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.