Does guitar build muscle? This is a question that continues to be asked by countless guitar enthusiasts and novices alike. According to seasoned, professional guitar players, many performers have built good muscle mass and structure from strumming their guitars over the years. Like any muscle, your biceps and triceps will get more defined with regular guitar playing. Contrary to popular opinion, you do not need strong fingers or hands to play guitar — as most techniques do not require much strength of a bodybuilder.
Playing guitar has many benefits.
Another proven aspect of guitar playing is muscle memory. If you are a professional player, chances are you know how to play specific patterns based on a memory standpoint. This comes naturally and in an unconscious manner. Memory retention is not just for the mind and extends to particular muscle points in the arms. This means you achieve optimal range of motion while building muscle strength and cardiovascular performance without even realizing it.
Which muscles are involved when playing the guitar?
Whether playing guitar professionally or just practicing, you will use several muscles in the arms and forearms. However, how much muscle you will build depends on how often you perform. Again, you do not need a lot of strength for guitar playing, but you do need proper balance and posture. This allows you to maintain the right stance when playing.
There are over 20 muscles that come into play when playing guitar.
These include the triceps, biceps brachii, brachioradialis, and brachialis. From the hands and wrist to the forearm and arms, every muscle is exercised when playing. However, finger movements in guitars stem from muscles in the forearm. Therefore, most players tend to build forearms and see a significant increase in strength and balance over the years.
The muscles that move along the forearms are located along the humerus. These include triceps and biceps, which also gain muscle mass due to repetitive guitar playing. Along with muscle building, your flexibility also increases since the muscles are in constant motion. In most cases, players see an increase in flexibility and muscle response over actual muscle strength performance. The bones, joints, tendons, and ligaments also perform in a synchronized manner — giving you optimal strength and comfort when strumming away.
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Should I lift weights to enhance muscle mass for guitar playing?
Lifting weights is also a good idea for building your muscles. If you already have a fitness and exercise regimen, adding circuit weights is ideal for building strength, endurance, and even speed. For guitar players, the aim is to build lean, healthy muscles that enhance your finger independence when performing. Excessive muscle mass without a balance of cardiovascular exercises is not recommended. This only adds muscle, which may make your arms heavier when playing.
Since you do build muscle with guitar, simply include some light weights for positive resistance and stretching. These are good for faster muscle recovery since they do not weigh down the arms like heavier barbells or full-training sets. To increase dexterity and reduce soreness in the arms, wrists, forearms, and hands, there are certain techniques that professionals use when playing guitars. Here is a look at some essentials to keep in mind for muscle strength and guitar performance:
- Building well-toned muscles in the hands and forearms will improve sweep picking. Therefore, concentrate on hand and arm exercises that correlate with your guitar playing. Do not overexert the muscles as this can harm overall performance.
- As with any form of exercise, playing guitar regularly will develop a reasonable degree of hand-strength and improve hand-finger dexterity.
- You will notice an improvement in flexibility and stretching abilities as you continue to practice and perform guitar techniques.
- Consistent guitar playing will also build calluses and strengthen the hands, including tendons, palmar muscles, bones, little finger muscles, and carpal ligament. It will also increase strength in the thumb muscles, nerves, and arteries.
- Muscle-building techniques may include hand curls, circuit weights, and hand-extenders. However, these are not necessary since you will build muscles naturally and organically by playing guitar regularly. It all depends on the volume of your practices and how many times per week you play instruments.
Which exercises should I concentrate on when guitar playing?
There are no set exercises in place when it comes to building a guitar muscle. Since everybody is different, their techniques and exercise regimens tend to differ as well. Still, some professional guitarists and instructors have laid out exercise plans for increasing both finger and arm strength. Since we have mentioned some of the muscles in motion earlier, let’s take a look at which areas you should concentrate on for building muscle and improving overall performance.
The hand muscles
Working the inner hand muscles will happen naturally with guitar practicing. No matter the style of music you play, consistent motions of the fingers will increase forearm strength in the metacarpals. The latter are the bones that correlate with the muscles and tissues that surround them. As a result, you are increasing bone density, while building more muscular arms for holding extended bar guitar chords.
The fingers also see strength increase, which is essential for flexibility and speed — especially for quick changes between chord. The right-hand exercises increase wrist strength for guitar rock music playing. It’s also good for even picking rhythms and enhancing swift performing for sweeps, scales, arpeggios, and more. Regularly playing guitar even builds finger speed for precise picking on classical guitars. It is also essential to know that the heavier your guitar is, the more strength you will need to play it regularly.
In contrast, lighter guitars do not require much strength but do offer the same muscle resistance as heavier units. Right-hand exercises are ideal for intricate finger-picking patterns. You can switch up the focus on these exercises, depending on whether you are right-handed or left-handed. Also, the forearms gain strength since they are both in motion — holding the guitar’s end and playing the strings with the other arm’s fingers.
You will develop adequate strength and muscle tone from playing on a daily or weekly basis. Again, you do not need to add specific exercises – but concentrating on how the muscles and fingers move is ideal since it gives you a platform to target when playing.