Musicians health

Part 82



  Paddy's day 2012 is done! As you might know from last weeks blog I spent four days playing my heart out with Sliotar in the Porterhouse. Four hours on Thursday, four on Friday, seven on Saturday and six on Sunday. As you can imagine, I wasn't good for much on Monday and today (Tuesday) while writing this blog I still feel exhausted. It is very hard to explain to any one what it takes to do that much playing in four days. In the other hand, I am not sure myself of what it actually does to a human body. I would like to learn more and if anyone knows of any articles, or research done on the subject let me know:-) I have seen just normal calorie counts for hour of playing music, for guitar, if you are standing it works out about 210 kcal. Now this is based on playing in rock band, the only options I came across was rock band (standing) and classical (sitting). There is another factor here, I do play in a rock band, but Sliotar is mix between traditional Irish music and folk rock. My job as a guitar player is lot of very fast rhythmic work, which I do think would add to that calorie count. I do take a good care of the health of my hands. But I can tell you, that at the end of this weekend my wrists were starting to ache. My calluses in my fingers are pretty rock hard as I do play pretty much every day, doing four hour rehearsals is no problem to me, but my fingers were staring feel swollen and sore. The other thing is concentration, playing the music with Sliotar is like second nature at this point, but it still demands your constant concentration. If you loose it for a second, you can bring the whole band crashing down. And to keep that level of concentration for long time does take its toll on you. I did Email Dr Tim Jameson, an author of Reach For the Top, a book that deals with musicians health and well being over all. And according to him “there is a significant mental toll in a high level of performance particularly in musicians”.

  Ok, so my Paddy's day schedule might be bit extreme situation, but if you do play in a band and you rehearse two, three days a week, maybe play live once or twice a week and on top of this practice at home on your own time and possibly throw a day job on top of this, you really need to start to take care of your mental and physical health. I am a big fan of starting your personal health from what you put in to your body. It's easy to eat on the go when you have a busy life, believe you me I know. But all that fast food and deli counter sandwiches eventually will take their toll on you. Now imagine a five week tour. That really tests your mental and physical health. I am sure many of us dream about this, but when you are in the depth of it, you really need to make sure you are able to deliver a good show no mater what. And I can tell you being on the road and sick is no fun at all. So what can you do? First of all, drink water, lots of it. This is so important. Fizzy drinks won't do, your body needs water to recover from the strain you put on your hands and fingers, or vocal chords. Also if you have long rehearsals, pack a lunch or snack. This will keep your blood sugars up and your brain will stay sharp and the rehearsals will be more productive. The same goes for the road. Remember to eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and good quality protein, fish, chicken or low fat red meat, nuts and cheese. Sleep is important, but very personal. I can tell you this though, on tours you need to learn to sleep sitting up if you need your eight hour beauty sleep. There are lots of late nights and early mornings. And sometimes the only place to sleep is in a car on the way to next gig, or in an airplane. At home, if you reach the point of exhaustion, just take it easy for few days and get good nights sleep. I know here I should preach you about not drinking alcohol, coffee or other stimulants, but the fact is I love my coffee, like beer and drink an occasional Monster energy drink. So let me just say this, everything in moderation;-)

  This is an subject that I think is very important and I will be revisiting this more often. But for now that's all for this week.
J.P.