What is a Wrist Roller?

Wrist rollers are a piece of exercise equipment that is popular with people who want to strengthen the muscles in their shoulders, forearms, and hands. The basic wrist roller is comprised of a bar that is held in the hands, a rope attached to the bar, and a weight attached to the other end of the rope. Exercising with a wrist roller can help increase an athlete's performance in many sports. For example, stronger forearms can increase the range of a shot in basketball, the power of a hit in tennis, and the power of a baseball swing.

All that is required to create a wrist roller is a bar approximately 15 inches (about 38.1 cm) in length and an old pet leash. The handle of the leash is partially wrapped around the center of the bar before the other end is placed through the handle loop. A knot should tighten on the bar by simply tugging on the dangling part of the leash. Finally, the bottom of the leash is placed through the desired weight plate and clipped back onto itself to form a loop around part of the plate.

A proper wrist roller exercise is performed by grasping the wrist roller and holding it directly in front of the body with arms parallel to the floor and feet shoulder-width apart. The exercise begins with the rope at a length where the weight is barely hanging off the floor. Then, the hands are alternately rolled forward or backward. As the bar rotates, the rope will wrap around the bar, thereby raising the weight. Once the weight has reached the top, the weight can be slowly lowered by rotating the hands in the opposite direction.

An average weight for a wrist roller exercise is about 15 pounds (about 16.8 kg). If that weight is too little or too much, it can be adjusted by attaching a different plate to the end of the rope. Different muscles in the forearms can be targeted by rotating the hands a different way. By rotating the hands forward, the flexor muscles on the top of the forearm receive the primary workout; by rotating the hands backward, the extension muscles on the palm side of the forearm receive the workout.

Exercising with wrist rollers should not be limited to people who are athletes or bodybuilders. It can also be a useful exercise for people who sit in an office all day, primarily because it can prevent the onset of carpal tunnel syndrome. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition that causes pain in the wrist and is frequently caused by too much time being spent working on a computer with the wrists bent on the keyboard. By using a wrist roller, the muscles and ligaments in the forearm can be strengthened and stretched, thereby helping to prevent any problems with the wrist from developing.