Finger Exercises

[Blackice7]

Hey I was wondering if there are any finger exercises that will strengthen my trigger fingers (Index and Middle obviously). The simpler the exercises the better (I want to be able to do them in school ^^). I was jw cause I would like to increase my ROF. THX.

[Rather]

something i do that kind of helps is i tap my 2 fingers on whatever: desk, pen, back of other hand, when I'm sleeping in clas si occasionally catch myself doing that on my arm or head or back. Jsut practice the movement.

[SanDiegoMag]

Start playing bass or guitar! All the walking bass lines have helped me.

[Miscue]

I couldn't walk for crap... until I probably practiced over a hundred thousand pulls. I don't know if strengthening helps, I would imagine that practicing the actual motion helps. OfficerGoat called me "Twitch" because he noticed my nervous habit where I'll be twitching my fingers off the field as though I was walking a trigger - I do it a lot now, didn't realize it until recently. :p

[Blackice7]

haha. Well I have a mech gun, so walking isnt to helpful to me. Would those hand curl things that you squeeze help at all you guys think?

[SanDiegoMag]

I have a mech trigger too, but i can stil use electros better than the owners of them can. I think mech triggers make it easier too.

[Mango]

Doing any kind of finger excercise will increase your forearm strength and grip strength but will not help you increase your rate of fire. The rate at which you can extend/flex your fingers is controlled by two things: 1.) How developed your never pathways are to your fingers and forearm muscles and 2.) how much "fast twitch" muscle you have in those regions. Quite simply, you can only marginally change both of those, if at all. What you can do, in increase the strength but speed is something that really cannot. If you are not born with a high number of fast twitch fibers then thats just how it is.


For strength increasing excercises, you could get something as simple as a street hockey ball and squeeze that, but when you squeeze it, hold it for 10 to 15 seconds then release. just squeezing it quickly does very little. Do that 10 to 20 times. You could also take a barbell or dumbell if you have access to them, sit with your forearm supported on either a bench or your leg, palm facing up, grip the bar then slowly unroll your hand letting the weight roll down, opening up your hand till it is barely being held by your fingers. Then roll back up. This is the most effective excercise to increase strength.

Hope this helps. :)

[Miscue]

Doing any kind of finger excercise will increase your forearm strength and grip strength but will not help you increase your rate of fire. The rate at which you can extend/flex your fingers is controlled by two things: 1.) How developed your never pathways are to your fingers and forearm muscles and 2.) how much "fast twitch" muscle you have in those regions. Quite simply, you can only marginally change both of those, if at all. What you can do, in increase the strength but speed is something that really cannot. If you are not born with a high number of fast twitch fibers then thats just how it is.


For strength increasing excercises, you could get something as simple as a street hockey ball and squeeze that, but when you squeeze it, hold it for 10 to 15 seconds then release. just squeezing it quickly does very little. Do that 10 to 20 times. You could also take a barbell or dumbell if you have access to them, sit with your forearm supported on either a bench or your leg, palm facing up, grip the bar then slowly unroll your hand letting the weight roll down, opening up your hand till it is barely being held by your fingers. Then roll back up. This is the most effective excercise to increase strength.

Hope this helps. :)

I think that, practice helps you with muscle memory - and your fingers may not necessarily be able to move faster, but you can get the technique down and be more effective.

[SanDiegoMag]

Dont even try and tell me that you cant increse speed! I am a musician and my fingers are 3x faster now than they were when I started. Although, i do play a lot of music and have for a while. You can develop those muscles too, it just takes a lot of time.

[Blackice7]

Thx. I figured if the trigger was easier to pull (by making my finger stronger) I would be able to fire faster, b/c I have pretty fast fingers, but they aren't the strongest fingers. So, if I was able to increase the ease of pulling the trig I'd be able to take advantage of my speed. And thx for all the posts guys.

[Miscue]

Thx. I figured if the trigger was easier to pull (by making my finger stronger) I would be able to fire faster, b/c I have pretty fast fingers, but they aren't the strongest fingers. So, if I was able to increase the ease of pulling the trig I'd be able to take advantage of my speed. And thx for all the posts guys.

I dunno how important strength is, I've seen skinny people with the ridiculous Sega fingers - and strong fat fingers that can't move quick.

[Mango]

Dont even try and tell me that you cant increse speed! I am a musician and my fingers are 3x faster now than they were when I started. Although, i do play a lot of music and have for a while. You can develop those muscles too, it just takes a lot of time.


Let me clarify and get specific then:


When you are young and developing, from when you are a baby to up around 17 years old, you can increase the number of neural pathways between muscles and the brain. After 17 this begins to slow down, and caps around the age of 26 for most people.

An increase in speed is an increase in the number and USEAGE of a particular pathway, in this case, the brain and the forearm muscles. The more you use them, the better connected they become. After 2 years of age however, the brain takes a 40% hit in its ability to develop these pathways and that is why it is such a critical time to expose children to things as babies.

So, obviously, the more you do a particular thing the easier and faster it becomes. But,the older you get, the harder this process is to continue. AND as i said before, when you are a fetus in the womb, the number of muscle cells you will ever have is determined genetically. This includes fast twitch and slow twitch.

I didn't say that it was IMPOSSIBLE to do increase speed, I said it would be very difficult to do so. I should have been more specific I guess :rolleyes:

For some people who already have a high number of fast twitch fibers its only a matter of developing the nerve pathway. For others, it couldnt really make a difference.

[SanDiegoMag]

Heh, ok well that explains it! Im not quite 17 yet! i can still get faster. :D IM OVERJOYED!

[FallNAngel]

I didn't say that it was IMPOSSIBLE to do increase speed, I said it would be very difficult to do so. I should have been more specific I guess :rolleyes:


Doing any kind of finger excercise will increase your forearm strength and grip strength but will not help you increase your rate of fire.


Quite simply, you can only marginally change both of those, if at all. What you can do, in increase the strength but speed is something that really cannot. If you are not born with a high number of fast twitch fibers then thats just how it is.

Looks to me like you're saying you can't at all...I know I've gotten faster by practicing. Perhaps it's just my rhythm has gotten faster, but I've still learned to fire faster.

[Iron Mag13]

lol i play pino and that helps me get musscles on my finger! u can c the musscle on there when i flex lol!

[SanDiegoMag]

Yeah, i just started piano, but have played stringed instruments all my life. That means i hve better lefthand muscles. Im finally developing my right hand better. Go MUSIC!