best way to warmup arm before shredding

Lately my arm has been tensing up more then usual when I play. I took a break from my shred routine for about a week or two, and now I'm coming back to it and I can't seem to get the same speed I did before. When I put on the gas my upper arm and elbow get tense. Do I just need to spend a couple days at a slower tempo to get back into the swing and work up? Or are there some warmups I can do to get my arm loosened before.

I used to think that I picked mainly with my wrist and fingers, but I guess not.

I'm beginning to think that we need to recruit a doctor who specializes in sports medicine and Repetitive Stress Injuries!

Playing guitar uses muscle groups that don't get used,(or at least don't get used the same way), by any other activity.

If you play a lot and then knock off for a while, you lose some of the muscle 'tone'. (The gear isn't the only source of your tone!) The fall-off from peak condition happens fast, but its dangerous to try to come back too quickly.

Don't push too hard. It probably took you a long time to get to the level you have come to regard as 'normal'. It will take a while to get back there.

SURGEON GENERAL WARNING: SHREDDING MIGHT CAUSE SERIOUS INJURIES
I think I read that on the "chops from hell" site, and it was serious , I hope so though...

I honestly do not understand why people shred any more. There's the risk of injury, and it just plain sounds cliche.

The 80's are dead!!! . . . and hopefully, they won't come back.

I used to shred, just for the fun of it. What some guys found in bungee jumping or extreme sports, I found in shredding...
Last time, I was watching shredders' videos, and they actually SLOWED THE TAPE DOWN, so you could see the guy wasn't cheating!!! WHAT'S THE POINT? I think we have pushed the limits farther, but those guys forgot that the point was making music... They have actually turned it into a sport!!! They must have thought that since it gave the same feelings, it should be treated the same way!!
Well, too bad... But sometimes, it's fun to watch...

I think it's a lot more dangerous to type on a keyboard and work with a mouse a lot, than to shred.(speaking of carpel tunnel syndrome or RSI here) Just look at the warning they put on keyboards nowadays. I doubt people stop using keyboards cause of this.

By the way, who cares if the 80's are dead? Some people enjoy playing fast, and I doubt they care what other people think about that.

As for warming up, do some 1 2 3 4 runs, jumping from string to string, using alternate picking. Remember to start slowly, and don't work up to speed too fast.


Greetz, TK

Originally posted by Christoph



The 80's are dead!!! . . . and hopefully, they won't come back.

because of the music or because of the spandex?? Maybe because of the hairdo?

I think it's exactly for the reasons that you mentioned above. They forgot that the point was to make music. Hairdos, spandex, and pentagrams were all by-products of this.

It's fun to listen to now and then, but after a while it all sounds the same.