Originally Posted by waterrockets
I just squeeze adjacent pairs of spokes together hard enough that it really hurts my hands.
This is just a comment - not a criticism. When I was learning to build wheels I was specifically told to wear heavy gloves when stress relieving. The reason - squeezing spokes with your bare hands can cause nerve damage in your fingers. If it hurts, that should be telling you something. Sorry if I sound alarmist, but I've tried it without gloves and I will never do that again. I just use some cheap lineman's gloves and they make a world of difference.
Sorry to stray off the thread, but I think that it's important to protect your fingers and hands.