CHAPTER 7 Muscle Exercises

Building up stamina in the hands and arms is crucial to the body artist’s whole operation. By drawing in the air, we condition our muscles to the weight and vibration of our instrument. Always keep in mind that you will encounter less vibration with more metal. Understand too that the clip cord makes the unit a bit rear-heavy, which requires time for acclimation. It’s a little distraction and adds additional resistance, but no worries. 

Drawing in the air builds up dexterity and stamina. Begin with the open side of the needle tip facing away from you. Grab and hold the grip as you would have a pencil. Move your wrist in a figure-eight curvature until your hand fatigues. Many people find it quite an adjustment to use the machine right away, so do this every other day until you reach a plateau with the weight of your machine. However, don’t do this on consecutive days; give your hands, wrists, and arms time to recuperate. 

This brings us to an important topic: carpal tunnel. The human wrist contains a sheath of tough connective tissue, the flexor retinaculum, which envelops and protects several structures. The carpal tunnel is the space between this sheath (above) and the bones (below) making up the wrist and hand. Do not confuse this with carpal tunnel syndrome, where the median nerve is compressed within the tunnel, causing hand and wrist pain.10 This is what we need to avoid. Surgeries exist that eliminate carpal tunnel syndrome, but who wants to go under the knife? OK, don’t answer that!