If you are new to the guitar and finding your learning progress is going slower than you would like, there are a few things you can do. If you would like to learn more about a complete guitar learning method that I would recommend you can click here. There are free online lessons that come with it as well. Learning what to practice is very important.
Beyond that make sure you are properly warmed up before you actually start to practice scales or chords or whatever it is you are going to be practicing that day. Usually about fifteen to twenty minutes should be good to get you loosened up. Your playing will be faster, more accurate, and you will be far less likely to stress one of your muscles.
I usually like to start out by getting all four fingers to work. Far too many people let their little finger get left in the dust and only tend to use the first three fingers because they are the strongest. So just make a mental note to try and get that pesky little finger in the mix. It will be well worth it later.
Here is a little warm up that I like doing. Use your pointer finger to fret the F note on the low E string. Continue with your middle finger in the second fret using down up strokes with the pick. That note you just hit with your middle finger is an F sharp. After that use your ring finger to hit the G note on the third fret. And last use your little finger to press in the fourth fret and play the G sharp. Just continue that pattern on the next string down until you get to the high E string. After that you can do all kind of things. You could slide up a fret and play the same thing going from the high E string all the way back to the low E string.
That isn't a scale it is just meant to be a warm up pattern. And remember to always use down up strokes until you are completely comfortable. After that you should move on to economy picking. I will have to go into that in another article though.
If you want to know more about a complete guitar learning method you can head over here.