Finger warm-up suggestions - finger style

[Deliberate1]

Friends, I am trying to convince my 64 year old fingers that finger style can be fun. They remain unconvinced and stubborn. As a player for just about 1.5 years they have no muscle memory or history of better days. Dealing with a bit of arthritis as well. So I'd be obliged for any warm up suggestions that might help get them going.
Thanks
David

[TBman]

I don't always follow my own advice, but here's mine.

1. On days when your hands feel stiff, run them under warm water. This is more for sore/tired muscles than arthritis.

2. Stretch and flex the fingers a little.

3. Play frets 1, 2 3, 4 slowly using index, middle, ring, pinky and then back down again on your strings of choice.

4. Strum some chords. Even though I play finger style I'll go over my full chord changes once or twice a week. (I should do it more.)

5. Often I will do a mini barre with my index on strings 6, 5, 4. and use the ring finger on the 3rd, two frets down and move the form around the frets playing arpeggio. This gets that reverse flex feeling in my index going and also convinces me that I can still play the guitar

[Deliberate1]

Originally Posted by TBman

I don't always follow my own advice, but here's mine.

TBman, thanks for the tips. I'll give them a go.
D

[NormanKliman]

Hi David,

Learning from recordings is one of the best warm-up activities I’ve found. After an hour or two, playing is much easier for me, and it's because I've been playing slowly and softly and constantly stopping to write out what I’ve learned. It’s the ultimate low-impact workout. I don’t really get that from any exercises (and I know lots of them), because it’s interesting to learn something new. I don’t think I could handle the boredom if I tried to play an exercise slowly and softly and pausing every 30 seconds or so.

[Deliberate1]

Cheers, Norman.
David

[Taylorneil]

Have a go at Doc Watson's "Docs Guitar". Various versions on Youtube.

[SprintBob]

Hydration is very important too. Most folks live their lives in varying states of dehydration. I also use a CBD oil balm rub on my hands. Famed guitarists like Jorma Kaukonen and David Crosby use and endorse CBD products for dealing with aging and arthritic joints. I was diagnosed with basal joint arthritis this year and the combination of daily hydration awareness, CBD balm, stretching, and some weight exercises for my hands has kept me playing as much as I want pretty much pain and stiffness free.

Good luck and Happy New Year.

[raysachs]

I just play badly for a while and then things tend to improve as my fingers loosen up. Some days I play pretty decently almost right away, some days I play like garbage from start to finish, but mostly I start badly and get better...

-Ray

[Nymuso]

Stretching. Then I play the guitar part from The Boxer. If that sounds smooth I’ll play the intro to Skynyrd’s I Know a Little. If that sounds good, I know I’m in business.