Welcome back to Musician’s Maintenance, for musicians who don’t want to be an injury statistic.
If you are dealing with pain, want to avoid injury, or are curious about strategies to maximize your playing while staying healthy, then let’s talk. I offer a free 15 minute phone consultation to discuss what you are having trouble with and how I may help.
I’m Dr. Cody Weisbach, and I appreciate spending the next few minutes in your inbox. Below you’ll find the workout of the week and a few more resources to help maintain your body at least as well as you maintain your instrument.
Let’s get to it!
Workout of the Week: 8-Minute Wrist Mobility
Wrists, forearms and fingers are some of the most common sites of injury for musicians. Here’s a nice group of exercises from Austin Pancer of The Functional Musician to give your arms some love. Watch the videos, then try the routine below.
- Banded Wrist Distraction: 60 seconds per side. If you don’t have a band, just do the movement as a gentle wrist stretch.
- Elbow CARs: 5 repetitions per direction. “CARs” means “controlled articular rotations.” “Articular” is a fancy way to say “joint.” So think of CAR’s as controlled joint rotations.
- Wrist Circles: 5 circles in each direction. Both hands at the same time.
- Wrist CARs: 5 circles in each direction per side. Do one side at a time. Stabilize the wrist with the other hand to keep it more controlled.
- Banded Hammer Curls: 8-12 repetitions. Hammer curls are done palms down to emphasize the forearm muscles. If you don’t have a band, just grab some water bottles, a hammer or anything else that weighs a few pounds and feels comfortable.
- Finger-Forearm Smash and Floss: 1-2 min per side working up and down the forearm. Enough pressure so you can feel it, but not so much that you are holding your breath, making faces or holding tension in your shoulders.
As always, make sure you understand the newsletter exercise ground rules before you start. Also, if this program doesn’t work for you, check out the Musician’s Workout Library to find something that does.
8-Minute Wrist Mobility | The Functional Musician via Instagram
Students Get Injured Too
I just did a presentation for the National Flute Association with Francesca Leo of Playing Without Pain, and Melissa Vining called “A 5-Step Process to Support Students Through Injury.” My part was on how to identify problems before pain arises, when to seek out care, and how to find a good physical therapist. If you happened to attend the conference, the video of the presentation and the handouts should be available.
A 5-Step Process to Support Students Through Injury | Musician’s Maintenance via Instagram
August Podcast Series on Musician’s Health
Dr. Heidi Kay Begay of the Flute 360 Podcast has dedicated the month of August to body mapping and musicians health. She has four great guests lined up, and two episodes with body mapping experts have already dropped. One is with Dr. Lea Pearson (Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio) and other is wit Dr. Spencer Heartman (Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio).
These talks will be great for all musicians, not just flutists, so give them a listen and put some of the information to work. Heidi also has two more amazing guests lined up for the month, so be sure to subscribe and listen. I’ll include those episodes in future newsletters as well.
Flute 360 Podcast. Subscribe and Listen on Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio
Yoga for Cheap
Yoga for All Musicians has a 10 days for $10 deal going. If you are at all interested in yoga, this is the best studio that I could possibly recommend for musicians. Check out their Insta post below.
Ten for Ten | Yoga for All Musicians via Instagram
Avoiding Injuries with Self Reflection
Sometimes just asking a few targeted questions is enough to uncover habits that are pushing you closer to injury. Karen Hall of Musician Health Resource has done a great job of compiling 9 questions to consider. If any of these resonate with you but you don’t know what to do next, consider scheduling a call with me to talk over your options.
Avoiding Injuries in Music: 9 Questions to Ask Yourself | Musician Health Resource via Instagram
Help Turn the Tide of Injury in Musicians
The rate of injury in musicians is insanely high and injury ends more careers than it needs to.
If you want to be a part the solution, one of the easiest things you can do is connect fellow musicians with good resources.
If you find information like this helpful, please consider forwarding this email to a friend, colleague, teacher or classmate. They can also sign up here. Thanks!