6 Comments

This is great, Daria! I have heard that grip strength is important, but I love how you've explained it and given the details. Thank you!

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Thanks Cherie. I try to give useful and practical information and guidance on the issues I cover.

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I'm not sure how strong my hands are. I can hang, and do the Farmer's walk, but haven't incorporated this into a daily routine yet, I don't like doing either one.

I dealt cards for years. I still play and do a lot off shuffling and dealing but no longer professionally. My hands are slowing down probably due to arthritis.

Speaking of arthritis, will you consider writing about an anti-inflammatory diet and exactly what it consists of? There are a lot of mixed messages I get while researching. The Mediterranean Diet is too broad spectrum for me. I like a little more detail so I can plan my meals around ingredients. Anyway, great reminder and info on how important grip strength is to indicate longevity.

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That's a great idea, Patti! I'll definitely write about that topic soon. Thank you for the suggestion.

Some of these exercises for grip strength can be challenging. What I like about some of them like the ball squeeze, the towel wring, and the finger extensions is that they can be done anywhere and any time. Provided you don't do too much resistance to fast, using your hands like this can also help arthritis pain and stiffness long term.

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The farmer's grip is fairly easy and I can hang for almost a minute. I am cautious about doing too much with my hands after years of dealing cards. I know so many former dealers who's hands are almost malformed from years of repetitive motion. The rest, like squeezing, I'll try, but once injured it takes months to get it back. At 66 I choose to err on the side of caution. I use my hands more than most for a variety of activities, luckily arthritis hasn't hit hands or feet.

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That's smart! Always listen to your body and intuition.

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