Hey there musicians. I’m going to try something a little different going forward. I want to try to focus this newsletters on targeted exercises for key areas that I think musicians should be addressing in order to minimize injury risk. There are so many musicians, physical therapists, trainers, and others out there putting together great routines. The hard part is sorting through everything and knowing what is actually good and relevant for musicians. That’s where I come in.
Each week, I’ll start sending out 3 quality routines that are both relevant to musicians and that address one of the key areas. If you try each routine once during the week (so 3 mini workouts) that should give you a reasonable amount of quality movement without spending a lot of time exercising. Obviously if you want to do more (ideally all three routines, three times per week), knock yourself out!
At the same time, I’m going to compile a free introduction to injury risk reduction for musicians. It will contain what I think are the most basic, but also most important things that musicians should know and do outside of focused exercise to make it less likely that pain will interfere with your playing. Some of it I’ve covered in my podcasts, but I’d like to put together something more cohesive and helpful.
That knowledge foundation, plus weekly exercises should go a long way towards keeping you as healthy as possible (at least as far as a general, free, online resource is concerned).
So, keep an eye out for the mini course, hopefully in early 2021. Otherwise, here are three routines to try this week. If you have questions or need clarifications, just hit reply and I’ll do my best to help you out.
3 Thoracic Mobility Exercises
Scroll down to skip the thoracic spine anatomy review, unless that really interests you. Try 10 slow (3 seconds out, 1 second pause, 3 seconds back) repetitions of each exercise on each side. Try linking your breath to the movement. Breathe out as you stretch. Breathe in as you return.
Thorax: An Immovable Cage or a Mobile Spring? | Functional Movement Systems
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3 Basic Nerve Glides
At the end of the last 3 videos are movements that link the arm and head to slide and glide each of the main nerves that go down your arm (ulnar, median, radial). These are great movements to keep your nerves healthy (as long as the movement doesn’t bother your neck). For each exercise, do one set of 10 slow and smooth repetitions (2-3 seconds out, 2-3 seconds to return) on each side.
Nerve Pain | Alexis Shoope, PT, DPT via Instagram
2 Exercises for Neck Stability
Both of these exercises are shown using a band for resistance. If you don’t have a band, you can do the first exercise without a band. For the second exercise just use a towel. Do 3 sets of 10 repetitions of each exercise, alternating between them (so do 10 of exercise 1, then 10 of exercise 2, then 10 more of exercise 1, etc…)
Let’s talk neck stability and strength | Music Strong Fitness via Instagram
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