The GYM.. enemy for string-musicians?

[FunkyMan]

Well, not as bad as it seems, but the consequences are a tangible fact ..

I've been training at the gym since about a year. And although my muscles are not as developed or even voluptuous, i have begun to feel the impact, the speed of my finger-style technique has decreased, my fingers feel a little stiff, I have some difficulties doing fast licks. . not as serious to the point that i can't play, but would prevent that when my body is more developed, will not affect my playing, because my main style is funk, and you know that requires technique to play! I've never trained the forearm, just the rest of the body, this also has happened to other musician friends, and i don't think it is lack of practice, because I practice every day! So any suggestions? don't tell me to stop workout! Thanks

[Meyatch]

stretch your hands and forearms before and after?

You are still putting strain on your fingers and hands by holding on to the weights even if you aren't targeting those areas.

[aBoMoFo]

Yes, the key is to stretch your fingers, hands, and forearms daily.

If you are lifting regularly you will hopefully be increasing your strength in the groups you concentrate on. Eventually you'll come to a point where your fingers and hands will start to slightly complain about the added stress of additional weight done during a set.

I've put a few pounds of muscle on in the past year which is great but a few months ago I noticed having a sluggish feeling in my fingers while playing. I took a break from weights for a few weeks because of an injury in my shoulder and noticed at the end of the break my hand speed appeared to be coming back a bit. After a quick consult with the fellow that repaired my old man's wrist he gave me a few simple exercises that really helped.

To strengthen the fingers, concentrate on your wrist. Stick your hand out straight in front of you like you're going to shake someone's hand. Now slowly and purposefully flex your wrist from left to right and back again while keeping your hand open. The key is SLOWLY! Then repeat the exercise with a made fist.

Another great exercise is one I picked up from a baseball player. With your hands at your sides splay your fingers out and then pull them back together in a fist. Then open again. That's one repetition. Do 15 to 30 then put your arms fully extended and repeat. Then do another set with your hands above your head.

Hey it works for me. Your results may vary and I hope you find a solution that works for you. If things persist in feeling slower and more sluggish then definitely consult your local hand specialist.

[PZapdos]

Coming from a personal trainer (me): Strength training, done correctly, will do nothing other than increase your speed/ability because finger movements will require less muscle fibers to fire for the same amount of movement.

Yes it gets into specifics of training for strength vs explosiveness, but overall you wont slow unless you're doing something incorrectly (that is causing tendon damage, etc.)

How's your diet? this is 99% of the time the main culprit for something like this despite an increase in strength.


edit: typo

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Nothing to do with going to the gym mate.

I've been a regular weightlifter for at least 3-4 years (primarily training in olympic style weightlifting) and it has never given me any issues with playing.

Well, other than once when I over did a leg workout and had a gig that night, but I digress

[FunkyMan]

Originally Posted by PZapdos

How's your diet? this is 99% of the time the main culprit for something like this despite an increase in strength.edit: typo

Well, I'm not following a strict diet, Breakfast a couple of eggs, tea, fruit, at noon as normal, and at night something light, tuna, no bread, sodas, no carbs.

[iamlowsound]

The problem is that you aren`t working your forearms. You need to work complete muscle groups and if you are skipping your forearms, you will have problems. My speed has really increased since I started hitting the gym and putting in a bunch of time on my arms. Do wrist curls.

lowsound

[Fun Size Nick]

Are you stretching the muscles that you're working enough? If not, you'll just end up with big muscles that don't move, as my trainer used to say!

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by Fun Size Nick

Are you stretching the muscles that you're working enough? If not, you'll just end up with big muscles that don't move, as my trainer used to say!

Stretching before working out doesnt reduce the mobility or the chance of injury, it just weakens the muscle.

It also depends on the kind of lifts you do, I'm all about ballistic, so I get a pretty huge range of motion.

[Yerf Dog]

Man. The things people will believe to get out of a workout.

[ericw]

Originally Posted by FunkyMan

Well, I'm not following a strict diet, Breakfast a couple of eggs, tea, fruit, at noon as normal, and at night something light, tuna, no bread, sodas, no carbs.

I'm eating way too much...

[maestrovert]

Weight/resistance/strength training does NOT have detrimental effects on one's playing ability, but neglecting one's musical skills most definitely does !


Whether one works out or not, practice/play consistently and work on speed/dexterity drills; training with your instrument as it were, this is the answer.

[FunkyMan]

Many different opinions, but I've learned from all .. I started those stretching today that were referred .. see what happens ..!

My coach told me that, inevitably if i don't work my forearm, this will be exercised anyway, and presumably when the muscles grow, those are pushing more towards the tendons, and that this could be a cause! i don't know..

[iamlowsound]

Originally Posted by FunkyMan

Many different opinions, but I've learned from all .. I started those stretching today that were referred .. see what happens ..!

My coach told me that, inevitably if i don't work my forearm, this will be exercised anyway, and presumably when the muscles grow, those are pushing more towards the tendons, and that this could be a cause! i don't know..

The forearms do get some workout when you do curls and exercises like that, but you should really be doing some wrist curls at a minimum.

lowsound

[maestrovert]

Originally Posted by FunkyMan

Many different opinions, but I've learned from all .. I started those stretching today that were referred .. see what happens ..!

My coach told me that, inevitably if i don't work my forearm, this will be exercised anyway, and presumably when the muscles grow, those are pushing more towards the tendons, and that this could be a cause! i don't know..

Dynamic stretching is ok as part of a warm up routine before hitting the weights, save static stretching for afterwards as it's been proven to decrease muscle strength prior to lifting....

imho you should consider training forearms separately, in addition to the work they get training other bodyparts; as forearms and calves usually require much more volume than other bodyparts...

[Boostedrex]

Originally Posted by PZapdos

Coming from a personal trainer (me): Strength training, done correctly, will do nothing other than increase your speed/ability because finger movements will require less muscle fibers to fire for the same amount of movement.

Yes it gets into specifics of training for strength vs explosiveness, but overall you wont slow unless you're doing something incorrectly (that is causing tendon damage, etc.)

How's your diet? this is 99% of the time the main culprit for something like this despite an increase in strength.


edit: typo

VERY well said. I'm in full agreement with PZapdos. I workout 5 days a week both strength training and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and there are zero adverse effects to my playing. Actually, it's the opposite.

[duff beer]

Originally Posted by iamlowsound

The forearms do get some workout when you do curls and exercises like that, but you should really be doing some wrist curls at a minimum.

lowsound

Isolation movements (wrist curls, leg extensions, etc.) are a waste of time. Do compund movements instead. Chinups will hit your forearms, biceps, back, and even your core at the same time. Deadlifts will work almost every muscle in your body.

[iamlowsound]

Originally Posted by duff beer

Isolation movements (wrist curls, leg extensions, etc.) are a waste of time. Do compund movements instead. Chinups will hit your forearms, biceps, back, and even your core at the same time. Deadlifts will work almost every muscle in your body.

Isolation movements are not useless, they build concentrated mass and strength. Compound movements will build some mass, but they will mostly do overall tone work and some strength. I do some of each, but if I want my forearms to stay in proportion to the rest of my arms, I needs to do the wrist curls.

lowsound

[maestrovert]

Originally Posted by duff beer

Isolation movements (wrist curls, leg extensions, etc.) are a waste of time. Do compund movements instead. Chinups will hit your forearms, biceps, back, and even your core at the same time. Deadlifts will work almost every muscle in your body.

Chins are great, use both a close grip and a wide grip...
Deads are great too.
Compound movements are and should be the core of one's weight training, however i do not find isolation movements a "waste of time", far from it...in their proper place, they're not only quite effective, no balanced physique is built without 'em...

[duff beer]

Originally Posted by iamlowsound

Compound movements will build some mass, but they will mostly do overall tone work and some strength. I do some of each, but if I want my forearms to stay in proportion to the rest of my arms, I needs to do the wrist curls.

lowsound

"overall tone work"