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Comment by smcleod | Hacker News Reader

Doesn't seem to do anything when you select the hands. For those of us stuck to a computer most of the day I would think that hand and wrist exercises would be critical.

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Actually I think things to do with sitting long periods of time are the biggest issue for us computer workers.

Things with posture, the neck and spine, shoulders rounding forward, glute weakness, etc.

https://chestofbooks.com/health/anatomy/Human-Body-Construct...

https://blog.codinghorror.com/programming-your-hands/

https://selfcare.tech/

Select forearms.

Deadlifts & farmer carries - both have been incredible for my hands

Buy a wrist roller and a few 5lb plates.

I’d think the best thing for those small overused muscles would be rest. Especially the wrist which I believe is not a muscle.

Rock climbing fixed my hand pain so I’m not so sure that rest is always best.

Yea, i'm a believe that exercise is the answer to most problems. Especially in the desk environment. The challenge for me has been introducing exercise when a problem is present. As the increased stress seems problematic in my experience.

Going off the rock climbing theme: getting better at bouldering (or any other style, really) requires strengthening the muscles in your fingers. It would really be handy to have some exercises linked here for improving those muscles' firepower.

Those are tendons in fingers that respond to hypertrophy for climbing, or more specifically the tendon collagen, not muscles. But that's only one strength component of climbing, probably more so for bouldering specifically, but hand grip endurance and power also require forearm strength as well. I am not sure if that would be helpful for sitting in front of a computer.

I returned to climbing after a long hiatus, and my issues with discomfort and kinks in my back while sitting for long periods sorted themselves out in a couple weeks.

I don't climb much these days (but I used to enjoy a spot of overhang crack climbing), but I've always been under the impression that there aren't muscles in the fingers. I just double-checked, and there are some muscles in the fingers... but it looks like they're only good for opening the hand. Are kids these days using some esoteric hand-splaying moves I don't know about, or do you mean the muscles in your forearms?

I was thinking of the finger muscles themselves--if you're trying to do a static move on a crimpy hold, finger strength really helps.

There are tons of resources for climbing specific training. Here's a good primer on finger strength training:

https://www.trainingbeta.com/comparing-hangboard-protocols/

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