RealAge [Health@RealAge.com]
•3
Exercises for Better Hands
You know what they say about strong hands, don't you?
Better blood pressure!
That's right. Hypertensive people in a small study
slashed their systolic blood pressure by
15
points after doing handgrip
exercises for just 8 weeks. Having trouble opening those
jelly jars? Here are three quick ways to start getting a
better grip.
(see below ↓)
Behind the Strength
Researchers don't yet
understand exactly
how
hand exercises help blood pressure. More research is
needed before they could be considered a legitimate part
of blood-pressure-lowering therapies.
(Here's
an eating plan that's
proven
to lower blood pressure.)
In the meantime, we do
know for sure that superior hand strength is great for
your
RealAge for other reasons. One of the
most important? People with strong hands tend to be more
able-bodied later in life.
(Here's
another way to see how able-bodied you are.)
3 Handy Exercises
Get a grip! Here are
three simple hand exercises to choose from.
(For
a whole-body workout, check out the RealAge Workout
Center.)
1. Squeeze a tennis
ball. Try two or three sets of 10 squeezes per hand
every other day.
2. After reading them,
roll each page of your newspaper into the smallest ball
possible. (Then recycle, of course!)
3. For more advanced
fitness fiends, try doing a few fingertip push-ups.
The
left hand is the receiving hand. It receives what is
given. It should never be used to say no, as that sets
energy in place of blocking receiving.