Tuning Slide #5.23- Learning from Fitness and Exercise

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Fitness needs to be perceived as fun and games or we subconsciously avoid it.
— Alan Thicke

Trumpet playing, making music, like fitness takes discipline. While discipline doesn’t sound like fun and games, I have discovered over these years of music and exercise that it isn’t always in the moment that it feels that way- it is the result when you are done.

Trumpeter Davy DeArmond is both an athlete and trumpet player. He is the trumpet instrumentalist in the United States Naval Academy Band. In this position, he leads the Brass Quintet, performs with the Concert Band, Next Wave Jazz Ensemble, Brass Ensemble, the New Orleans-style brass band Crabtowne Stompers as well as several ceremonial and marching units and has recorded and toured nationally with many of these groups. He is also a member of the International Chamber Orchestra of Washington. As if that isn’t enough he is a competition-level triathlete! A number of years ago the blog Trumpet Journey interviewed Davy about the things he has learned about music from his athletics. It is not a surprise that he had some good things to say. As I have said before, there are many lessons to be learned from music about life- and vice versa.

Here are some of the things that DeArmond reported as important lessons. (As usual, my thoughts in italics…) (Link)

• WARMING-UP
… As a trumpet player you might find yourself saying, “I can do this short gig without a warm-up,” or “I’m just going to go through the motions today.”… If I take off on a track workout without warming up, I’m probably going to pull something—ending my workout early and possibly affecting my bike ride the next day. The same principle goes for trumpet. If you don’t take care of yourself on a daily basis, it will catch up to you and be extremely detrimental.

[I used to be afraid that if I warmed up on my trumpet for too long, I wouldn’t be able to play. So I kept the warm up as short as possible. I learned the importance of warming up from fitness training. In my music, it is just as important. The difference starts in the planning. Hence DeArmond’s next lesson:]

• IMPLEMENT THOUGHTFUL SESSIONS
In school, it is easy to get in six to eight hour practice days. As your time becomes more valuable and you have more responsibilities, it is imperative that you have thoughtful sessions. When I began training … I found that I couldn’t spend more time on fitness, so I realized that I needed to work smarter and more efficiently. … I realized that I needed to do the same thing with my trumpet playing. I don’t have the luxury of practicing six to eight hours anymore, so I need to ensure that the time I do spend is thoughtful and productive.

[When I began to plan what I wanted to do, it all became part of the discipline. My fitness warm-up time on the bike or elliptical is just as important as the weights or machines. It’s all part of the whole. Make plans and carry them out.]

• LISTEN TO AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY
[DeArmond talks about the necessity to take easy days after pushing the body to its limits in a race or competition. He says it is important to not push yourself to a point of getting hurt. He then goes on…]
… My trumpet playing colleagues and I have a phrase we use—that we have to “undo the day before.” What this means is simply that we take care of our chops the day after a big blow. Some days are more punishing than others, so, if you do have a rough playing day, take care of yourself the next day, and “undo” the pounding that you took. It might be an extended easy warm-up with soft articulations or maybe even a day completely off, but make sure those muscles, just like your leg or arm muscles, are not getting overworked.

[I am aware of the danger of days off. They can become habits- bad habits. The trick is in the planning of the “slower” days, and not in the “doing nothing.”]

• SET AND ACCOMPLISH GOALS
If you’ve never run a marathon before, you don’t really know what to expect, so you get a plan and follow it to success. Unfortunately, as trumpet players, we fall into these ruts of practicing or performing. We stick with the same practice patterns we’ve had for years, and we remain good at the trumpet. However, if you take the time to set and accomplish goals, you can improve on your trumpeting skills no matter how accomplished you are. Simply set a goal (recital, audition, etc.), devise a plan (I will work out of the Goldman book for articulations, Schlossberg for flexibility, Top Tones for endurance) and execute the plan. When you are done, you will be better, but it is of utmost importance to….

[Goals are the natural extension of plans and discipline. Set the goals. Learn the new stuff!]

• ASSESS PROGRESS
As musicians, it is easy to become too emotional when assessing our performance or progress. When I’m done with a long race, first and foremost, I am happy for my accomplishment. At that point, I can think about how I could have gone faster, trained harder, slept or ate better, but I am still happy there is a medal around my neck. For a long time, it was hard for me to assess my trumpet playing, because I was worried about missing notes. Now, I assess the two similarly. I have found that I can assess it fairly without falling into the depths of depression if I miss some notes! Was I relaxed? Did I do what I wanted musically? At what point did it start to feel uncomfortable? Why? Once you can ask yourself questions like this without getting too emotional, you can adjust your training plan and get ready for your next performance.

There’s one more that I have learned over the past five years from my fitness work and applying it to my music. After all these things that DeArmond lists,

• MOVE FROM THE COMFORT ZONE
You never get better doing only what you did yesterday. I need to push that extra ten minutes on the bike (sensibly) just as much as I need to take the time to do the Arban characteristic study, the Charlier etude or the slow, methodical work on the basics. I have to keep moving or nothing new will happen.

All progress takes place outside the comfort zone.
— Michael John Bobak, digital artist

Tuning Slide 5.12- More Fitness for Musicians

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

To keep the body in good health is a duty - otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.
— Buddha

A disclaimer that I should make every time I write about fitness and exercising- many times the person I am trying to convince most is myself. Not that I “should” workout and take better care of my fitness. I already know that. I have been a certified group fitness instructor. Over my whole adult life, I have worked hard (every now and then) to get into or stay in shape. Most of the time it has worked without too much pain. But time (i.e. age) does take its toll and over the past fifteen or so years I have had to work more diligently to maintain a tolerable fitness level. I have been a member of a gym or fitness center for all these years and, believe it or not, actually enjoy working out and the endorphins I get from it.

One doesn’t need to be in physical shape to be a musician- unless you are in a marching band or act out onstage like Mick Jagger. But for me, when I am in better physical fitness my playing improves, my attitude toward my music is better, and I have better endurance. I know I am not alone in this. A quick Google search will find all kinds of articles about fitness for musicians.

Bill Plake is a musician and fitness person. He has this to say:

It’s not as if you can’t play well if you’re not physically fit (lots of very unfit virtuosi out there). It’s just that you might do better if you stay fit. … Exercising regularly improves your mood, your memory, learning and processing information…your overall mental acuity.
In my experience as a teacher, I find that students who are physically fit tend to have better concentration, efficiency and endurance in their musical practice as well (again, there are exceptions to this observation). (Link)

He reminds anyone who is new to exercise to make sure you have some kind of medical approval, that you take it easy at first, that you make sure you are doing balanced fitness exercises (see below), and use a trainer, at least to get started. Some of the things I have learned about why this is important.

◦ Utilizing all types of fitness= balanced fitness. Balance is one of the key words of life. If we go to extremes, trying to hard can be just as bad as not trying enough. Balance can help keep us focused.

◦ Working on a variety of fitness areas can do things like helping in holding the instrument longer and with more steadiness or the endurance that can give you the ability to play for longer periods (not counting the embouchure)

◦ Working on the core and strengthening the abs=better support of body- and of air. The abs help keep the back supported, not to mention that diaphragm breathing is important.

Let’s look at the four types of exercise and fitness that the NIH lists on their website and their ideas behind them. (Link)

Endurance or aerobic, activities increase your breathing and heart rate. They keep your heart, lungs, and circulatory system healthy and improve your overall fitness. Building your endurance makes it easier to carry out many of your everyday activities. Endurance exercises include:
**Brisk walking or jogging
**Yard work (mowing, raking, digging)
**Dancing

For musicians, as I have said, endurance helps sustain you through longer playing times, allows better lung capacity for playing wind instruments, keeps one mentally sharper since exhaustion doesn’t come as quickly.

Strength exercises make your muscles stronger. They may help you stay independent and carry out everyday activities, such as climbing stairs and carrying groceries. These exercises also are called “strength training” or “resistance training.” Strength exercises include:
**Lifting weights
**Using a resistance band
**Using your own body weight

Strength for musicians is the ability to utilize the muscles at a higher level of performance. That supports the ability to increase endurance.

Balance exercises help prevent falls, a common problem in older adults. Many lower-body strength exercises will also improve your balance. Balance exercises include:
**Standing on one foot
**Heel-to-toe walk
**Tai Chi

Balance is my biggest problem. Due to nerve and muscle weakness from some back issues, I work at trying to gain better balance. I’m not sure I could pass a field sobriety test- and I haven’t had any alcohol to drink in over 30 years! It is important for me, and what I think has been happening is that I am finding ways to compensate for the balance issues in the other areas of fitness. Hence the need to have a broad range of fitness exercises!

Flexibility exercises stretch your muscles and can help your body stay limber. Being flexible gives you more freedom of movement for other exercises as well as for your everyday activities, including driving and getting dressed. Flexibility exercises include:
**Shoulder and upper arm stretch
**Calf stretch
**Yoga

Flexibility is also a state of mind. Musicians need to have the flexibility to play different styles, under different circumstances, with different people. The ability to go with the flow is supported by the flexibility of the body.

I guess I would sum this up with the broader idea that hat happens with the body can happen with the mind. Look at the above as mental supports as well as physical.

Take it easy if you are going to start exercising, don’t expect overnight miracles. Find one of the many fitness centers that are all around and find a trainer who will guide you. The changes will show up if we do.

When You Stop Listening and Start Listening

I had an ear-opening moment yesterday. Not a great world-changing one, but a quick shift in perception. I was at the healthy living center working out. Due to a change in plans I did not have my iPod with me to be listening to music or radio, or whatever I usually do to help the time pass. So there I was- I rode the bike, did some strength and stretching and then went to do some more cardio.

As I was moving I realized that the place was unusually quiet. It was almost meditative in its silence. They don't play the music loud through the overhead speakers, so that was almost a distant background. What I heard was the constant hum of treadmills, an occasional grunt or weight drop, or my own breath. Not much else.

"That's odd," I thought. I looked around and saw that the place was about as full as it usually is when I am there. It can't be the number of people, I realized. Then it came to me- it was quiet because I wasn't listening to music in my earbuds. It was quiet in the gym because everyone was in their own world, listening with their earbuds to whatever they wanted to listen to. It was an eerie feeling to realize that there were all these people in the area- and it was almost as quiet as it gets at church during silent prayer.

It was, surprisingly, almost relaxing to be working out without the noise in my ears. Admittedly I was not doing long bike or cardio workouts. This was to be an easy day for that. Sure, I also like listening to podcasts or my own music mix from my iPod. But I also discovered a new way to do my workouts- it can be called mindfulness or even meditation.

Always something new.

Miscellaneous

1) Futbol!
Go Argentina! No reason other than to keep Latin America strong.

1b) George Vecsey's book Eight World Cups is a fun read and a good way to get initiated into the futbol culture. You will also find out how corrupt FIFA has been.

2) All-Star Game!
Fun begins today in Minneapolis. I'll be there on Tuesday- another bucket-list-type of event.
Go American League!

3) LeBron who?

4) I missed this on 7/1. We've been Midwesterners for 30 years! I don't miss much from the East Coast except the closeness of the ocean. Other than that, give me the more open horizons. (I guess the oceans are a really open horizon!)
On Wisconsin! Go Minnesota!

5) Bart Ehrman has a book to refute those (very few) writers who have tried to say that Jesus actually never existed in any way, shape or form. It is an interesting book, considering the subject is really kind of "Ho-hum!" in theological circles. Never thought that Jesus DIDN"T exist.

6) If you are already three years behind on your reading, why would you even stop in the library and only get out more books to push the old ones further back? I guess I am addicted to reading. One book is too many and a thousand never enough.

7) I am trying to kick up my exercise a notch or two this month. I am attempting to do some exercise every day in July. (One month at a time!) So far I have been 11 for 11. This includes biking outdoors, biking indoors, a group cycle class, a group Indo-row class, a Yoga session, a hike and a 3.5 mile walk. If you get the chance to find an Indo-row class- do it!

8) Surprise! The most difficult of all the above activities? Yoga. It just never stops. Quite a good workout. And it's good for the soul, too.

9) A two-week break from music performances. But then four in one week. It is a melodic summer!

Now I Wait

Yesterday was a tense day. It was my day to take the workshop/tests for certification as a Group Fitness Instructor with the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA). It was a short story with a long prelude.

Back around a year ago when I was beginning to head toward my semi-retirement I came across a story in a local paper about a fitness instructor at a local center. He was in his early 80s, taught water aerobics (among others) and started in the fitness field when he was in his early 60s.

Over the past 8 years I have slowly but surely worked toward a broader and deeper understanding of fitness. It began when I wanted to do 60 miles of biking for my 60th birthday. For an uncounted time I joined a health club. I was periodic in attendance, but I did keep going. I then moved and joined the healthy living center at my new residence.

That has continued for most of the past 5 years through three surgeries and a few other physical concerns cropping up. As I got into biking and I even commuted to work on my bike. When I read the article on the fitness instructor in town it was like an "Aha!" moment. I have something new to offer, even as I have (now) passed age 65.

So I began to pursue that angle. I took a couple online courses from AFAA on getting ready to be a group fitness instructor and a personal fitness instructor. Yesterday I did the day-long certification workshop ending in the four-part examination. Three of those are "practical," something that AFAA is known for and, I think, is an essential part of becoming a fitness instructor. In this part of the day we had to demonstrate that

1) we knew two strength and one stretching action for each of 10 muscle groups;
2) could do a 3-minute warm-up and five-minute cardio routine; and
3) lead the group in one activity showing beginning, intermediate and advanced options.

There is then a written exam with 100 matching or multiple choice questions. Perhaps the largest single group of questions dealt with the different muscles and muscle groups along with their locations and actions.

I won't know for 4 - 6 weeks how I did. Since no job is hinging on passing the test and getting the certification I am not in any hurry, other than to know.

What will I do with this? At this point I don't know. I would like to be able to help others my age- or approaching my age- to know that age doesn't have to be a reason to get out of shape or even to get back into shape.

I have also discovered Yoga and Tai Chi as important mental supports and mindfulness practices. I don't think I will get special certifications in either of those areas, but you never know how I can use those experiences as well.

In addition all this has a big part to play in addiction/alcoholism recovery. Specialized groups in fitness centers or community programs for recovering people to help their sobriety would be a good move. But at this point, I am not trying to shoehorn this into something. Rather I am trying to be open to whatever directions come.

By the way, the experience yesterday at the workshop was wonderful. I learned a lot and was directed well by the instructor. The field of fitness and exercise is changing rapidly and there are obvious needs for good instructors and trained leaders.

But for now, I wait. Since I am also back to work full-time for a while, it will give me time to think through how this can fit into my semi-retired life.

It Was a Very Good Year

The year is gone- and a new one has begun. It is difficult to summarize a year, of course. Here are some numbers from my 2013.

Reading and movies are a big part of my life. They take me to many places and open my world in more ways than I can begin to count. But here are 77 of them:

59 = Number of books read
18 = Number of movies seen

But life is more than sitting and having my world opened. I had to get up and move around, too. These numbers sure helped make my life even better.

    49 = Number of days biking outside
  116 = Number of days biking indoors (165 days!)
1,534 = Total number of biking miles (indoor and out)

Partly as a result of the above, but also because of I needed to do so by watching what I ate and how I ate, this is the number I am proudest of:

30 = pounds lost

THIS is one non-number that makes me excited for 2014.

Semi-retirement = best personal action of the year

``` ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ```

 And, yes, I have some goals for 2014 that include:

   15 = additional pounds to lose
 250 = number of days biking (outdoors and in)
    2 = Books started and at least partly written
    2 = Fitness instructor/trainer certifications earned
    1 = MLB All-Star game activities at Target Field
365 = Days to be surprised at what is in store

Back in the Saddle

I had a two-week hiatus from both bike commuting and exercising. Being part of the pit orchestra for Les Mis meant a number of late evenings. As one who tries to take care of myself I decided on some of those mornings NOT to get up early enough to bike to work or go in and exercise.

This week I got back on the bike trails and exercising.

Nothing special about that, just glad I finally did it. It can be so easy to turn over for that extra 10 minutes or set the alarm for an hour later than usual. Then it gets into a habit. Then...

Well, it would not be a pretty picture, I am sure. Fortunately I have been maintaining weight between 177 and 179. Pretty good, I would say. Still have a ways to go to get down to where I want to be, but I am not being so obsessive/compulsive about it, taking it easy and just watching what I eat.

I was always told that was the answer to weight loss. I am finally beginning to believe it.

That's all. Nothing else. Just wanted to share.

Continuing Growth

Over the past several years I have taken several steps in the direction of continuing personal growth. It really started to kick in a little over 5 years ago when, in preparation to turning 60, I started exercising to do a 60 mile bike ride along the Pine Creek Rail Trail in northern Pennsylvania. I have done a number of other things including taking some trumpet lessons, playing my trumpet on a very regular basis in three different groups, developing my mindfulness training, and still exercising.

This afternoon I added another item to my list. I did my first session of Tai Chi at the healthy living center. I have heard of Tai Chi and known a little bit about it for many years, but have never taken the opportunity to do it. I decided that I would rectify that today.

It was really neat. I felt a calm and body/soul connection as I went through the movements. I began ever so slightly to feel the movement. It was quite an experience. I also saw how it applies to meditation practice. The deliberate movement, in slow motion, allows the breath and body to work together in a deepened awareness. It is a helpful addition to my mindfulness growth. Our western cultural practice of separating mind, body, and soul into non-connected boxes, sure leaves us short-changed.

I know I have a long way to go in this. It does look like an intriguing practice.

Sidenote: An interesting aspect of it is that 45-minutes of a slow, deliberate series of movements can impact muscles like I am feeling this evening AND, according to some websites, it uses as many calories as my 30-minute, 7 mile bike ride. Huh!

Three Weeks Gone- Starting on Four

Today begins the Fourth Week of my fitness challenge/program at the local healthy living center. Over these three full weeks I have lost 9+ pounds. That is little changed from last week thanks to several days of no exercise this past week due to some health issues and appointments. But it also means that I maintained the diet part of the challenge.

I actually continued, for the most part, the challenge of the first two weeks to stay away from processed sugar and artificial sweeteners, to eat more fruits and vegetables, to eat out less and eat healthier when I did. I was a huge success at those. Water has actually begun to taste good as has decaf tea without any sweeteners.

In the exercise part I have done some active spinning (cycling) classes (45-50 minutes each), 25 - 45 minute sessions on the elliptical machine and the regular biking workouts. The strength training part has been a little more difficult, finding the time and actually doing it. But I have managed some. That will be my emphasis in the next week or so.

In short, I am feeling quite good about myself and what I have been doing. I will hopefully drop below the 190 lb. level this week for the first time in over a year!

Plus I am feeling good. Who would have thought it?