Just reading through some of the older threads here and noticed quite a few regarding pain in the hands and wrists.
Just wanted to post up some exercises that have worked wonders for my hand health. Before I get into them, let me first say that I've been an avid powerlifter for close to 7 years now. The goal in that sport being to attain maximum strength in 3 major lifts, the deadlift, the squat and the bench press. Besides training those lifts themselves, one must train using supplementary movements to help strengthen the weak links a lifter may have. For the deadlift in particular, hand strength is almost always the weakest link. Because of this I (like other lifters) focused a lot of time and energy strengthening the muscles in the lower arm, as a result I've suffered quite a few overuse injuries from this type of training. So I was forced to learn how to prevent and rehab these types of nagging maladies.
What I found out was that these sort of "active recovery" workouts carried over well to playing the bass. So if this is a bit long and drawn out, I apologize, if you already know this then more power to you.
The Site is Not Always the Source
Sage advice I got during my first year of college. Most people assume that when they experience pain or discomfort that the sight is where the problem is. Not always the case though. Muscle pain is almost always caused by tightness in another muscle or muscle group OR imbalances between certain muscle.
For example, Lower back pain can sometimes be caused by tightness in the biceps femoris (hamstrings).
The same can be said about hand/wrist pain. For the most part this is caused by problems with the muscles in the forearm, upper arm and even the shoulders.
Working on balanced muscle development and regaining range of motion is key.
Exercises 1. Wrist Rotations
Simple yet effective. This is good for not only musicians but desk jockeys who ride a keyboard and monitor 9-5 mon-fri.
The movement is simple. Make a fist and rotate in a cirlce both clockwise and counter clockwise. This can be done throughout the day, either at work or while you wait in traffic.
2. Finger Rotations (not pictured)
Same thing as wrist rotations but with the fingers. Open your hand and rotate your thumb clockwise and counter clockwise, repeat with your index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and pinky. You'll probably notice that the range of motion will differ with each finger, don't worry, as you progress you will regain some of that ROM.
3. Forearm Rotations (not pictured)
Were moving up the arm here. Bend your elbow at a 90 degree angle. Hold that elbow with your other hand to keep it stable. Now rotate your forearm in a circle, again go clockwise and counter clockwise.
4. Rotator Cuff Circles
Bend over and let your arm hang, hold on to something stable with your other hand to help keep balance. Let the weight of your arm stretch the shoulder joint, the arm should limp. Now move your arm in a circle, again, clockwise/counter clockwise.
5. Extensor Work with Rubber band.
This is the one exercise that I may be so bold to say will have the most impact on your hands. 99.99999999% of daily tasks where you use your hands involve flexion of the fingers. Grabbing something, holding a glass, picking up your child, fretting a bass etc. As a result, muscle imbalances are inevitable because we're basically ignoring the opposing range of motion (extension). Working the extensors in your forearms will help alleviate imbalances. The easiest way to do this is using a rubber band. Place the band around your fingers for resistance and then open your fingers. Repeat.
Start
Finish
I prefer using a thick band for more resistance. You want to shoot for around 20-30 repetitions. Again, don't overdue it.
Anyways, hope this helps, it's simple and it worked for me.
If you guys have more to add, please do.
