My view is that if one wants to strengthen muscles that enhance drumming performance, then a regular upper body workout regimen would be most conducive to skill development.
Think of it as a system wide thing: the better the whole system (your body) works....the better it performs.
There are many easily performed exercises (pushups, pull-ups, hand crunches with a rubber ball, light barbell arm lifts, etc, etc,
ad infinitum) that can be used to tone and strengthen, and complement the muscle memory development of drumming skills.
Pain resulting from the act of drumming could be equated to “Repetitive Motion Syndrome”, which afflicts those who (usually by the nature of their work) do the same motions over and over, and end up damaging some part of themselves in the process.
One of the palliative measures for those who suffer from this is to take a break...get up and do something else…use other muscles.
There are many possible combinations of muscles involved in the act of drumming, and in my view, it is preferable to tone & strengthen all of them.
Hand drumming by its very nature is repetitive, and I think the first order is to learn the techniques required, while at the same learning how NOT to hurt yourself.
windhorse wrote:Sometimes I just sit with arms relaxed, and hands resting on the drum, nice and flat.....
....This a great muscle memory exercise, NOT DOING ANYTHING. Your default should be in the relaxed position, not the tightened heightened contracted position.
I think that is an excellent observation.