niss

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in reply to @Bigg's post:

i have a really interesting question: what stretches/routines would you recommend for simulation racing? I notice my shoulders and the back of my neck get sore after a 1 hour stint, probably (read: definitely) because my rig clamps onto my desk rather than having a dedicated frame for the wheel, pedals and seat.

I'll leave another reply with some specific recommendations, in this one I just wanted to reiterate a point I made in the above screed, which is that it's entirely reasonable to start experiencing soreness after an hour performing a specific task/holding a specific posture. If your pain is getting very sharp/insistent, or if it's persisting for a long time after you stop the activity, that could be cause for concern, but feeling sore after an hour of more-active-than-standard gaming is more an indication that your body is requesting you mix it up a little than it is indicative of a specific pathology/insufficiency

As for specific recommendations:

  • everything I said in the OP applies, since you're still using the same muscles
  • planks in particular would probably be helpful, as they train the rear postural muscles of the neck (in addition to everything else they train)
  • just thinking about driving posture, I think training your deltoids, biceps, and pectorals would be beneficial. You can train them individually (anterior raises, chest flies, and bicep curls) but push-ups would be a decent combination exercise that would target most of the relevant areas, while also training your back as well

You know I've been really disappointed in my endurance for exerting pressure through my fingers (working with dough, massages, etc.), feels like I'm tapping out from finger soreness after like a minute and a half of effort. Gonna take a look at this exercise list and start a daily routine of the ones that seem the most helpful.

So a big, BIG part of our manual skills training in massage therapy school is focused on "biomechanics" - which for us largely means "using big muscles and body weight instead of small muscles". Of course your hands and fingers are going to get tired quickly massaging someone's back or legs or whatever! The muscles in your hands are TINY compared to the structures you're working on!

The trick, then, is to (as much as is possible) use your hands and fingers merely as the terminus of force that you are transmitting from elsewhere in your body. What this can look like in practice:

  • As much as possible, keep your elbows, wrists, and fingers STRAIGHT when you are massaging, so that the movements are coming from your shoulder and hips
  • Combined with the above, instead of squeezing your hand muscles to transmit force, instead LEAN FORWARD using your body weight! This means you always want to be standing or at least kneeling above whoever you're working on. Similarly, you can also lean backwards to achieve a similar effect if you're holding on to something and pulling (or just drawing your fingers back in a stroke)
  • Consider using different hand surfaces depending on where you're working. Your palms provide good broad pressure that doesn't go very deep. Using your knuckles can transmit a lot of force, so they're good for larger structures like legs. Reserve your fingertips for smaller, more delicate structures like the neck, jaw, head, or hands. You can even us the bony part of your outer forearm or your elbow on very large structures like the glutes (be very careful about how much force you apply and check in with whoever you're working on! Massage should feel GOOD, you don't need to make someone tap out from the pressure in order to be effective!)

None of this is to say that introducing regular strengthening exercises into your weekly routine wouldn't be positive - it probably would be! But if you're giving massages regularly to friends or partners I'd strongly recommend watching a couple videos on basic massage technique because it can really make all the difference.

Thanks for the tips! I figured out the "use body weight, not finger strength", but hadn't considered how to transfer that weight through my joints without tiring the muscles around them so much.