Hi everyone!
We’re getting into the final stretch of 2019. Thanksgiving is behind us, the holidays are rapidly approaching, and the year is wrapping up.
One of my goals is to emphasize the need for mindful, deliberate, and sustainable approaches to achieving goals.
For me, this project is no different. I’m just getting started, but I want to do this for a long time. In an effort to keep this a sustainable project, I’m going to take a little time around the holidays and a month during each summer where I’m not sending out the weekly newsletter or doing much on social.
Before I take a break though, I’ve got a four resources for you that should keep you busy over the holidays.
The first is a really comprehensive musician’s health handbook that’s totally free. It’s a long read, but I think it will really be worth it for you.
The second is a podcast interview that I did recently.
The third is a more organized list of the things that I’ve written or recorded over the past few months.
And finally, I’ve got one more exercise for you to try out. This time for the deep neck muscles.
Expect to see the newsletter again in late December, just in time to start providing more concrete tips for that New Year’s resolution to take better care of your body (that’s the resolution you were going to make, right?)
Also, feel free to hit reply and make requests for topics to cover in 2020.
Until then, Happy Holidays!
P.S. As always if you have questions, feedback, requests for topics you are interested in, or just want to say hi, go ahead and hit reply and your message will go straight to my inbox!
P.P.S. Did someone forward this issue of Musician’s Maintenance to you? I’d love to have you join us by signing up here.
A Musician’s Health Handbook
Bronwen Ackermann has been featured in the newsletter before. She is an Australia based physical therapist and a leader in the musician’s health field. In the past I’ve featured interviews she’s done (here and here) and I used her warm-up description as a base for the one that I put together.
Lucky for us, she’s also written a health handbook for orchestral musicians. Plus, it’s free! If you are looking for one thing to read leading up to the new year, I would recommend this.
It covers everything from warming up, to strength training, to playing breaks, to nutrition, to mental health, to hearing health, to managing injuries and more.
It’s 62 pages long, so it’s a commitment, but let’s be honest…the time it will take you to read 62 pages is much less than it will take you to deal with an injury.
So click the link, download it, give it a read and start figuring out how you will implement it in the new year.
Interview with Karen Bulmer of Music, Mind and Movement
A few months ago, I was asked by Karen Bulmer of Music, Mind and Movement to be a guest on her podcast. Karen has had some incredible people on the podcast (including Browen Ackerman from the book above!), so I was surprised and honored to be asked to be a guest.
Consider checking it out and I hope you find something useful in it.
In Case You Missed It…
A big part of this project is trying to gradually lay out how I think about musician’s health and help you sort out actionable steps that you can take to deliver the most benefit in the least amount of time. With that in mind, here’s a more organized version of what I’ve put out there so far as well links to the archives.
Background Info
My Background and the musician’s health big picture
Big Picture View of How I think about prevention and treatment of musician’s health injuries
Warming up and Taking Breaks
Why you should warm-up and how you should do it
A solid warm-up routine in less than 5 minutes
How to take breaks without wrecking your practice flow
Recovery Strategies
Exercises
Sidelying Thoracic Rotation with Hand Behind Head
Sidelying Shoulder External Rotation
Shoulder Blade Squeezes on Stomach
And one more for this week below.
Archives
Exercises for Musicians: Chin Tuck and Lift
Nobody thinks about the little muscles on the front of their neck, but they are wildly important to musicians.
The muscle group is called the deep neck flexors and changes in their endurance and control are consistently linked with neck pain, especially in violinists and violists.
This muscle group was also a focus on an exercise program for musicians that was shown to be effective in reducing playing related pain.
Here’s a basic exercise for those deep neck flexors.
WARNING: You should not feel neck or head pain with this exercise! If you do, please stop the exercise. If you continue it will probably just get worse. I have plans to present easier versions of this one in the future. If you are impatient though, feel free to hit reply and I’ll help you out.
How to Do It
Start by lying on your back. If you need to, you can have a towel behind the head, but don’t use a pillow.
Start by slowly tucking your chin down, keeping your head in contact with the floor. Pause once you are fully tucked. Next stay tucked and lift your head about ¼” from the floor.
Pause for a full second.
Next keep the tucked position and lower your head back down.
Finally, untuck your chin.
Tips and Recommendations
I recommend a slow tempo. 2 seconds to tuck. 2 seconds to lift. A full 1 second pause. 2 seconds to lower. 2 seconds to untuck.
Make sure you separate each element of the movement. The most common way to cheat is to lift as you are tucking rather than once you are fully tucked. That makes the movement much easier, but basically useless.
Also make sure not to lift too high. The higher you lift, the easier it is. Keep the lift very low.
I recommend 5-12 repetitions, 1-3 sets.
Take 30-60 seconds off per set.
3 days per week is plenty.
Who Should Use It
This is another foundational exercise for musicians, but it is especially important for those of you who spend a lot of time holding your instrument up in front of you or with you head in an awkward position (I’m looking at you violins, violas and flutes!)
Sharing
Please forward this issue of Musician’s Maintenance on to a friend, teacher, colleague, or any other musician you think may be interested. Thank you!