are pushing your first as far over as you can. 

This forearm is similar but the opposite direction. Pulling the hand up instead of pushing down. 

Again, if you do not feel a stretch, move the arm around, (I find out tot he side is beneficial). 

With both forearm stretches, you can rotate the arm however this will not directly the stretch of the muscle but can feel like it is as there are nerves which can feel like you pull on them. 

This is a stretch for general and posterior deltoids. 

The poster / back side of your shoulders are overused with daily activities; stretching this muscle could be beneficial to preventing general shoulder issues. 

Hold one arm in front, across your body with the other arm pulling, holding it close tot the body. 

This is a more specific stretch for the anterior deltoid/ shoulder. The front of the shoulder is often tight, can be related to poor posture. 

First place your hand on something a little higher than hip hight behind you, (you hip if you have no object to use); engage the latissimus Dorsi, (pull shoulders down and backwards) to feel a stretch through the front of your shoulder. 

If you don't feel a stretch you can rest the hand on something higher to get more rotation through the shoulder. 

This stretch for internal rotator cuffs - subscapularis / and teres major. 

This is also a muscle which is related to poor shoulder posture as the muscle easily get tight and overused. 

To stretch this, you have to move your arm internally then push into the movement. The easiest way to rotate your arm inwards is to place it on there lower back - palm facing outwards. The common movement of moving your hand up your back. 

This stretch is for the other, external rotator cuffs. Infraspinatus and Teres minor.

An important aspect of stretching the muscles responsible for external rotation is the elbow. The elbow should stay close to the body, It should not move. If the elbow does pull away from the body you will not be directly stretching the correct muscles. 

Start with the elbow close to your side, with you hand in front of you at a 90 degree angle. Then twist the had out towards the side, keeping the elbow close to the body as shown above.