Hiya Folks!

The month of February is one of my favorites!

February Fitness highlights how we as musicians can take a little extra care of developing and maintaining our bodies.

If you missed out in class due to snow, ice, flu etc. then just take a gander below at the worksheet.

The first exercise focuses on developing strength in the wrist and hand. It uses a gyro ball (which you can purchase on Amazon or REI) to create torque. Don’t have a gyro ball? That’s ok! Try using a water bottle.

Make the water swirl then hold the bottle steady.  It won’t last as long as a gyro ball, but it will give your wrist a bit of a workout anyway.

As you speed up the gyro ball more pounds of pressure are created, and your wrists and hands have to work harder to maintain a steady grip and stabilize the movement. Hold your arm out straight–try not to let the gyro ball move you!

The second exercise helps you reset your shoulders so that comfy couch slouch goes away. Yoga is great for working on alignment. In this exercise, we use “cat” and “cow” positions to focus on the spine. Spend some time being mindful of drawing your shoulder blades in together.

The third exercise helps straighten that craning neck so many people develop from lots of screen use. Stand against an empty wall. (Like really stand against it–heals touching, head touching, back touching, arms touching.) With your palms facing forward, bring your arms out and then hands up to your ears (all while touching the wall.) Make sure your chin is tucked!

The fourth exercise goes out to all of my woodwinds and vocalists. Lay down on the floor and place heavy-ish books on your lower abdomen. Inhale in and lift the books with your stomach. Now exhale and keep the books up. Push against that stomach wall. This will help you work on maintaining your breath support through long phrases, keep pitch when you’re running out of air, and just strengthen your core control!