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As I get older and also deal with some neurological issues, ive started to notice that my left hand is taking a while to warm up. And its always been out of balance with the strength of my dominant hand, playing all those rasgueados and such.
A little research told me to focus on building extension rather than grip strength. So ive been doing the first exercise that she demonstrates in this video for about a month so far.
I have definitely noticed a difference when picking up the guitar. The nice thing is that its easy to do while driving or walking somewhere as long as you can remember to do it.
Maybe your right. Paging Dr Ramzi! She said in an article that doing that excerise fixed her carpal tunnel. It feels a little uncomfortable in my tendons when I do the first set and then it feels fine. Eventually your forearm will burst into flames
Thank you Jason for posting the video. I did all three exercises at the gym today and liked them. I used the 10lb dumbbell. I go to the gym four times a week so will see.
Some comments mostly on the first one since that is that one you are doing.
I don't understand why it has to be done 300 times. This seems excessive and is not how you build muscle strength. Doing 15 or so at a time is plenty; the rest just stresses your tendons. Note also that she has had carpal tunnel syndrome; treat her advice with extreme caution.
I don't understand why one has to switch from full extended to full flexed (and vice versa) as quick as possible. This seems to serve no muscle-building function. Maybe it is fine to [strive to] extend as quick as possible in order to stimulate more muscle fibers, but then pause before flexing (as quick as possible) into a fist. In your particular case, since you are looking to build up you extensors but not flexors, just practice one half of this exercise - just the extension part.
The unrolling down and rolling up of the dumbell only works out your forearm flexors - which are presumably very well developed from gripping already. The unrolling seems dangerous if not done with control.
The twisting with dumbells works out the two pronator and two supination muscles. This is probably good for general maintenance although none of these should be done with more than 15-20 repetitions per set. Twisting from palm up (supinated) to palm down works the pronator quadratus and pronator teres muscles. Reversing it works the supinator and biceps muscles. None of these are much involved in fretboard hand work, so it is more for maintaining a balance (not letting these muscles be much weaker than others around them).
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As I get older and also deal with some neurological issues, ive started to notice that my left hand is taking a while to warm up.
If you have a problem that is caused by muscle weakness then muscle strengthening exercises will address that. If you have a problem caused by something else you risk creating more problems. If you have any kind of problems with tension, then muscle building exercises will likely make it worse.
Ah, my friend. If only I could help you. I've tried doing so before, and was met with a bunch of angry, aggressive emails telling me how I'm totally ignorant and a charlatan, and that the entire field of western medicine is utterly useless, and so on. Hence, as you've resolved in 2020 to get buff, I've resolved to just keep my head down, plow forward, avoid giving unsolicited advice, avoid rattling the cages, focus on minding my own business, and trying to avoid stress, because life is too short, and it's not worth it. I have plenty more to say, but I don't want to hijack this thread.
I recommend consulting with a team of multidisciplinary healthcare professionals that specialize in a wide array of modalities including western, eastern, holistic, nutritional, exercise-based, etc. Good luck.
Ah, my friend. If only I could help you. I've tried doing so before, and was met with a bunch of angry, aggressive emails telling me how I'm totally ignorant and a charlatan, and that the entire field of western medicine is utterly useless, and so on. Hence, as you've resolved in 2020 to get buff, I've resolved to just keep my head down, plow forward, avoid giving unsolicited advice, avoid rattling the cages, focus on minding my own business, and trying to avoid stress, because life is too short, and it's not worth it. I have plenty more to say, but I don't want to hijack this thread.
I recommend consulting with a team of multidisciplinary healthcare professionals that specialize in a wide array of modalities including western, eastern, holistic, nutritional, exercise-based, etc. Good luck.
I cannot believe you would recommend consulting with snake oil selling healthcare professionals! The internet says I need to do 300 of these exercises as fast as possible, and if it hurts then I need to inject more growth hormone directly into into my hand. Oh man. People need to chill. I was sort of joking as I would t expect you to give personal advice like that.
You guys make good points and I think I will ask my psychiatrist (err um physiatrist rather) about it to avoid hurting myself. But if they don’t have me playing like Yngwie by 2021....
...if it hurts then I need to inject more growth hormone directly into into my hand...I think I will ask my psychiatrist (err um physiatrist rather) about it...
Careful. They might suggest injecting the stuff directly into your head!
@kitarist You seem to know a lot about anatomy of arm, wrist and hand. How about these 7 exercises? Do you recommend them?
@JasonM
I suggest you use spiky massage ball on your hand, forearm and upper-arm before any warm-up exercise and stretching. It has many benefits. Just to name a few. It reduces muscle tension, improves blood flow and prevents injuries. I bought a set of these balls for about 5€ on amazon. 5 balls with different sizes and colors arrived. You can also pump these balls with a needle to increase the air pressure. Gives different results.
@kitarist You seem to know a lot about anatomy of arm, wrist and hand. How about these 7 exercises? Do you recommend them?
He seems legit, in that he is an actual orthopedic surgeon MD specializing in arms.
The first three exercises he shows are warmup exercises. I like them. When he says "for 30 seconds", also pay attention to the rate - so he actually means "about 20 reps" per set. I think they are good general warmup exercises before starting guitar playing. Notice no as-fast-as-possible jerky motions, no 300 reps, no real intensity - the goal instead is to warm up the hand and its muscles.
The rest use dumbbells and are aimed at building up the respective muscles he talks about (brachioradialis; flexors; extensors). They seem fine as well (if you have atrophy or insufficient development relative to surrounding muscles), but note that if you are a habitual gym-goer lifting weights, or doing any manual labour, you do not likely need to do these dumbbell exercises separately; or at least take that into account and decrease the intensity, frequency, and repetitions relative to what he recommends. Like if you are doing deadlifts in the gym, it is unlikely you need separate flexor exercises.
Also note how he says to do the warmup first and only then the weighted exercises - rather than start the dumbbell stuff cold. This is good practice for any exercising.
"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page. What you cannot fix is that pristine, unsullied whiteness of a screen or a page with nothing on it—because there’s nothing there to fix."
"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page. What you cannot fix is that pristine, unsullied whiteness of a screen or a page with nothing on it—because there’s nothing there to fix."
@kitarist You seem to know a lot about anatomy of arm, wrist and hand. How about these 7 exercises? Do you recommend them?
He seems legit, in that he is an actual orthopedic surgeon MD specializing in arms.
The first three exercises he shows are warmup exercises. I like them. When he says "for 30 seconds", also pay attention to the rate - so he actually means "about 20 reps" per set. I think they are good general warmup exercises before starting guitar playing. Notice no as-fast-as-possible jerky motions, no 300 reps, no real intensity - the goal instead is to warm up the hand and its muscles.
The rest use dumbbells and are aimed at building up the respective muscles he talks about (brachioradialis; flexors; extensors). They seem fine as well (if you have atrophy or insufficient development relative to surrounding muscles), but note that if you are a habitual gym-goer lifting weights, or doing any manual labour, you do not likely need to do these dumbbell exercises separately; or at least take that into account and decrease the intensity, frequency, and repetitions relative to what he recommends. Like if you are doing deadlifts in the gym, it is unlikely you need separate flexor exercises.
Also note how he says to do the warmup first and only then the weighted exercises - rather than start the dumbbell stuff cold. This is good practice for any exercising.
Thanks for your reply.
I'm gonna include the first 3 exercises in my warm-up routine. Not sure I'll do the remaining exercises with dumbbells.
Do you know any good exercises for strengthening extensor tendons of the right hand?
Do you know any good exercises for strengthening extensor tendons of the right hand?
For the tendons?! No, and I would not recommend any anyway. Just play your guitar, practicing rasgueados, which would develop your extensor muscles. This will in turn have a consequential positive effect on the tendons, so long as you do not overdo it; and never play through pain.
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