Stretch Your Forearms the Right Way (Doctor of PT)

Stretching the forearms can seem like a simple task, bend your wrist forward and back and you're done, right? Well, no. Not at all. The human body is as awesome as it is complicated. It is intricately designed to allow us to move in multiple planes of motion. But to accomplish that, it had to finely adjust the placement of each muscle to work appropriately. If we take a look at those intricacies and start to better understand the anatomy of the forearm, we realize that by making a few minor adjustments, we can make some major improvements to our stretching. 

In this video, we will use some markers to illustrate the important anatomy to climbing while demonstrating how to specifically target each muscle. This can be used as a tool in the future to assess areas of tension, to work on a stretch program, or when you are recovering from an injury. 

Identifying the Anatomy aka, my poor attempt at drawing on my forearm

The list below identifies the muscle groups and their origin and insertion (aka, where they start and finish).

Extensors

Extensor carpi radialis longus
Origin: Lateral supracondylar ridge of humerus
Insertion: base of second metacarpal bone
Action: wrist extension and abduction (radial deviation)

Extensor carpi radialis brevis
Origin: Lateral epicondyle of humerus
Insertion: base of third metacarpal bone
Action: wrist extension and abduction (radial deviation)

Extensor carpi ulnaris 
Origin: Lateral epicondyle of humerus and posterior border of ulna
Insertion: base of 5th metacarpal bone 
Action: wrist extension and adduction (ulnar deviation)

Extensor digitorum
Origin: Lateral epicondyle of humerus
Insertion: extensor expansions of medial four digits 
Action: Wrist extension, MCP, PIP, and DIP of 2-5 digits extension and abduction of fingers.

Flexors
Flexor carpi radialis
Origin: Medial epicondyle of humerus
Insertion: base of second metacarpal bone 
Action: Wrist flexion and abduction of hand

Flexor carpi ulnaris
Origin: Humeral head: medial epicondyle of humerus and ulnar head: olecranon and posterior border of ulna
Insertion: pisiform bone, hook of hamate bone, and 5th metacarpal 
Action: wrist flexion and adduction of hand

Palmaris longus
Origin: Medial epicondyle of humerus
Insertion: distal half of flexor retinaculum and palmar aponeurosis
Action: tightens palmar aponeurosis and is a weak elbow flexor

Flexor digitorum superficialis
Origin: Medial epicondyle of humerus
Insertion: bodies of middle phalanges of medial four digits
Action: flexion of wrist, MCP, and PIP joints of 2nd to 5th digits

Flexor digitorum profundus
Origin: Proximal three fourths of medial and anterior surfaces of ulna and interosseous membrane
Insertion: bases of distal phalanges of medial 4 digits 
Action: Flexion of wrist, MCP, PIP of 2nd to 5th digits

Targeting Each Muscle

Based upon the anatomy, we have seen that these muscles are going to benefit from different stretching positions. Some may be as subtle as allowing 1 joint to flex while everything else extends. Below, we list the different positions you should be putting your forearm through to get the desired effect. 


SECTION 1: Extensor stretches

Extensor carpi radialis longus
Wrist: flexion with ulnar deviation
Elbow: extended
Phalanges: relaxed

Extensor carpi radialis brevis
Wrist: flexion with ulnar deviation
Elbow: flexed or extended
Phalanges: relaxed

Extensor carpi ulnaris 
Wrist: flexion and radial deviation
Elbow: flexed or extended
Phalanges: relaxed

Extensor digitorum 
Wrist: flexion with neutral, radial, and ulnar deviation
elbow , flexed or extended
Phalanges: flexed 

SECTION 2: Flexor stretches

Thumber thighs 
Thumb pointing towards hip, the rest of the things palmside down on the thigh, start to extend (straighten) your elbow until you feel a stretch

Flexor digitorum superficialis stretch
Elbow: extended
Wrist: extended
MCP: extended
PIP: extended
DIP: flexed/relaxed

Flexor digitorum profundus stretch
Elbow: extended
Wrist: extended
MCP: extended
PIP: extended
DIP: extended 

BONUS SECTION 3: Intrinsic Stretching
*For the bonus intrinsic stretches check out the full show notes at www.HoopersBeta.com/library



Disclaimer: As always, exercises are to be performed assuming your own risk and should not be done if you feel you are at risk for injury. See a medical professional if you have concerns before starting new exercises.

Written and Presented by Jason Hooper, PT, DPT, OCS, CAFS
IG: @hoopersbetaofficial

Filming and Editing by Emile Modesitt
www.emilemodesitt.com
IG: @emile166