<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4611.1300" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV>My tool case is 11 lbs.  Consider lightening the load if you can.  Every little bit helps...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David I.<BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********<BR><BR>On 4/19/01 at 10:55 PM marty reyburn wrote:</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid"><FONT size=3>Hello ;)<BR><BR>I have had chronic shoulder pain from x-ray diagnosed bone spurs in my shoulder bones.  The doctor gave me cortisone shots and didn't offer much hope of full recovery *sigh*.  Not a fun prognosis considering I play the violin and I USE my shoulders constantly.<BR><BR>And now I'm tuning pianos, too... more stress... so when Dean started teaching me hammer technique, he put a well-designed impact hammer in my hand.  Makes a very big difference in my fatigue level and there is also the side benefit of not twisting the tuning pins!  I don't have the sheer muscle mass you guys have, so I was thankful for Dean's thoughtfulness in providing me with such a great tool.  I also have a double-headed one for grand tuning, but a regular ball-ended hammer works just as well most of the time.<BR><BR>This idea might sound sortof like a no-brainer, but I've begun a program of weight training to build up strength in my upper back and shoulders.  I'm amazed at how much improvement's been made in just a couple weeks of lifting.  And no, I don't plan on bulking up... I just want to be able to heft my toolcase without making a side trip to the chiropractor!  <BR><BR>Someday I'd like to tune more than three pianos a day, but I still have my full-time job of MOM and I need to be home by the time school's out :)   <BR><BR>Be well<BR><BR>Marty Reyburn<BR></FONT><FONT size=2 Arial></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></BODY></HTML>