Bass Glove/Ring Weights, Finger Exercises?

[Fergie Fulton]

I've found over 30 years of playing and teaching that the best exercises for playing bass (and guitar) are to play the instrument. I used to do stuff like the spider, chromatic exercises, etc. But I found that the best way to get better physical control was to simply play music on the bass.

John

The elastic band exercise described above by Fergie can be done away from the bass, watching TV, on a lunch break, etc, and only takes about 5 or 10 minutes. So no practice time is lost, the exercise is beneficial to the task required of the hand...and it is free.

I agree with John and always will in this matter...But sometimes extra help is needed because playing the bass is the causing the problem or highlighting an underlying problem from some where else. If playing time is tight then exercises away from the bass will help, as also will warm ups and stretches.
Combining the both is the way to go, but always emphisis the playing because that is the ultimate goal. As the OP asked about exercise the elastic band is by far one of the best, it is portable, has soothing qualities, it works on resistance so works with the hand, and of course as fearseol says it is free.

As a footnote..3 years ago i was in a car smash which broke my neck, ultimatley i was paralyzed in the right upper side, suffered nerve and muscle damage. As my hand and arm would not move and muscles were wasting, i "invented" a device using elastic bands to help my hands recover when i started to get some feeling in them. It is a ply board with five elastic bands where my finger would be. Because i was lying on my back i would have the board by my side with my finger in the bands (palm down) and just try and lift them. As i was focusing on a specific task, the fingers got gradually got stronger. this i knew because i could measure anything done against how much i could move the bands and for how long before the hand failed.

Within eight months of the accident i had made enough of a recovery to handle a bass. Specialists that examined me were amazed at how much my hand had recovered consisering the damage done to them. Another technique i used later to help make them stronger was a bucket of sharp sand. I made my hand into a point ( ring and forefinger together, thumb and little finger together underneath, and middle finger on top) pushed it deep into the bucket and opened the hand wide. Took it out and repeated it. The sand created the resistance as the elastic band around the fingers does the same job as the sand, but the elastic band was so much better and so much more portable.

All good exercises are based on the hands and fingers opening or extending, not about pushing down or creating grips.
Below is the device i made, it was made for a purpose because i had no other options. I am still working on the recovery of my hands but it is a slow process due to the nature of the injuries.

 

[fearceol]

Thanks Fergie. I hope I did not come across as a "know-it-all" in my post that you quoted (lol). Far be it from me, to think I know better than JTE.

It is just that I was sceptical about the elastic band exercise at first, until I decided I had nothing to lose by giving it a try. I was pleasently surprised at how much it helped me. It was your good self who first drew my attention to it.

Thanks.

 

[Jeff Roller]

What worked for me was ignorantly playing poorly set up instruments all of my developing years. When I finally sought out a new well made instrument, I had to literally back off the poor thing, I was making divots in the fingerboard between the frets!

 

[dtiii]

I wouldn't advise weightlifting for fingers nor the use of any grip-strengtheners. They may very well be a faster path to overuse injuries. Just play. If you're convinced that you need to do something else then just do fingertip pushups, or better yet, play some piano. You can maintain the practice of music with the latter.

If you are still convinced that you need to do something else then read up on Romantic composer Robert Schumann. As a young man he was both composer and concert pianist. He was easily one of the best at both. The story goes that he used a device to exercise his fingers away from the piano, believing that he would benefit from it. It lead to permanent injury that killed his performance career. There is research that debates the use of a device causing the injury as a myth, but I think we can use it as a lesson on the importance of exercising caution when it comes to supplemental hand exercises.

 

[Fergie Fulton]

Thanks Fergie. I hope I did not come across as a "know-it-all" in my post that you quoted (lol). Far be it from me, to think I know better than JTE.

It is just that I was sceptical about the elastic band exercise at first, until I decided I had nothing to lose by giving it a try. I was pleasently surprised at how much it helped me. It was your good self who first drew my attention to it.

Thanks.

Not at all great post, just quoting you and John to make a full picture that the two can and should run together. It is usually forgotton that exercise and stretches can be used to negate any damage that playing or life presents. It not just about developing it can be about offsetting as well.