Push-up challenge, week 2: Strengthen hands and wrists

A proper push-up requires strong hands that can actively grip the floor and durable wrists that can withstand your full body weight.

To push with maximum power and zero pain, we have to look past the surface and consider the delicate interplay of your fingers, wrists, elbows and forearms.

By learning how to control joint rotation and truly engage your fingers – which are built for everything from crushing and squeezing to pinching and clamping – you turn your arms into stable, resilient pillars of power, capable of driving force into the floor.

Test it:

Plate pinch

The plate pinch tests the strength and endurance of your fingers, thumbs and forearms. If you lack this specific sort of pinching strength, your hands will lie dead on the mat during a push-up, dumping all your body weight onto the delicate carpal bones of the wrist.

How to do it: Stand tall with your arms at your sides, holding a weight plate by pinching it between your thumb on one side and your four fingers on the other. Do not hook your fingers under the plate’s rim; use pure pinching friction. If you don’t have gym plates, a heavy, thick hardcover book (like an encyclopedia or a large coffee table book) can do the trick. Hold the weight at your side for as long as possible. For adults over the age of 40, a standard benchmark is a 10-pound plate for women and a 15-pound plate for men, aiming for a 30- to 45-second hold per hand.

Key take-aways: Keep your shoulders packed down and your wrists straight. The moment your grip slips or your wrist bends, the test is over.

Train it:

Wrist rocks

This dynamic circuit restores mobility to tight wrists while building structural resilience for bearing load. Moving the wrists through flexion and extension not only strengthens the joint, it also serves as a helpful assessment to see how your hands are feeling before putting them to work.

How to do it: Start on your hands and knees in a tabletop position. You will spend around 20 seconds in three distinct positions (60 seconds total):

1. Fingers forward: Place your palms flat with your fingers pointing straight ahead. Gently rock your torso forward and backward.

2. Fingers backward: Turn your hands so your fingers point back toward your knees. Keeping your palms flat, gently rock your hips backward and forward.

3. Back of hands: Flip your hands over so the backs of your hands rest on the floor, palms up, fingers pointing inward toward each other. Gently rock your torso side-to-side.

Key take-aways: Move with caution and breathe slowly. You want a productive, deep stretch along the forearms and wrists, never sharp pain. If the stretch is too intense, shift your weight forward or backward to take the pressure off your hands, or slightly unlock your elbows to ease the tension.

Quad elbow rotations:

This drill provides essential maintenance for the wrists and elbows while reinforcing the exact arm position needed for high plank and push-up stability. It teaches you how to keep your hands pinned while twisting the joint above it to lock your shoulders into place.

How to do it: Set up on your hands and knees with your fingers pointing straight ahead. Keeping your palms flat and your elbows locked out, rotate the pits of your elbows forward as far as you can, then reverse the motion to rotate them inward facing each other. Perform two to three sets of 10 to 12 controlled rotations. If the floor puts too much pressure on your knees, this exercise can be modified by standing up and pressing your palms flat against a wall at chest height.

Key take-aways: The movement must happen entirely from the shoulder through the elbow and into the wrist, turning your entire arm into a stable pillar. Don’t let your fingers budge or your palms lift as you rotate.

Towel twist:

The towel twist builds functional grip strength, forearm endurance and finger dexterity. It forces the muscles of your hands to work dynamically under resistance, mimicking the active “floor gripping” tension you need to maintain during a hard set of push-ups.

How to do it: Grab a hand towel, dish towel or small bath towel, and roll it up tightly. The thickness of the towel itself dictates the difficulty – the thicker the towel, the tougher the task. Holding the towel with both hands a few inches apart, wring it out as hard as you can by twisting your right hand forward and your left hand backward. Hold that maximum wringing tension for five seconds, then switch directions. Repeat for 60 seconds total. For a different sort of challenge, try using a wet towel (just be sure to take the messiness factor into consideration).

Key take-aways: Don’t just go through the motions. Wring that towel with intent, as if you’re trying to force every single “drop” out of the fabric.