My wrist gets tired after a few minutes of playing

loadedguitar

loadedguitar

New member
Hi everyone,

I've been playing the guitar for about six years now, and I love it. I can play songs like Satch boogie, but I spend most of my time improvising to some rock/blues backing tracks. When I'm playing whlie I'm standing my wrist gets tired very fast, but when I'm sitting it doesn't. My strap isn't too low, so that's not the problem. I was wondering if there's any exercise for this, so if there's some exercise for this please tell me. Thank you! Sorry for my english. :nervous:
 
Re: My wrist gets tired after a few minutes of playing

The fact that you don't get tired while sitting points to a posture or ergonomics issue. Your left wrist needs to be a close to straight as possible, and you may need to adjust your strap to achieve that. It's also possible that your guitar may not fit your body terribly well. For example I'm somewhat tall and have long arms, so I have issues playing a Strat standing while I'm fine sitting down.
 
Re: My wrist gets tired after a few minutes of playing

Maybe you'll need to be a chest-rocker to match the position you're getting while seated.
Depends how you hold it while seated, but basically just try to match that.

Have a big belly? That would effect the positioning and angle more while standing for sure.
 
Re: My wrist gets tired after a few minutes of playing

stretch before and after finger acrobatics

keep your wrists straight

stand up when you play

eat right and take vitamins
 
Re: My wrist gets tired after a few minutes of playing

also exercise normally

consider doing other exercises with varigrip, gyroball dfx sports fitness mydfx.com, flextend

there are some good musician ergonomics books out there and specialists
 
Re: My wrist gets tired after a few minutes of playing

The best exercise for playing is playing. Everything else will redirect your hand, finger, and wrist positioning. Stop sitting and playing unless you intend to be a Classical guitarist, because you are not holding the guitar in the exact same manner as when you're standing, no matter what you say, think, or believe. It's a physical impossibility unless you wear the guitar under your chin, which no one does because it looks dorky.

Reposition your strap, change the angle at which you address the guitar to match your sitting position, and slowly increase the length of your strap until you find the lowest point you can wear it and not experience pain.


Also soak your arms/hands/wrists in a pan of hot/warm water for 20 minutes before and after playing, like Satch does.

Don't neglect your nutritional needs. Pizza is awesome, but you need fresh fruits and veggies. Get a juicer and a blender.
 
Re: My wrist gets tired after a few minutes of playing

cool brutha, youll need to do 5 minutes cardio too before stretching, then finger acrobatics, try stuff like zumba or something involving upper body, slow marshall arts. it looks nuts but just speed walking and moving your arms around in circles would work and you could do it in your house on a trampoline, just use your imagination
 
Re: My wrist gets tired after a few minutes of playing

Canned veggies make good light weights. Start with 1 in each hand, then 2 in a bag, then 3 in a bag, etc etc. 16 oz makes 1 lb, so 24 8 oz cans of whole kernel corn, sweet peas, green beans, and peas and carrots in a plastic bag (or two or three) is 12 lbs. 40 reps of that crap will get your blood percolating.
A 5lb bag of sugar ain't no joke, either, after about 5 minutes with your arm fully extended.

Then there's guitar case curls, and head and cabinet isometrics.

Throw a handful of guitar picks against the wall, then pick them all up one full bend at a time (bend or stoop, pick one up, stand up, repeat).


But seriously, for "guitar hand", play. Playing is the only thing that puts your hands in the positions they need to be in to play. Curls will get your grip strength and forearm lifts and biceps, but won't do jack for your dexterity, which is the problem here. When your fingers move and hold chords, you're flexing individual tendons and muscle groups linked directly to each finger. Wrapping all 4 fingers around a 1" thick weight bar, or a beer bottle, or even a grocery sack, is not going to work the individual groups individually, but rather as one group working together for the same purpose.
 
Re: My wrist gets tired after a few minutes of playing

DrNewcenstein said:
The best exercise for playing is playing. Everything else will redirect your hand, finger, and wrist positioning. Stop sitting and playing unless you intend to be a Classical guitarist, because you are not holding the guitar in the exact same manner as when you're standing, no matter what you say, think, or believe. It's a physical impossibility unless you wear the guitar under your chin, which no one does because it looks dorky.

Reposition your strap, change the angle at which you address the guitar to match your sitting position, and slowly increase the length of your strap until you find the lowest point you can wear it and not experience pain.


Also soak your arms/hands/wrists in a pan of hot/warm water for 20 minutes before and after playing, like Satch does.

Don't neglect your nutritional needs. Pizza is awesome, but you need fresh fruits and veggies. Get a juicer and a blender.
Click to expand...
John Petrucci once said that he wore his guitar way too high to look cool.
I usually sit when I play, at this point in my life I couldn't care less how dorky I look playing. That being said, if you plan to play a low slung axe while standing, best to practice that way.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk
 
Re: My wrist gets tired after a few minutes of playing

Yeah, the guitar should be in the same position on your body no matter if you are standing or sitting. This is certainly due to the fact that the angles of your arms, wrist, and elbows change when standing up.
 
Re: My wrist gets tired after a few minutes of playing

Demanic said:
That being said, if you plan to play a low slung axe while standing, best to practice that way.
Click to expand...

I see people doing this to try to look like Page or Steve Clark but wail like Petrucci, and they end up with permanent damage because their wrists are hyper-extended while moving their fingers in intricate patterns. This stretches the muscle groups and tendons beyond their natural ability.

Bending over to play is another bad-health choice.

Tilt the guitar neck up, pick at about the height of your navel. It works just fine. You don't have to pick at nut level or kneecap level.
 
Re: My wrist gets tired after a few minutes of playing

Thank you everybody! I think I solved the problem-when I was playing while standing, I held the guitar almost horizontally. Now I hold my guitar at an angle, and I'm fine. I don't know how I didn't realize this. Thank everyone for the help!
 
Re: My wrist gets tired after a few minutes of playing

Be careful. Small annoying pain now can translate to needing surgery later. Listen to your body- not everyone is the same. A mirror helps to see your hands, wrists and elbows. Do not just play through any pain.
 
Re: My wrist gets tired after a few minutes of playing

Mincer said:
Be careful. Small annoying pain now can translate to needing surgery later. Listen to your body- not everyone is the same. A mirror helps to see your hands, wrists and elbows. Do not just play through any pain.
Click to expand...

Good advice. I had to have carpal tunnel surgery on my left hand about a year-and-a-half ago because I ignored the numbness for too long. Might have been avoided if I'd looked into it earlier.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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