From an athletic stance, you probably shouldn't try and "work through" the pain, at least for more than a couple of minutes. What speed are you playing the song? Are you resting and stretching between the exercises?

When I was a cat 3 cyclist and I was trying to move to cat 2, I probably was over-training like crazy. My motor pacing would kill me . What I had learnt was that I probably shouldn't try and simulate a 40k tt after an hour of motor pacing... I would end up being tired, cranky and sick all of the time, and my coach finally shut me down. I didn't ever move past cat 3 because genetically, it was never to be. But I became faster as a result of resting more.

What is the bunny saying? You should probably rest and not try that song right after giving yourself a pretty strenuous workout before-hand. That workout should probably be followed by some stretches and maybe even icing your arms and legs.

You're not too old, but age does require a bit more quality over quantity training and a bit of extra care. And don't beat yourself up over flubbing the song, okay?

Ditto what Bunnyman says. EASE into it. The "screaming" and "cramping" of your leg muscles is just those muscles telling you they're not used to this...

As for your age (which sounds about like mine): Hey I remember when there was no such thing as a double-pedal anyway. IF you wanted the double-pedal thing, you had two BDs (which I did, and lugged around for several years). Even then I NEVER got into real fancy fill work with the BDs, so I tend to think it can be over-hyped a little. I don't try to keep up with the yougens', just try to do my thing (which has worked for years!).

Bill

Right on the money!

Fake it 'till you make it, as I say!!!

Are you playing blast beats? That's youngin's music, for certain.

I only started playing real double kick this year, and I'm not exactly young. It has taken me quite a little while to do it where I wasn't in pain. But I always referred to cycling and duathlon training: slow down when it hurts. Gently work through the pain, meaning play something less strenuous after those exercises.

Ease up on yourself!

Just gotta back off old man! LOL! Two measures of 32nds is boring as hell anyway...double bass (IMHO) sounds so much better used in short burst in conjunction with other elements on the kit. There are 20 billion 8th graders out there that can play 20 measures of 32nds at 200bps & never skip a lick or feel tired! What they can't do is come in on the "and a" with a combined triplet fill, taking it over the bar & coming back into the groove! Take the physical out of the equation...use the grey matter & your experience. IMO one tasty well played lick beats the hell out of 10 billion 32nd notes! If it don't make the band sound good what's the point?

There is no crime in playing half the notes well as opposed to being just another mediocre (at best) speed demon tap dancer on the bass pedal(s). Back in the late 60's I became frustrated by trying to play too many notes in efforts to emulate multiple overdubs on records. I got some great advice from another drummer to pick and choose the most appropriate drum parts that I could play well with only two arms and two legs.

Agreed!

Love the demon tap dancer term! Funny stuff.

Some great advice here.. the best way to gain lightning fast speed is to start out very slow and gradually work your speed up. The second you feel your muscles start to tense up you should stop, and continue at a slower pace. Staying loose is really the key. Try paradiddles with your feet and practice moving the accents around. You want to be able to hit the bass drum with the beaters and immediately release back into the ready position just like a full stroke with the sticks.

for the best approach, choice of pedal's is the best advice as i have done wonders in the old days with a ghost and wood beater so many pedals lag either due to quality or lack of maintenance especially in the older ones.

i find the ghost great for single pedal control that can work very well to simulate double base beats with a little practice on 1, once u achieve control of the basic rudiment's then go to 2 it will be a win win, ghost sort of play them selves keep pedal around 6" off bd for optimal performance, i play a speed king now, i'm just retiring the ghost as parts are hard to come buy and i have a 1/2 dozen speed king's and let me tell you they all play different sans equal adjustments i think its the amount of grease no grease ,corrosion, spring tension, weather etc, but seam's to me the ghost is pretty reliable .....good luck

"Blast beats" -- ha! Shoot, this old "toot" ain't even sure what that is! Seems to me like we've just recently (last few weeks) got into a double-pedal/metronome discussion on here, but here goes my 2 cents (again):

Back in the day, my "double-bass" playing was completely self-taught, really modeled after no-one. Just experimented and worked stuff in that fit well with what my band played. When I first (seriously -- not the "garage" band) started playing, I was in HS and played with a 9-member Chicago/BST type of band with mostly college-aged music majors. I know Danny Serapin (sp?) played a double-bass set, but I never focused on just copying what he did -- I feel like I had a "feel" for the music and just did what came naturally!

When I went off to college (as a music major), I fell in with a couple of other guys out of the dept. and we just played what was required, which out in western Kansas was a lot of (uuughh!!) country! Not a lot of serious double-bass even needed there -- but I still worked it in and again, just did what came naturally!

My life eventually took a turn, and most of the past 3 decades my drummin' has been in church -- but even with the newer contemporary Christian stuff, I've found myself just doin' what comes naturally!

So, as you can see, I'm one who thinks "doin' what comes naturally" and having a real "feel" for the music is always going to "trump" pure rudimental talent and ability... but that's me.

Well, I've got a laptop beeping at me...