Hello and welcome back to Musician’s Maintenance where it’s typically my job to connect you with musician specific injury prevention and treatment resources. This week is a bit different though because each year I take a month in the summer and a month in the winter off from sending out the newsletter. This allows me to spend a little time developing the direction of this project and figure out new ways to serve you better. I’ve got lots of ideas I’m excited to explore and I can’t wait to share them with you.
In the mean time, here’s some of my past podcasts that form the foundation of what I wish musicians knew and tried before things get so bad they need to see me in the clinic with with a big, difficult problem. 1) How I think about musicians and musicians health 2) An analogy for musician’s injury: The Water and the Cup 3) How to warm-up like a pro 4) Take better breaks
If you’ve already digested all of these, then of course there’s always the routine maintenance program. See if you can get to it just 2 times per week for the next few weeks. Your body will tank you for it!
Let’s get to it…
1) How I think about musicians and musicians health
Here’s a short podcast on my path to becoming interested in musician’s health, why I’ve adopted musicians as the population that I feel compelled to serve, why I think that musicians aren’t like athletes and how I think they should be approached instead.
Listen: How I Think About Musicians and Musicians Health | Musician’s Maintenance
2) An analogy for musician’s injury: The Water and the Cup
You’ve probably heard the recommendations that learning about musicians wellness is vitally important to having a long career, but not often taught. When it is taught, it’s usually comprised of some anatomy, some exercises and some body awareness. Those are all great, but the main goal of musicians wellness is to either avoid injury, or recover quickly if you do get injured. To me that means a basic understanding of pain and injury is necessary. Here’s an analogy I use on a daily basis that can help you understand pain and injury and all of the various ways you can go about treating or preventing it.
Listen: An analogy for musician’s injury: The Water and the Cup | Musician’s Maintenance
3) How to warm-up like a pro
I don’t like warming up either. Actually when I play, I often don’t. But these days I rarely play long enough to get anywhere near an overuse injury. I’m serious about musician’s health, but I’m clearly not a serious musician. I’m not a professional. However, if you have professional aspirations and want a long career in music, then you need professional habits. Warming-up is a biggie. Here’s my take on how to think about a full body warm-up, what to do, common recommendations that actually increase your injury risk, and a better warm-up you can do in less than 5 minutes.
Listen: How to Warm-up Like a Pro | Musician’s Maintenance
4) Take better breaks
The truth is, it’s important to take breaks when you practice. Not just for other musicians. For you too. At the same time, you need to pack in as much playing as possible in order to maximize your musical development and reach your potential. It seems like those two goals are at odds, but strategic microbreaks can give you maximum benefit in a very short amount of time.
Listen: Take better breaks | Musician’s Maintenance