Articles

Hamilton, Ohio – Hand coordination guru Greg Irwin, founder of HandHealth Unlimited, is taking his world renowned Finger Fitness training program to new levels with the March 1st, 2003 release of The Complete Hand Workout. This new exercise video features a series of fun and challenging routines, taking the student through the complete Finger Fitness training model.

Greg Irwin has performed his world-famous “Finger Ballet” on the The Tonight Show twice (once with Johnny Carson and once with jay Leno). He has also appeared on more than 20 international television shows in twelve different countries. Irwin began developing the Finger Fitness techniques while studying music at Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio. Interested in training his hands to become more responsive, he created some simple bending ad spitting exercised which soon expanded into a complete repertoire of finger isolation exercises. Greg and his wife, Lorraine, published these exercises in 1988 as Finger Fitness: The Art of Finger Control.

The original Finger Fitness book and video became the cornerstone products behind Irwin’s innovative company, HandHealth Unlimited. “My first Finger Fitness video was more or less an overview of the entire program,” Irwin explains. “The Complete Hand workout is a reflection of the type of instructional methods I have used over the last fifteen years of teaching Finger Fitness seminars and workshops. It is a progressive program that starts with the most basic moves and challenges you to more and more complex combinations of those moves.”

The foundation of Finger Fitness is overall hand health and is based on three core principles: maximizing ability, preventing injury, and therapeutic rehabilitation. Every HandHealth program is developed with the help of a licensed hand therapist and is designed with rehabilitation, strengthening and conditioning in mind.

Irwin has seen increased public awareness of the importance of maintaining hand health and is a popular speaker and instructor. Corporate organizations and educational institutions such as Lucent Technologies, AT&T and Duquesne University have caught on, inviting him to lead training sessions. The exercises Irwin has incorporated into the video are far from boring – Irwin uses colorful gloves, original music scores and elegant, rhythmic routines to make the Finger Fitness program fun to learn. “It’s fun and easy to watch,” he explains. “We’ve put the exercises to music using color-coded gloves for the left and right hands so you can follow right along.”

HandHealth Unlimited, whose motto is “Helping Hands Work and Feel Better”, offers a wide range of helpful products, books and videos on its website, www.handhealth.com. The website is an innovative combination of useful instruction and e-commerce for retailers and consumers alike, offering products from around the world at a reasonable cost. You’ll find a huge range of products each with useful descriptions. “Since 1977, HandHealth Unlimited has connected programs and products to meet the qualifications of hand therapists and the needs of everyday people from all walks of life with products designed to help users increase strength, coordination, and dexterity in their hands and fingers,” says Irwin. “Bringing those products and programs to the web was a natural progression.”

Hand Health Unlimited believes its products are beneficial to a wide range of people. “Everyone can befit from hand conditioning because we all rely on our hands every day, no matter what we do,” Greg Irwin says. HandHealth Unlimited’s programs and products initially caught on within the music community, but soon interest grew. According to the company statement, “Whether you’re a musician or a surgeon, a manual laborer or a stay-at-home parent, your hands are vital the work you do each day. At HandHealth Unlimited, we are dedicated to helping you take the best care of your hands’ health. And we believe the best formula for hand health is preventive.”

Do they work” According to certified hand therapist Meg Robinson, OTR/L, the answer is a resounding “Yes!” “Finger Fitness enables an individual to control the intricate workings of a powerful tool-the hand. By mastering Finger Fitness techniques, one can improve not only physical dexterity, but overall reflexive responses, enabling him to perform with peak skill and accuracy,” she explains. In fact, the program and products available through www.handhealth.com can help people decrease the occurrence of injury, stress and fatigue – all of which can have serious repercussions for long-term hand health. Every product available through the HandHealth Unlimited website has been approved by a Certified Hand Therapist.

The new video, The Complete Hand Workout, which is scheduled for release March 1, 2003, can be ordered on the company’s website, www.handhealth.com. It is also available for retail or consumer use by calling HandHealth Unlimited’s toll-free number, 888-868-HAND (4263). In the Hamilton/Cincinnati, Ohio area, consumers and retailers can call direct, 513-868-7933. The video is available for retail distribution and comes in a beautiful package, designed by Cincinnati-based graphic designer Ranch Schimpf.

Music teachers, bandleaders, and others can purchase mass quantities of the video at a special discount.