EMG Hand Muscle Firing Patterns in Climbing

Hand Exercises

HISTORY . . . After witnessing first-hand dozens of repetitive stress injuries of the hand, wrist and elbow, Dr. Terry Zachary decided to take some action.  The result is the GripSaver Plus.  "Climbers are especially prone to imbalance injuries related to the inherent overuse of the flexor (closing) muscles of the hand and wrist.  Climbers, in my experience, are among the strongest of all athletes as far as finger flexion is concerned, yet are very average relative to strength in hand and wrist extension.  This leaves them wide open to the threat of repetitive flexion injuries. 

Climbers must be especially aware of addressing reciprocal muscle balance of the hand and wrist in their training.  Not only will they reduce the risk of injury, but they will also improve their performance."  Dr. Zachary compares this approach with training other body areas.  "When a fitness trainer guides a client through biceps muscle exercises, there will be equal attention focused on exercising the triceps muscle group.  The same is true for most muscle groups in the body."

The GripSaver Plus exercises the hand through a full, natural range of motion.  No other hand strengthener on the market does this.  It is important for the following reasons:

a)  Full range of Flexion (closing) Motion:

Most grip strengtheners, because they are being actively held in place by the hand, are already partly through the flexion motion before the exercise is started.  When the hand is squeezed, only the final range of the flexion motion of the hand is used.  This would compare to doing a biceps curl through the final half of the curl only.  It is not an anatomically accurate exercise.

When only part of the range of motion of the joint is exercised, the muscles and tendons of that joint will becomes shortened.  Also, the joint surfaces won't get complete blood flow throughout.  Therefore, the cartilaginous surface and the ligaments of the joint do not get nutrients throughout.  Thus, the complete joint's surfaces and tissues cannot stay optimally healthy.

The GripSaver Plus allows the hand to move through a full, natural range of motion.

b)  Full range of Extension (opening) Motion:

Try to find an exercise product that exercises the muscles that open and spread the fingers and the hand.  They are almost non-existent.  The few we have seen do not resist the opening of the fingers through a full, natural range of motion.  Extension is CRITICAL because we have over-developed flexor muscles.  This kind of imbalance is the root cause of many climbing injuries.

The GripSaver Plus resists the extensor and abductor muscles of the fingers through a full, natural range of motion.

c)  Reciprocal Muscle Groups:

Exercising reciprocal muscle groups means creating strength AND balance.  It refers to equally exercising the muscles that open the hand AND the muscles that  close the hand (like exercising your biceps AND your triceps).  Balancing the reciprocal muscle groups is critical to maintaining healthy joints and connective tissue.

The GripSaver Plus strengthens reciprocal muscle groups of the hand for optimum health, strength and balance.

d)  Natural Ranges of Motion:

This is important because you will notice that most hand strengtheners do not allow the hand to move in its natural range of motion.  Open and close your hand without resistance and observe the natural range of motion it goes through.

The GripSaver Plus simply resists the natural motion of the hand, rather than forcing the hand to resist unnatural vectors of resistance.