Do you exercise?

[VJOFan]

Do you exercise?

Why?

[Burgerbob]

Yes.

Because it's good for me in a multitude of ways.

I'll actually elaborate a bit. In 2019 I attended the International Women's Brass Conference, where I was lucky enough to participate in a masterclass with Baltimore Symphony tubist Aubrey Foard. As you would expect, breathing was brought up. Aubrey's only advice? Run. Do cardio. There's no better way to learn your breathing. You can do Breathing Gym all you want, but until you know how to take a full, relaxed breath when you NEED to, you won't be able to apply it to playing. I can't run with my bad knees, but I can ride a bike, so I have ridden every day for the last 6 months or so.

[norbie2018]

Not nearly enough.

I can be lazy.

[Kingfan]

I have been using a Fitbit for a few years now, goal of 10,000 steps a day. Rarely did I get the recommended 30 minutes of exercise each day. I live on a street with no sidewalks and a 35 mph speed limit so walking wasn't a safe option. Now that traffic has died down, I get my 30 minutes a day walking up and down my street. Yay!

[Pre59]

I get my fitbit out every now and then just to check my average steps. With my dog I can easily make 13k steps on a good day and 8k if it's raining or she needs a break. I also have an exercise bike that I use for short fast bursts for my heart, and I have an "Easy Shaper" with elastic bands for a little toning. I got this to take on board cruise ships as it folds down nice and small.
Time wise, 10 mins to empty the dog in the morning, at least 30 mins mid morning, 45 mins in the afternoon, and ten mins last thing at night.

And why?

I don't care for hospital food.

[WilliamLang]

i do indoor rock climbing to help hold the horn with minimal stress. i found that performing 3 hour solo pieces or entirely unaccompanied recitals started to make my left arm numb and sometimes painful.

i did some research and found that rock climbing would be the best to strengthen the forewarms and fingers for that type of endurance playing. so far so good! I've noticed a marked improvement in posture and ability to hold the horn for long durations.

[biggiesmalls]

I practice at least 15 minutes of Ashtanga yoga every morning, plus a full range of symmetrical exercises with a pair of 15 pound dumbbells every other day, as well as 30 minutes of brisk walking at least every other day, followed by a stretching routine.

Why? Besides the obvious quality-of-life reasons, exercising improves my playing. Holding and manipulating the trombone is an asymmetrical activity, which for me leads to musculoskeletal imbalances and tensions that can only be corrected and balanced out through regular symmetrical exercises and stretches.

A body worker friend once said to me, "Bone doesn't move muscle, muscle moves bone." He went on to explain that whenever there is muscular tension in a given part of the body due to stress, overuse, or injury, a chain reaction of musculoskeletal compensations occurs throughout the body, throwing the entire system out of balance. This is why chiropractic adjustments are often only a short-term solution, because the source of the spinal misalignment is actually underlying muscular tension that's rarely properly addressed proactively through regular stretching, deep tissue massage, heat/cold application, visualization, etc.

Diet is the other part of the health equation that makes enjoyable exercise possible (or impossible) for me. It's actually a truism: "You are what you eat." For example, I found that when I eliminated all soy products from my diet (especially soybean oils commonly found in mayonnaise, salad dressings, etc.) along with all preservatives (especially sulfites found in wine, condiments and processed foods), the joint inflammation issues I'd experienced for most of my adult life (which had at times been severe enough to keep me from exercising) resolved and never returned. The doctors I had seen had all told me it was "genetic", "degenerative arthritis", "nothing more can be done", "just take these pills", etc. etc....

[Grah]

I still exercise by walking morning and evening with my dog, who also needs the exercise. We average around 6500 steps a day walking distances from 4 to 7 kilometres. (Of course, one has to be very careful about social distancing at present!) I think it is essential to keep fit in order to keep playing trombone. I am 82 this year, and people often say that I do not look my age. Unfortunately the exercise has not helped to save my lip, which is definitely in decline, and has been for several year. I do lip exercises with my mouthpiece but it does not help the decline. Anyone know any really good proven lip exercises for regaining a lost lip, for us oldies?

[BurckhardtS]

Yep, run three times a week two of them are long-distance (4+ miles) and 1 day of 45 second sprint cycles. On the days I don't, I like to do some type of body weight exercise at home (squats, abs, push ups) or a short yoga routine I find online somewhere. One day I usually rest. I actually did 4 times a week for a while, but that is hard to maintain with my schedule.

I've lost a ton of weight, I was fairly big when I started college. I started out pushing 275lb and I've actually settled down into the 195-200lb range for the last couple of years. I wasn't working out and also just not eating super great. I don't have a strict diet, but I try to do intermittent fasting (16-8) during the week, and keep the carbs down and eat a lot of vegetables.

I have a family history of heart issues and I decided to take it more seriously, and if I start now then it'll hopefully be easier to continue as I get older. I've been perfectly healthy (knock on wood) other than a blood pressure scare last year that turned out to be nothing.

[Mikebmiller]

I ride a bike about 5 or 6 hours most weeks. Mostly off road. If if had to choose between giving up the bike or the horn, it would be a tough decision. I love em both. But I can keep getting better on the horn at almost 60 and the bike isn’t getting any faster.

[Mikebmiller]

I ride a bike about 5 or 6 hours most weeks. Mostly off road. If if had to choose between giving up the bike or the horn, it would be a tough decision. I love em both. But I can keep getting better on the horn at almost 60 and the bike isn’t getting any faster.

[harrisonreed]

I run a 5k every day and do lots of pushups and situps. You already know why.

[tbonesullivan]

I don't exercise enough. Aerobic exercise can really help increase your lung capacity, as well as maintain it.

[Bach5G]

For the last ten years or so, I ran two-three times per week, about 4 km, during lunch hours at work. We slowed down this past winter and never quite got going again.

[DougHulme]

Phil Teele was very adamant about the roll of excercise in his playing. His practice regime incorporated walking to the top of the big hill at the back of his house it would be half an hour of something or another on the horn then a trip up the hill then another half hour on the horn and so on. the man had monster endurance when he played, as well as an embouchure that could withstand all day recording sessions and yet still be supple and almost to the end he was very fit and was a capable player way beyond the age I intend to retire at!... I miss that man.

[Basbasun]

My wife and I go the gym in the winter, in spring and summer we are jogging, if the wether is not so good we just take a long walk. At home I work with rubber bands.
Why?
Why do you ask?

[VJOFan]

Why do you ask?

Just interested if many connect physical fitness to trombone playing in some way.

[imsevimse]

One of my teachers said "Eat many fat sandwiches and swim". I think I did the first but forgot about the rest.

Today when I'm working at home all days because of Corona I have three hours less of commuter train and I use that for long walks. Here in Sweden we have no restrictions to go out and since we have great forrests to walk in I walk a lot. I take a walk for about two hours a day. We'll see what effect that will have on my playing and my health over all. That's about all the exercise I do. Later on comes some gardening and work at the house. Before corona there was not much exercise for me at all, unless you count a run for the bus as exercise.

/Tom

[Bach5G]

I’m reminded of Charles Vernon’s swimming. And I went for a group run with JA at an Alessi sem.

[Rusty]

I still play club cricket and other social sport, and have lifted weights since I was a teenager. I currently follow a powerlifting style lifting program (Jim Wendler 5/3/1 for those interested). I also do direct grip and hand health training, something I feel has always had a lot of positive carryover to playing trombone.

I find lifting weights very therapeutic, similar to practising, where I can just focus and be with my own thoughts for a while, and the ongoing grind and discipline requirements of both is also similar.

[paulyg]

Yup, I am getting back into it.

Balancing school with exercise was never a skill I learned. I was either in rip-roaring good shape with terrible grades, or a potato with great grades.

My father has asthma, and I credit the fact that I haven't been diagnosed to my trombone playing.

A concept that I've struggled with as it applies to both exercise and trombone playing is the idea that I don't need to completely destroy myself every time I step out for a run or into a practice room. Running 20 miles a week at a comfortable pace is better than sprinting 2 miles, and being too sore to run for several days.

[jazztonight]

This is a good question regardless of whether one plays the trombone.

Exercise improves the quality of life, no matter how long you live. Longevity may be extended, but personally, I think music does that too.

When I was in my mid-fifties, I realized that my middle was spreading, that I wasn't happy with how my clothes fit, and that I was at a turning point. I looked around then (and still do) at my friends and realized that the ones who take better care of themselves generally live better quality lives.

After some research, I put a plan into action, and have never stopped. In my opinion, it doesn't matter if you ride a bike, jog, walk a few miles, do bodyweight exercises, or go to a gym (and I mean really go to a gym, not just "belong to a gym"). Humans need to move, eat right, and take care of themselves or they quickly go downhill, especially as we age. Every 5 years I go to my high school reunion and see the effects of aging. We're all going to go sometime, but I'd rather be in good shape and enjoy life a little better along the way.

My workout consists of MWF: Pull-ups; T,Th,S: either pushups + squats, or pushup burpees. I walk a few miles several times a week--I live in a city and walk to stores, restaurants, doctors, library, etc. (That photo of me in the surf is at the conclusion of a cross-country walk, 2,644 miles.)

Finally, people get bored when you talk about your workout. Especially when they don't do much physically themselves.