Relax when you polish

I noticed this past weekend I almost lock my arms and that causes so much pain in my elbows, I just thought it was from deadlifts lol.
 
I noticed this past weekend I almost lock my arms and that causes so much pain in my elbows, I just thought it was from deadlifts lol.


I do some deadlifts when polishing too. The 12 oz. kind. :cheers:
 
Well I didn't mean slamming a whole case down. Lol

Just 2-3 beer breaks makes the whole process that much more enjoyable IMO.
 
As others have stated music works best for me. I love all types of music, but when polishing I'll listen to Stevie Wonder, The Eagles, Otis Redding, etc., some easy listening. Puts me in a rhythm, keeps my arm speed smooth and my mind relaxed. Other tasks like washing or interior I go for motivation, Metallica, Motorhead, Rage Against the Machine, etc.

And yes beer is usually involved (on personal vehicles) when I can take my time. When I do my weekly cleaning, by the time I am done I have about 8 "Gloss Enhancers" in me.
 
"Gloss Enhancers" :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:


Nice one, Dave!! :props:
 
another thing is not to clinch/hold (death grip) onto the polisher too tight which will transfer all the vibration through your hands/arms...

I'm super guilty of doing this. Oftentimes I notice and stop myself, but sometimes I'm "in the zone" and don't notice until my hands and arms are vibrating straight off my torso. :laughing: Using vibration-reducing gloves is a big help for long cutting and polishing sessions. I have two different types of gloves - one pair for light work and another pair that is big, stiff and much more absorbent of vibration.

Like others said, listening to music helps a lot. I use Bose QuietComfort 35 headphones and the difference they make is dramatic. What is equally helpful is to switch arms - hold the top of the machine with your left hand and the bottom with your right hand, or vice versa, to ensure that the intricacies of your arms' and hands' internals are less adversely affected by overlong exposure to vibration and strain.

To me, one of the biggest things has to do with leaning and bending over to reach lower portions of a vehicle. A lift, or even something like a QuickJack, would do wonders to help with this by raising the working surface to a more reasonable height.
 
I was able to relax when I stopped using forced rotation polishers and went back to using a rotary for correction.
 
The biggest thing I notice myself doing is stretching my neck forward to get my eyes physically closer to the paint while I'm polishing. On long correction jobs my shoulders will start to tense up and it's always because of the way I'm unintentionally leaning so far forward.
 
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