Do I need to do wellness guitar finger exercises for my picking hand?

This is an important question. The balance of the muscles on the picking hand, finger and thumb are greatly affected because of the size of the article that is being gripped, i.e. in this case a pick or a string. Thus, the finger and thumb flexor muscles are shortened regularly and, if not properly exercised, will become imbalanced. 

Handmaster Plus allows a complete and simple finger exercise that will easily offset this imbalance - and is also an amazing warm up and warm down exercise. So many musicians develop hand, wrist, carpal tunnel and elbow imbalances and wonder why. Yet it is easy to explain - and to offset through proper exercise.

But why is there a thumb and finger muscle imbalance on the picking hand? And why have we missed it in the past? Especially when so many guitarists have experienced carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, and finger and thumb tendonitis & injury issues.

Firstly lets talk about why.

The hand, fingers and thumb work most efficiently when they hold items that are neutral in size. By this I mean not too small, not too big. Too small might be, as an example, a guitar pick or a surgical tool. Too big might be a basketball. When they are extreme, the workload required to manipulate the item is increased.

When we grab something that is especially very small, the function of all the hand, finger and thumb muscles that have to hold and manipulate that item is amplified. What this means is that the grip stabilizer muscles (the muscles on the back of your hand, wrist and elbow) are contracting to support the fine motor flexor muscles that are holding the small items, such as a guitar pick in the picking hand. As well, note that these muscles are contracting statically (in one position) in a small range of motion which means that if used repetitively they are eventually going to become short static with poor blood flow, just like any other muscle in the body that is exercised through only a tiny range of motion.



Why have we missed this imbalance? Because just like other grip dominated activities (i.e. sports & workplace) we focus more on the 'symptoms that grip imbalance causes (carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, golfer's elbow, DeQuervain's Syndrome, tendonitis, cramping, etc.)' rather than 'what causes grip imbalance?'

Thumb & fingers exercises must be done to maintain the natural balance of the finger, thumb, hand, wrist, carpal tunnel, forearm and elbow. There is no other way.

We designed Handmaster Plus so that all guitarists have an easy to understand & easy to do thumb and finger exercise to offset the repetitive finger muscle activity required to hold a pick or even to finger pick. The repetitive flexing and gripping aspect of the picking hand must be offset if finger, thumb, hand, wrist, carpal tunnel, forearm and elbow mechanics are to be strong, stable and neutrally maintained.

For more information or to purchase your personal product, visit Handmaster Plus or send us an email at info@doczac.com

Keep healthy, keep playing and look for every advantage that can make you be the best artist that you can be...

Labels: carpal tunnel syndrome, Guitar exercise, guitar finger exercises, Handmaster Plus, injury, picking hand, tennis elbow, thumb

On the verge of the release of Guitar Hero 4 and Rock Star 2, popularity of (and competition for) music related video games is rocketing. With users (gamers) of all ages passionate about these video games, finger, thumb, hand, wrist & elbow injuries (RSI's like tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, gamers thumb, trigger finger, etc.) are also on the rise due to the repetitive nature of Guitar Hero and Rock Star. Like guitarist, drummers, bassists, keyboard (piano) players, wind instrumentalists and other musicians, hand muscles are enormously involved in Guitar Hero and Rock Star playing, so let's understand their role.

Very simply 9 muscles close the hand and are located on the front of the fingers, thumb, hand, wrist, forearm and elbow.

Equally, 9 muscles open the hand and are on the back of the fingers, thumb, hand, wrist, forearm and elbow

Very simply, the muscles that close the hand do most of the visible actions of pressing the color keys or striking the drums (or strumming). The muscles that open the hand work in support of the action of the hand closing muscles, as do the wrsit extensors. All muscles are active when playing Guitar Hero or Rock Star and are therfore open to overuse and repetition syndromes. All muscles must be balanced and toned properly (through full ranges of motion) to maximize Guitar Hero or Rock Star performance (improve speed, strength, stamina and accuracy) and prevent injury.

See our video on Guitar Hero player Dustin Jensen as we collect hand muscle activity patterns using sEMG (surface electromyography) and watch how easy it is to train all 18 hand muscles using Handmaster Plus by doczac (see http://www.doczac.com/).

Labels: accuracy, carpal tunnel syndrome, cramp, finger, gamer, Guitar Hero, hand exercise, improve scores, injury prevention, pain, Rock Star, speed, stamina, stiffness, strength, thumb

Dr. Terry Zachary originally developed the Handmaster Plus in response to a professional golfer's injury, while playing professional golf in California in 1996. A fellow player had developed a painful condition known as tennis elbow and sought advice. Upon interview, Dr. Zachary observed that the player’s hand muscle strength exercise included only flexion (squeezing a racquet ball with fingers and thumb) exercise, with no extension nor abduction exercise. This resulted in the player developing a finger and hand muscle imbalance (causing elbow joint imbalance) while not supporting healthy tone and blood flow to the extensor muscles, tendons and tissues of the elbow. Dr. Zachary soon developed his first working prototype resulting in full relief of the condition. Now, in 2008, the Handmaster Plus is distributed around the world and is used on all major professional golf tours for finger, thumb, hand, wrist, forearm & elbow strength and stability!

See Dr. Zachary's Golf Grip & Hand Strength video for golf:

Labels: carpal tunnel syndrome, forearm, golf, golfer's elbow, hand, improve scores, injury prevention, pain, strength, strong wrists, tennis elbow, wrist