Welcome to Musician’s Maintenance, a biweekly newsletter for musicians who want to protect their career from pain and injury.
In This Issue:
- Announcement: Protect You Career from Pain and Injury
- Play: 10 Tips to Help You Practice More Effectively
- Recover: 3 Exercises to Loosen Up Your Shoulders
Announcement: Protect Your Music Career from Pain and Injury
I bet you’ve already seen the stats.
8 in 10 musicians will experience pain that limits their playing at some point in their career.
1 of those 8 will leave music due to injury.
5 will experience either continued pain or recurrent flare-ups.
Only 2 recover fully.
There’s unfortunately no getting around the fact that pain and injury can interrupt or even threaten your career in music.
However, the best way to prevent pain, or ensure a rapid recovery from injury, is through targeted strength training.
Strength training that is designed with the unique needs of musicians in mind.
Strength training that is specifically designed to reduce injury risk.
Strength training that is designed to be conservative enough to avoid exercise related pain or interfere with your music.
Plus, all of this needs to be combined into a program that is easy to follow, efficient enough to fit into the busy schedule of a musician and reasonably affordable.
I haven’t found something that meets all of these criteria, so I’ve decided to make it myself.
A safe, progressive exercise program, specifically designed for musicians like you
I’m in the process of building a program that I think meets all of the requirements above.
The overall program will be broken down into two courses: Beginner and Advanced.
Each will be 12-weeks of gradually progressive, targeted, musician-specific strength exercises.
Each week you get a follow-along video, so you don’t have to count any sets or reps. Just start the workout and I’ll guide you through every repetition.
My goal is to have the Beginner Level ready to go by June 6, 2022 and I’m offering a steep discount to anyone who enrolls between now and then. There are also options to bundle the Beginner and Advanced courses, or participate in an accountability group.
If you want to do all you can to protect your career from pain and injury, and are looking for a structured, musician-specific exercise program, I hope you’ll consider joining.
Get all the details below.
Play: 10 Tips to Help Your Practice
Being efficient in your practice isn’t just good for time management. It also means that you get more done with less physical load on your body.
I’m sure all of you have been practicing for years, but it never hurts to go back to basics once in a while. Here’s a nice list of reminders from Classical FM on how to get the most of of your practice.
Here’s the short version…
- Create atomsphere
- Warm-up (Here’s a warm-up you can get done in under 5 minutes)
- Have a goal
- Be realistic
- Identify and overcome the problems
- Being a musician is so much more than just playing the notes
- Write on your music
- Record yourself
- Be in the right frame of mind
- Reward yourself
Did you notice how none of them mentioned playing through pain or just spending as much time as possible playing?
10 Tips to Help Your Practice | Classical FM
Recover: 3 Exercises to Loosen Up Your Shoulders
Shoulder stiffness is very common in musicians and can be quite sneaky.
Often times you are stiff in a joint, but you don’t feel tightness there. As a result, other areas of your body may have to work harder, which can increase your risk of injury.
In the shoulder, the most common stiff area is in the direction of internal rotation. Here’s a great self-test and mobility workout from Austin Pancer of the Functional Musician to not only identify stiffness, but also improve your mobility.
Watch the videos, then try the routine below.
- Test: Test your internal rotation. 3-5 reps to check for consistency
- Lat Stretch with Internal Rotation: 5 breaths per side
- Shoulder Self Massage: 2-3 minutes per side. This one can be intense so make sure there is enough pressure that you feel some discomfort, but not so much that you are holding your breath or tension in your face, jaw or anywhere else.
- Touching the Belt: 15 reps per side
- Re-Test: 3-5 reps.
Did your rotation improve? If so, then this would be a nice exercise to work into an evening recovery routine.
Shoulder Mobility Routine: Internal Rotation | The Functional Musician
Support by Sharing
The rate of injury in musicians is insanely high and injury ends more careers than it needs to.
If you are tired with how the music culture is dealing with this epidemic of injury and 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!
Before engaging in any of the exercises mentioned above, please be sure to read the the exercise guidelines and disclaimer below.
Disclaimer: Dr. Cody Weisbach and Musician’s Maintenance, LLC recommend that you speak with your doctor or physical therapist before participating in this rehab program. The videos in this program are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. No information in the program videos is to be taken as medical or health advice. You agree, upon purchase, to release Dr. Cody Weisbach and Musician’s Maintenance, LLC of any and all liability and responsibility from any and all losses, liabilities, injuries, or damages. You agree to use this program at your own risk. Seek medical advice if you have any concerns about your individual needs.