Musicians don’t prepare their bodies, they just practise their technique. It’s as if a gymnast only practised spinning somersaults but didn’t do any weights or other training.

Treating Physician clinic at London College of Music

A common analogy seems to be highlighted regularly between professional Musicians and Athletes, as an Exercise Physiologist this interests me. The question I have is:

How accurate is this analogy? Are professional Musicians like Athletes?

Well they practice all the time, they have high performance expectations, they have definite benchmarks for success and failure and they are subject to high physical demands for set periods of time with a limited amount of time for rest and recovery.

The obvious comparisons are there; yes Musicians are required to perform like Athletes. The difference is Musicians have not had the same opportunities to learn about optimal performance like many Athletes have. Musicians practice does not contain the same vital and varied ingredients that Athletes training has involved for some time.

Athletes have been educated and developed by various professionals for many years. Hence Athletes have been taught that optimal performance requires a vast amount of training and preparation across a number of areas and not simply technique.

Athletes do not simply practice their skill, their technique. Athletes train their bodies to be fit, their minds to be positive and ready, and learn to effectively use rest and recovery to ensure that training and performance is optimised every time. Athletes have a very thorough understanding of how the fitness of their body relates to the strength of their performance. They have learned body awareness, recognising problems as they occur. Importantly many Athletes understand when something needs to be done in order to correct a problem and avoid injury. Coaches work to develop this understanding and awareness in Athletes throughout their career.

Finally the schedule of Athletes is carefully planned. An Athlete is not going to physically train during a competition. An Athlete will work up to a competition or performance, aiming to be in good condition when the competition starts. From that point on the Athlete will focus on performance (concentrating on technique), maintenance and recovery.

Can Musicians be like Athletes?

Absolutely and they should be. The first step for Musicians is the athletic mindset. Like Athletes, Musicians need to develop their body awareness. Through working on weaknesses, relieving tension, focusing on physical recovery, Musicians could improve their response to practice and performance. The opportunity through development and support, is that Musicians could in-deed, be like Athletes.

It is worthy of note that Athletes often have a relatively short career due to the physical demands of their sport compared with Musicians. This doesn’t change the point however, in fact it reinforces that Musicians must maintain and preserve a healthy body in order to withstand the long duress of top level orchestral music and not neglect these aspects.

The aim for Musicians is to experience a far more consistent state of optimal performance with less effort and pain and more enjoyment. It all comes down to recognising that performance relies on some fundamental building blocks of fitness and recovery and not just rehearsal.

Alex Cox-Taylor

Exercise Physiologist

Breaking News. Exercise is good for you!!!

Ok, so its no secret, exercise is a vital component of healthy living. The general rule is, try to do something on most days of the week and aim to keep your heart rate elevated for 30mins +.
So walk, jog, cycle, do the gardening or get to yoga. Doesn’t matter JUST MOVE!

Did you need an exercise physiologist to tell you that?..Well no…probably not. Is this kind of activity going to help you play your instrument better and help you avoid injury? Well no…probably not.

Obviously there will be some benefits, but they will not be specific to being a musician.
Specific is the key word when it comes to functional training. If your function, your sport, or your job is specific then so should your exercise be.

The problem for professional musicians seems to be the build up of unwanted tension, causing all magnitude of injuries and pain. This build up of tension is due to the repetitive, fast, high stress nature of playing an instrument in postures that are challenging or unnatural but necessary for performance.

So what can be done?

Through carefully conducted stretching and massage these tension patterns can be relieved. The problem however is, the tension is likely to return very soon if something isn’t done to address the cause of the tension.

Obviously changing playing style is often not possible, particularly when dealing with specialists in a certain field, international athletes, surgeons and professional musicians alike. The style is a key component of why they are specialists. Therefore in conjunction with massage and physiotherapy, specific stretches can and should be done regularly to keep control of unwanted tension.

Secondly carefully controlled exercise will help strengthen the areas that are week due to overuse of other areas. Real problems arise when muscle imbalances appear. So by addressing muscle balancing before, during and after busy performance periods, the likelihood and severity of injuries can be reduced.

Why do you think athletes exercise , for the same reason, to be fit to perform.
So why wait until an injury is so severe you need help and exercises from a physiotherapist and you can’t play?

Stay aware of your body and its requirements seek advice from an Exercise Physiologist in advance to prevent injuries/tension occurring. Prevention is better then cure.

Alex Cox-Taylor MAAESS AEP