There are ten muscles that make up your hand grip. Three of these muscles are located in the forearms and wrists and the other seven are located in the hands themselves. The three muscles located in the forearm are: 1) Flexor Pollicis Longus, 2) Flexor Digitorum Superficialis and 3) Flexor Digitorum Profundus. These muscles are shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 below:
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Figure 1. Left forearm, superficial muscles, anterior view.
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Figure 2. Left forearm, deep muscles, anterior view.
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The seven muscles located in the hands are: ) Opponens Digiti Minimi, 2) Opponens Pollicis, 3) Flexor Digiti Minimi Brevis, 4) Flexor Pollicis Brevis, 5) Adductor Pollicis, 6) First Dorsal Interossei and 7) Palmar Interossei. These muscles are shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4 below.
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Figure 3 Superficial hand grip muscles of the left hand.
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Figure 4 Deep hand grip muscles of the left hand.
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INNERVATION (NERVE SUPPLY)
Starting with the hand grip muscles located in the forearms, the flexor pollicis longus is innervated by anterior interosseous nerve, which is a branch from the median nerve and is traced back to the C8 and T1 cord levels.
The flexor digitorum superficialis is innervated by the median nerve and is traced back to all of the branches of the brachial plexus, C5, C6, C7, C8 and T1.
The flexor digitorum profundus is innervated by the anterior interosseous nerve just like the flexor pollicis longus as well as branches from the ulnar nerve.
For the hand grip muscles in the hands, the opponens digiti minimi is innervated by the deep branch of the ulnar nerve which is traced back to the C8 and T1 cord levels.
The opponens pollicis is innervated by the median nerve and is traced back to all of the branches of the brachial plexus, C5, C6, C7, C8 and T1.
The flexor digiti minimi brevis is innervated by the deep branch of the ulnar nerve and is traced back to the C8 and T1 cord level.
The flexor pollicis brevis is innervated by the median nerve (C5-T1) and the deep branch of the ulnar nerve and is traced back to the C8 and T1 cord level.
The adductor pollicis is innervated by the deep branch of the ulnar nerve and is traced back to the C8 and T1 cord level.
The first dorsal interossei is innervated by the ulnar nerve and is traced back to the C8 and T1 cord levels.
The palmar interossei is innervated by the deep branch of the ulnar nerve and is traced back to the C8 and T1 cord level.
The brachial plexus, from which all of these nerves originate is shown in Figure 5 below:
Figure 5. The brachial plexus showing its Branches from the C5 – T1 spinal nerve roots.
Function
The 10 muscles that make up your hand grip are important for all sports, especially those that require you to hold on to a golf club, baseball and bat, hockey stick, tennis racket and lacrosse stick.
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