GREG IRWIN
founder OF
hand
FITNESS
about finger fitness
What Is Finger Fitness?
Finger Fitness is a hand exercise program created by Greg Irwin to improve coordination, dexterity, flexibility, strength, control, and finger independence.
​
The concept is simple: athletes condition their bodies to perform better, so why not condition the hands? Finger Fitness uses natural movements—including bending, stretching, tapping, folding, and opposing movements—and combines them into progressively more challenging exercises.
​
Most exercises require no equipment and can be practiced almost anywhere.
​
How Finger Fitness Started
Greg began developing Finger Fitness while earning his Music Education degree at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Learning to play and teach many different instruments made him realize that musicians depend on three basic abilities:
-
The BRAIN — to process rhythm, harmony, and melody
-
The EAR — to recognize sounds and tones
-
The HAND — to physically control and play the instrument
​
Music theory trained the brain and ear training developed listening skills, but there was no comparable program for conditioning the hands.
​
Greg began thinking of musicians as*“small-muscle athletes.”* Just as athletes condition their bodies, musicians could condition their hands.
​
He began developing finger exercises and gradually added finger isolation, movement combinations, and exercises requiring each hand to do something different.
​
With the help of his wife, Lorraine Irwin, and Certified Hand Therapist Meg Robinson, the exercises were organized into the Finger Fitness program. In 1988, Greg and Lorraine wrote and published the first book and video, Finger Fitness: The Art of Finger Control.
​
What Makes Finger Fitness Different?
Finger Fitness goes beyond simply squeezing an object for strength. It challenges individual finger movement, independence, and coordination between the fingers and hands.
​
Basic movements become progressively more difficult through finger isolation, combinations, opposite hand movements, speed, and complexity. This allows Finger Fitness to range from simple beginner exercises to highly advanced challenges.
​
Finger Fitness is not intended to replace medical treatment or hand therapy. It is a hand-conditioning and performance program designed to develop the capabilities of the healthy hand.
Finger Fitness Videos & E-Book
The Finger Fitness videos and e-book progress from basic movements to highly advanced finger control.
​
1. Finger Fitness: The Art of Finger Control
E-Book & Video — Beginner to Advanced
The original book and video, first published in 1988, introducing the fundamental Finger Fitness exercises and progressing from basic to advanced.
​
2. Finger Fitness: Exercise Dances for Kids
Beginner
A fun introduction for children featuring 10 exercise dances that teach the basic Finger Fitness movements.
​
3. Finger Fitness: The Complete Hand Workout
Beginner to Intermediate
A follow-along workout featuring five lessons and 10 exercise dances that combine individual exercises into increasingly challenging routines.
​
4. Finger Fitness: The Advanced Finger Fitness Guide
Intermediate to Advanced
The most comprehensive Finger Fitness video, featuring 15 lessons and an extensive collection of movements—almost an encyclopedia of Finger Fitness.
​
5. Finger Fitness: New Frontier
Basic to Highly Advanced
New Frontier expands the concept by isolating one hand at a time, making exercises easier for beginners while creating new challenges for advanced users.
​
All five Finger Fitness videos and the e-book are downloadable directly from this website. They are also available in discounted bundles for those who want multiple programs.
​
From Musicians to Everyone
Finger Fitness began with musicians but expanded to athletes, children, seniors, professionals, and anyone interested in improving hand performance.
​
Greg traveled internationally demonstrating and performing Finger Fitness in about a dozen countries and on more than 20 international television shows, helping introduce the concept to audiences around the world.
​
Many of these international television performances can be viewed in the Video Gallery on this website.
​
Experience and Credibility
For decades, Greg has demonstrated and discussed Finger Fitness with hand surgeons, Certified Hand Therapists, physical and occupational therapists, and sports medicine professionals. Certified Hand Therapist Meg Robinson also helped organize the original program.
​
What began as a musician's solution for conditioning his own hands grew into a systematic approach that has been taught and demonstrated around the world.
​
Hand Health Unlimited
As Finger Fitness grew, Greg and Lorraine added other hand fitness products and, in 1997, founded Hand Health Unlimited.
​
The philosophy remains simple:
​
We use our hands for almost everything we do, but rarely think about exercising and conditioning them. Finger Fitness was created to change that.
What Others Are Saying
Finger Fitness is a series of exercises designed to enhance hand strength, coordination, finger independence and fine motor response – exercises you can do anywhere, any time. This approach to hand conditioning is a powerful tool for boosting performance and strength in specialized applications. This kit contains two videos.
​
Click the link below to look through all our inventory!
"The amount of finger control you gain through the Finger Fitness program is invaluable to any guitarist, bassist, or keyboardist.”
— Tom Mulhearn
- Guitar Player
“I’ve been doing Finger Fitness exercises for over four years, mainly while I’m watching TV at night. If I jerk my hand the wrong way, I'll feel the shooting pain from arthritis, but other than that it doesn't bother me at all anymore.”
— Carole, 60
- Arthritis
“Individuals who have occupations or vocations that require increased proficiency and development of individual hand muscles could benefit from the Finger Fitness Program.”
— Randi L. Schatz
- OTR, CHT
How did Hand Health begin?
​
Greg Irwin first began developing his Finger Fitness techniques while earning his degree in music education at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He and his wife Lorraine started Hand Health Unlimited in 1988, connecting products and programs to meet the qualifications of hand therapists and the needs of people just like you.
​
What is hand health's mission?
Hand Health Unlimited is dedicated to Finger Fitness. Our goals in designing and marketing our products are prevention, improvement, and rehabilitation.
​
What are the benefits of your products and programs?
All our products are designed to help you increase strength, coordination, and dexterity in your hands and fingers. At the same time, they can help you decrease the occurrence of injury, stress, and fatigue, all of which can have serious repercussions for your long-term hand health.
​​
Who should use your products and programs?
​
Whether you’re a musician or a surgeon, a manual laborer or a stay-at-home parent, your hands are vital to the work you do each day. At Hand Health Unlimited, we are dedicated to helping you take the best care of your hands’ health.
​
​