Sudden injuries from lack of warming up: are they real?

[Li Shenron]

Random wondering of the day... We've written thousands of times here about how important it is to do some warm-up. One of the reason quoted is that you may injure yourself... but is it real? Has any of you actually ever got a sudden injury while playing your first few songs or exercises because you didn't warm-up? This definitely happens in sports, you can easily get a muscle injury if you jump on the pitch and play the game without prior warming up, but every person I know that had wrist pain or another problem from guitar practicing got it from practicing too much without breaks, not from skipping warm-ups, and they were rarely sudden injuries. But what's your experience?

 

I stand firm on my opinion that warm-ups are good, but mainly because you cold-handed start performing something, your control is poor and so may be the performance, and instead during a practice scenario because an exercise done without control isn't going to give much benefit. But I doubt that the injury risk is a reason for that... YMMV.

[Knottyhed]

The same.

 

Never had a sudden 'blow-out' when playing and I rarely if ever bother warming up - the worst thing that happens because I haven't warmed up is that I'll fluff what I'm playing because my fingers aren't responding properly.

 

If you're straining away at guitar so much you can suddenly sprain tendons and muscles I'd say not warming up is the least of your worries!

 

Like you, I've had RSI's from bad practice habits though.

[Li Shenron]

Like you, I've had RSI's from bad practice habits though.

 

Well I've personally never even had that (or any other kind of injury)... which probably means I should have actually always practiced more

[jeremy_green]

I have had some hand issues over the years but they have always been a gradual tightening and general soreness when flared up.

 

If I just start ripping right away my hand just simply wont cooperate. It feels tired and a little heavy. So a warm up for me is just a natural progression. I dont really feel like ripping when I first grab a guitar though so it usually isnt an option.

 

I imagine if you were on the tipping point of an injury that could throw it over the edge though.

[1001gear]

I've gotten tendonitis from pushing it. But for those with serious chops, there is a real risk of doing damage by going for it cold. You can have a sudden failure - sprain say, or worse you could degrade your muscle tone and be unable to maintain your regimen; falling progressively backwards. Warm and slow is the best.

[Jasco]

For the most part, playing injuries are a result of repetitive motions with poor hand positions.

 

The only time I've got a 'sudden' injury from normal playing is doing quick long bends (w/ heavy strings and high action) when my hand was not stretched out or warmed up.

[mikey4402]

The muscles in the fingers are too weak to cause a injury like the common pulls and strains you find in the larger muscle groups.

 

I cant comment on whether a warm up will prevent long term problems in the fingers.

 

I warm up out of habit.

[1001gear]

Watch a Buckethead clip.

[Jasco]

 

Watch a Buckethead clip.

 

 

Link?

[jeremy_green]

 

Watch a Buckethead clip.

 

 

??

any particular one

 

not gettin it

[1001gear]

Here's the most dangerous looking.

 

[YOUTUBE]czpwrg8zNls[/YOUTUBE]

[Alex_DeLarge]

The strenght of your fingers doesn't come form the fingers themselves, remember that.

 

The tendons are the ones that gives strength to the finger, and they came from the muscles in the forearm, those muscles give the strength.

 

Hold your hand tight in a close position and see how tight and stiff your forearm gets.

 

I think most injuries are done to the tendons rather than the fingers, and also the wrist, so yeah, warmup maybe necessary to avoid this.

[c+t in b]

definitely warm up by doing stretches before touching the instrument. my main problems are in my shoulder and forearm. they have a big impact on my hand

[1001gear]

You can still damage ligaments and joints, cartilage - whatever's in there; interjecting uncomfortable shapes at high speed etc.yada etc...

[MetalForge]

One big point of warming up is to prevent from learning bad habits while playing. If you do not warm up, your hands will be sluggish. This will cause you to tense up your arm and shoulder to compensate for the slow fingers. NOT GOOD. Once you start playing with a tensed up arm you are just going to tire yourself out. All your energy will be put into tensing all your arm muscles that are working against each other rather than just the muscles required. Let me put it this way, would you ever win a marathon while dragging 100lbs weights behind you? This is also where the injuries can occur. You are basically arm wrestling your self for long periods of time. This will greatly increase you chances of getting tendinitis or tennis elbow if you play like Michael Angelo Batio. Take it from one who has learned from personal experience.