Musicians should copy the cadence of athletes

We’re not talking about how musicians should add more cardio, deadlifts or plyometrics to their lives they should, but rather how musician ensembles can have injury rates of up to 90% or more! If a professional sports team had an injury rate of 90%, the entire medical staff would be replaced for ineptitude. If musicians thought of themselves as athletes in music, we would have a stronger, more enduring, longer career longevity, and probably more profiting industry.

What is the main difference between athletes and musicians?

Athletes spend significant time RECOVERING. If they practice, they recover. If they perform (play a game), they recover. If they DIDN’T practice or play, they recover. Decades and decades of research has proven to the sports world that if they want stronger, more enduring, longer career longevity athletes, they need athletes who recover well.

Thousands of companies have used that research to create an entire industry. The sports technology industry will soon reach $30 billion by 2024, with the slice of that pie of athlete recovery technology valued at $4 billion. These technology devices – like Hyperice’s Normatec Compression sleeves, Joovv’s red light therapy, Thera Cane's trigger point massager, aren’t athlete-specific. Every human body, (ok except for those with health contraindications) could benefit from these devices if used correctly.

Why do athletes spend so much time recovering? Recovery time gives bodies time to heal from micro-trauma caused by movement – such as running up and down hills, hitting a baseball, repeated kicks to a soccer ball, repeated throws of a football, punching bags, kipping, etc. Athletes recovering from sports-centered movement patterns. Recovery decreases injuries. Recovery decreases fatigue. Recovery decreases overtraining. Recovery increases endurance. Recovery increases strength. Recovery increases career longevity.

Musicians’ bodies are not wired or fundamentally built any differently than athletes. The 11 organ systems (circulatory, digestive, endocrine, integumentary, immune, muscle, nervous, renal/urinary, reproductive, respiratory, and skeletal) are built the same – but shaped differently through specialized training. So when we look at recovery, the exact type of recovery isn’t going to be the same, because it should be shaped to the musician-athlete.

Recovery for musicians decreases injuries (from repetitive motions such as playing your bass 4 to 5 hours day). Recovery decreases fatigue, such as vocal fatigue and muscle fatigue in playing. Recovery decreases overplaying. Recovery decreases missing gigs from being injured. Recovery increase playing endurance. Recovery increases stability or playing posture strength. Recovery increases career longevity.

HOW musicians recover is different than athletes, but even some of the same technology can be helpful! Musician recovery should include movement patterns that differ from their playing pattern. This means if you constantly pick your guitar with a finger in and out motion (we call the flexion and extension) that means you should move your finger in circles for a few minutes every hour of playing to give your brain different feedback.

If you’re sitting a lot on your tour bus, finding other positions to increase back stability and better posture so your doesn’t go from sitting on a tour bus to jumping around on stage. Athletes don’t sit and play video games for 8-10 hours then immediately go bang out a triple jump.

Use technology or do it yourself. Hyperice makes Normatec compressions sleeves for your arms! Or, learn how to do self massage on tissues that need self care, such as forearms in drummers. Even eye massage and ear massages can help reduce a lot of strain that comes with performing in bright, loud locations week after week. Self stretching or self massaging on the neck after hours of head banging on stage can do wonders to reduce headaches. Staying hydrated! Making sure you get solid, REM sleep are also ways to recover. In the athlete world, recovery happens 6-7 days a week. If you’re a serious musician who plays every day, you should also recover every day.

Realities of the touring or gig musician. Let’s face it, we know that the majority of you, once you’re done on stage, aren’t going to go straight back to the bus, hotel room, wherever to recover. Any type of recovery that you can do the next day or to prep for a gig or show will be better than none. It isn’t a chore, or a “have to,” it’s a loving on yourself to keep you in the game – the music game.