Dave Hedges
- Aug 12, 2013
- 2 min read

Monday Mobility – 5 Wrist Mobility Exercises from the Japanese Martial Arts

It’s Monday, so here’s another instalment of Monday Mobility.

This weeks drills are for the wrists, an area that was of particular interest the last time I ran the Bodyweight Workshop over in Galway.

While on the subject of the Bodyweight Workshop, did you know there are still places left on this Sundays workshop in Dublin? (super smooth pug eh? I’m getting the hang of this internet marketing stuff!)

Anyhow, I digress.

Over in Galway I had some pretty well known local coaches present, who were asking about wrist issues that they come across with their clients, particularly on the push up.

In today’s desk bound population, or even those that train, very often have tightness in the finger flexors, which of course run down the inside of your forearm. If these are tight, then the chances are having your hand flat on the deck, then putting a large amount of bodyweight into it, as you do with push ups, is going to be pretty uncomfortable.

So in the Galway we spent a good amount of time discussing the hand and wrist looking as specific mobilisation exercises that can be introduced to a training program in order to free up the wrist and allow for better hand placement and ground contact in the Push Up exercise.

This video clip shows a few of the exercises.

These ones are taken from the Japanese Martial Arts (you may have guessed that from the title….), over the years I’ve trained and been exposed to Goshin Jitsu, various Karate Styles, a couple of Aikido styles and pretty much whatever else was available in whatever part of the world I was residing in.

Here’s the video:

And yes, I know, I look like a baby with no beard!

Now, if you’re interested in attending this weekends BodyWeight Workshop, I have a few places remaining. We take an in depth look at Joint Mobility, including the drills in this clip. We also look at specific mobilisations to ensure proper performance of the key Bodyweight Exercises. The day always finishes with Animal and Martial Arts based bodyweight exercises that will strengthen you in ways you didn’t even realise you weak in!