Rice Bucket Exercises For Wrist and Hand Therapy

Rice bucket exercises for wrist and hand therapy are my latest favorite thing.

Wrist and hand exercises for rehab tend to be fairly generic, which isn’t a problem per se; ubiquitous exercises often work if done well.

My introduction to the rice bucket came through the rock climbing world, not that I climb anything more than hills and stairs.

But I highly recommend rock climbing movies if, like me, you are happy to live vicariously through the exploits of the fearless.

While the movie Free Solo won the Oscar, for me it is more of a relationship movie than a climbing movie, which isn’t to suggest that it isn’t an awesome relationship movie. 

I have seen it a number of times and I am way more drawn to the relationship of Alex Honnold & Sanni Mccandless than I am to his climbing exploits.

On the other hand, The Dawn Wall, featuring Tommy Caldwell, who is also in Free Solo, is my favorite of the many climbing movies that I have enjoyed, and enjoyed, and enjoyed.

The Rice Bucket exercises for wrist and hand therapy are particularly great because, if done well, they allow/encourage you to develop balanced strength in the fingers, hand, and wrist.

They go way back in the baseball world as well and I wouldn’t be surprised to find these exercises being used in many sports.

Originally they were meant as strengthening exercises but I think they have found their groove in the world of rehab and I think they are particularly good for an aging population that is losing grip strength among other issues.

There are some other wrist and hand toys and tools that are good for building strength and suppleness and I’ll write about them in the near future but today rice bucket exercises for wrist and hand therapy take center stage.

The ultimate goal and benefit of these exercises are balancing. If you pay attention to the exercises and try to use your hands and fingers equally you might find benefits that surprise you.

Here is a list of ten different rice bucket exercises for wrist and hand therapy

1. Hands in rice, make a fist, pull out
2. Hands in rice, spread fingers, pull out
3. Hands in rice, make fists, rotate hands in both directions
4. Hands in rice, make fists, evert and invert wrists
5. Hands in rice, make fists, flex and extend wrists
6. Hands in rice, shallow, and pinch the rice into your fingers
7. Hands in rice, shallow, push the rice out and away with your fingers
8. Hands in rice, keep four fingers still and work the thumb
9. Hands in rice, four fingers together and thumb draw towards each other
10. Grab handfuls of rice and squeeze your fists as hard as you can