Exercise good for the pianist?

[Derek]

This has probably been touched on before.

I'm finding I am far better able to play the piano, and do many other good things in everyday life, when I work out regularly. That is I do cardiovascular workout and weight lifting as well. I'm only mildly concerned about the effect that gripping weights may have on my piano technique---

it seems to me just by doing gentle stretches after a period of gripping that any possible damage to my piano technique can be avoided.

I haven't noticed any negative effects yet---and I wouldn't say my workout is "intense" its just one hour three times a week.

Whats known about this? All I know is my quality of life multiplies as a result of working out regularly, as well as heightened alertness when playing piano.

[Dazzer]

well a sideeffect is that when you've been working out, your arms are tired. then when you try to play the piano, you feel like you can't really control your arms. quite amusing, but hardly fun. lol

[thalbergmad]

As discussed in another thread Derek, my advice is to keep away from heavy weight work to avoid tendon damage.

[nicko124]

It should be noted that Liszt was a fairly skinny man and what an incredible pianist he was.
I am going to have to find some balance between gym work (weights) and piano because they are both important in different ways. I am not ruling gym work out just yet but i am going to make sure that it doesen't ruin my piano playing.

[sznitzeln]

Exercise is very good, but too much body building is not.

I bodybuilded for about 2 years... and I think it did me good. But it took time away from piano practice, so thats not so good
I got a lot healthier after I started to work out.
And at one point I felt that my lats were too big and were in the way of my playing.

You should definately do some bodily exercise... 2-3 times a week, because it improves your health. Health is good per se, but it is of course also important when you practice and perform.

Some recommendations: Swimming, running or dancing (salsa perhaps)
Dancing is definitely the most fun, and perhaps its good for your playing, because its related to music and requires a lot of co-ordination like piano.

[Mozartian]

well a sideeffect is that when you've been working out, your arms are tired. then when you try to play the piano, you feel like you can't really control your arms. quite amusing, but hardly fun. lol

yup.
And if you play tennis, take it easy with the serves if you're playing the day before you perform. Sore shoulders can really mess everything up. Trust me.

[Goldberg]

Interesting that you bring it up, as I have, within he last couple of weeks, just joined up with a gym and so far have been gone 5 times each week for about an hour. So far it has been absolutely fantastic...I was never a fat or even significantly unhealthy person, but at the same time I never exercised much save for daily, 45 minute walks (not jogs). Well, I am certainly in a place to appreciate the affect of exercise on one's ability to concentrate, to expel and maintain energy, and just to feel good about himself in general. Even in only two weeks, I have felt an incredible change in all of those traits. Mostly my workouts revolve around cardiovascular activity, as you may expect, such as doing cycling machines and, my favourite, the rowing machines, the latter of which are of course also great for for the legs and torso; however, I also do quite a bit of muscle work, primarily in the stomach, shoulders, and legs--I don't want to focus on building muscle, though, for exactly the reasons mentioned here. I just want to "tone" the muscles a little and make them quicker and easier to control, and also to cut off some of the flab (not like there's a whole lot, but still).

But, my point is I think everyone should have a fairly demanding, though not unreasonable, workout schedule, even if it does just require a 45 minute walk each day...but I think that anyone who has to get on stage and communicate with an audience effectively under stress and so on, should be especially rigorous in his fitness routine, as it should always require an enormous amount of energy, and also self-esteem.

[ted]

I agree with everybody really. Exercise is good and, at my age anyway, absolutely essential. However, as with a lot of things, moderation is the keynote. Of course you can get away with more when you are young. I used to be on the tennis court half my waking hours in my twenties, and it seemed to do my music little harm, but once you get past middle-age the distinction between healthy increase in exertion and deleterious fatigue becomes very fine.

It all boils down to common sense and what works for you. You can only find out by trying; your body will soon tell you in no uncertain terms if you go about something the wrong way.

[pianonut]

deleterious fatigue.  hahaha  that's funny.  but, on a not so funny note, here i go for a bike ride and my hip starts hurting.  when do you know it's the beginning of the end, and you should gradually slow down and stop trying to be fit?  surrender to the donuts in the conference room, and generally slump into malaise?

[pianonut]

i did get, let's see, three beeps.  one was a continuous car alarm that suddenly went off when i went by (couldn't figure if that one was geniune), one fairly long beep, and one short beep.  just wearing my normal bike outfit, but always ride really fast.  i made it up an impossible one block hill, too, today, for the first time.  could explain why my hip hurts (from the last time going half way up).

i think goggles are necessary for safety, though.  i had a bug (going 50 mph the  other way) fly right into my eye a week or so ago.  i was going 20 mph - so the equivalent was probably 70 mph impact.  i thought my eye was gone.  this has happenned occasionally with it hitting my shoulder or some other location (forehead), but never directly in my eye.  thankfully, it got better.

[ted]

I admire your courage in actually cycling on a real bike on the road, Pianonut. Where I live the motorists would knock you off quick as look at you. I have my stationary cycle in the garage and that is my principal aerobic apparatus. I had that sore hip business for a while too - went to the doctor and had an x-ray - nothing wrong. I just carried on cycling and it gradually went. That's not to say it would be best in your case to do that. My father told me that once you get beyond your forties you get all sorts of spontaneous aches and pains. In most cases it is a mistake to stop exercising because of them. Serious pain you should see your doctor of course.

I cherish the hope that I might have inherited something as he still played competitive tennis at eighty-five, often beating people in their thirties. He didn't own a car and walked everywhere - I have a hunch that had something to do with it.

[pianonut]

wow.  eighty-five!  that's a healthy guy.

summertime is my time to get in shape.  i don't like those smelly gyms, and despite having a YMCA membership (rarely go) don't like to work out in front of anyone.  why do they put the bicycles in the front row.  plus, you can't breath any air inside.  why don't they put them out on a patio?  i would use the gym if they had a private room for people who don't like other people coming around with clipboards to ask how long you will use the machine.

and, even the machines themselves are deceptive.  you think you are doing really difficult reps, come to find out the machine is disfunctional and just giving you what you want to hear.  you can tell when this is happening when you look down at your pedalling and then look over at the person next to you (blushing with strain, machine flashing as though the lottery was just won, muscles bulging).  ok.  what i find really distracting is guys who obviously don't need to work out. 

[xvimbi]

i don't like those smelly gyms, and despite having a YMCA membership (rarely go) don't like to work out in front of anyone.

Isn't that the "wrong" type of club for you

i don't like those smelly gyms, and despite having a YMCA membership (rarely go) don't like to work out in front of anyone.  why do they put the bicycles in the front row.  plus, you can't breath any air inside.  why don't they put them out on a patio?

Ask them to put a bike out in the patio. You could also carry one out there yourself; as a warm-up exercise, so to say.

i would use the gym if they had a private room for people who don't like other people coming around with clipboards to ask how long you will use the machine.

If a hunk/hunkette asks you, you could say, "I'll use this machine until I look like you."

ok.  what i find really distracting is guys who obviously don't need to work out.

Oh no, I have the feeling that it takes more effort to stay in shape than to get into shape (now that's the only serious contribution of my post)

[viking]

for any of you who lift weights for any sport that your serious about, or just love staying in shape, go check out the pianist Leon Bates.  I am a serious weight lifter for football primarily, and I was too stiff to play the piano, so I stopped playing for over about a half an hour at a time.  He gave me motivation to keep working out and i realized that it is actually helpful to piano playing.  It helps to tire out your major muscles, which then are loose when you play piano.  You must do lots of slow practice if you plan on playing right after you lift, or else you will be stiff beyond belief.
SAM

[pianonut]

dear xvimbi,

yes.  i suppose women's only clubs are more my style, although we signed up as a family at YMCA.  as far as carrying a bicycle out on the patio, i suppose that WOULD be a workout.   i have a carbon fiber racing bicycle which i can lift with one hand.  this is much easier.  just take it outside, and get oxygen (which they can't sell at the YMCA).  my kids love to swim, though, so they go very frequently.   

[LJC]

There is no doubt that exercise will improve your performance in every way unless of course you overdo it or get injured. For example I broke my thumb skiing and my index finger sailing, there is still a dent on my index finger. Each injury kept me off the keyboards for a few months at a time but I recovered. There are no residual problems now. I won't give up either sport until I just cant do them anymore. 

[pianowelsh]

Its a matter of commons sense really - there is no problem with weights or aerobics or even push ups but obviously if you push it to the point where you start hurting - youve gone too far! There is no rule to say pianists have to be weedy or obese pianists ARE people and come in all shapes and sizes and fitness levels and a healthy and reasonable level of fitness can be maintained without any damage to your piano playing in fact it will probably help in more ways than harm it - just keep things in balance!

[kaiwin]

I play Tennis and I pop.. this helps a lot.... I'm more flexible after I do the two

:-D


Popping

www.bboy.org

Good luck!

[Daevren]

Being in shape and feeling healthy helps, obviously. I don't think it has alot to do with the muscles themselves. It is more feeling good.

[Goldberg]

Yes I agree that it's primarily for the self-esteem (and also, I believe, for the respect of others because, even though I suppose it's changed a little bit, one might have a lesser first opinion on a man who looks like a big, fat slob as opposed to someone who takes care of himself; then again, it's much more important for someone to think highly of himself as opposed to what others think of him), but on the other hand I will add that exercising specific muscle groups, as with the weight machines, has given me a surprising amount of awareness over, well, those muscle groups which I hardly used at all beforehand. It isn't so much building and strengthening such muscles for me, but rather it's just a benefit from stimulating and exercising the muscles to learn how to control them. This increased awareness of my physical apparatus has significantly improved my technical ability at the piano! It's really fascinating, and not at all what I expected when I first started going out to the gym (see my earlier post).

But, yes, it really is mostly about feeling good. Now that I'm in a routine of going every morning during the week (and then over the weekend I take walk-jogs to relax, but don't go to the gym) I can't imagine going through life and accomplishing anything of consequence without doing a regular physical activity. Doing such focuses the mind extremely well!