10 Min. Mobility for Neglected Joints: Neck, Scapulas, Elbows, Wrists & Fingers | Upper Body Edition

This mobility workout from Julia Reppel has been on my to do list for quite a while. I am not new to crocheting but after abandoning it for many years I returned to it the end of last year and have been doing a lot of crocheting in my spare time. So much that my hands are suffering. So I decided it was time to try this mobility workout because it has hand mobility and strengthening work it in it. I am glad it is short, too, because I can add it onto my recovery day every week and still get in other recovery workouts. That is my biggest problem. There are so many workouts I either love or feel are necessary to do because they give such great health benefits that it is hard to fit them all in. But as long as I am crocheting as much as I currently am, I need to incorporate this in weekly. Julia doesn’t just focus on your hands. She stretches and mobilizes quite a few upper body joints but I do appreciate the strong focus on the hands.

The exercises are done interval style: 45 seconds of work followed by 15 second of rest. There is a timer in the lower left hand corner of the screen counting down the intervals and rests. During the rest Julia previews the next exercise. There is a bar in the upper right hand corner of the screen counting down the workout time as a percentage.

Mobility for Neglected Joints is 11:09 minutes. Equipment: fitness mat.

1. Shin grab neck circles (sit with knees bent and sides of feet on mat, knees are open and hands hold shins, do neck circles in this position)
2. Gentle neck stretches (kneel on mat, one arm is behind back, other hand holds hand or wrist, tilt head to the side to stretch neck)
3. Scapular push up variation (on knees and forearms, lower chest bringing shoulders/scapulars together then return to neutral position)
4. Scapular cars (extend arms straight in front of you and hold them there, draw distinct shoulder circles–down, forward, up, backward)
5. Elbow circles (on hands and knees, raise and lower chest while circling elbows)
6. Elbow wrist combo (with arms at sides, extend arms behind you while opening and hands, with palms flat bring arms forward, close hands into a fist and bend wrists, lower arms back behind you)
7. Prayer pose rotations (start with hands in prayer in front of chest, rotate hands so that fingers face forward then to chest)
8. Wrist 5s push down > 5s pull up (on hands and knees, shift hips back slightly while lifting fingers (keep heel of hands on mat), place fingers back on mat and shift body forward)
9. Alt forearm extensor stretch (start on hands and fists, place back of one hand on mat and hold briefly, swap hand positions)
10. Knuckle bender tendon glides and hook fist tendon glides (sit cross leg, arms are raised in front of you with elbows bent and palms facing each other, bend fingers keeping them straight then make a fist, reverse this motion returning hands so palms face each other; halfway through interval exercise changes–starts with palms facing each other again, curl fingers down into fists then bend wrists, reverse this motion)
11. Finger fans (same starting position as #10 (slowly open and close fists one finger at a time)

For more info on Julia Reppel and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.