My vote is to run. The only real (read: necessary) expense is proper running
shoes and you can easily hit treadmills in strange city hotels or even venture
into new territories (outside in parks, etc.). I know. I've done this.
Thirty minutes, three times a week isn't that hard to fit into any schedule
however the benefits are enormous. Though I'm no longer taking voice lessons,
I still sing and have found increased lung capacity and strength, both
necessary for good production and control. You needn't aim for world records,
just getting out regularly and moving as best one can is enough. Speed comes
in its own time.
This can be supplemented with simple free weights to balance increased lower
body strength with upper body strength. Again, it only takes a few minutes to
go through 8 reps of various motions. These can be done on alternate days.
Then, as long as you are eating a healthy diet (little sugar and fat, lots of
fruits and veggies, drinking plenty of water) you'll not only feel good, but
you'll look your personal best, too. Most of those who can't actually run can
substitute power walking (4mph goal).
PJ.
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----- Original Message -----
From: Isabelle Bracamonte
To: vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2001 2:55 PM
Subject: [vocalist] keep those girlish vocal cords
This has sort of veered off into the land of societal
esthetics, but for the record I was talking about
fitness, not being skinny. More in terms of, should a
singer really be spending time at the gym lifting
weights, have the lung capacity and stamina to run
five or ten miles, have a muscle ratio of X and a
bodyfat percentage of Y... that sort of thing.
I don't think being "fashionably thin" belongs in the
world of singing (unless you're one of the small
percentage of naturally skinny people -- the tall,
gangly bass stereotype). I think all teachers should
know how to recognize the signs of the wrong kind of
weight loss in their students -- loss of breath
support, a thin, shrill (brittle) top, lacking the
stamina to get through pieces that were formerly
easy... yes, (says my teacher, when ranting about her
"fashionable" students) you may regain that girlish
figure, but you start to sound girlish, too. I would
bet that some of our professors here have had to deal
with students at a lower, weaker weight than their
potential should have allowed them.
One of the students in my teacher's studio looked into
a modelling career to supplement her income. Her
agent told her she needed to lose about ten pounds. I
was shocked the last time I heard her. She sounded
like she did as a teenager -- a major regression in
the quality of her sound. She said it's like you
can't physically get enough air into your body -- your
stomach and lower torso won't expand -- so you end up
sucking it all into your upper lungs and grabbing for
breaths whenever you can. Hopefully she'll soon
realize that $300 a photo shoot isn't worth her
career, the very thing these photo shoots were
supposed to be helping.
No, I more wanted to start a discussion about how
*fit* a singer should get... how much time and energy
we should be putting into the cardio and the weights,
and whether that time spent getting fit is worth the
time it pulls away from singing and studying. There
is also a constant rumor that singers *shouldn't*
weight train -- that it makes them musclebound and
tightens up the wrong things (same goes for singers
not doing crunches or situps, too). I know there are
some iron-pumpers on the list -- has it made a
difference, making the extra effort to get into really
good shape?
Or, another tack: How do singers with careers remain
fit, or at least avoid sliding into out-of-shape?
It's commonly said that singers have the worst
lifestyles in terms of health -- always travelling,
usually not eating right before a show and then being
famished and having a big dinner (usually at a
restaurant, with food whose fat/calorie levels you
can't control, especially outside the US), then going
to sleep. Even if you don't eat late at night, you
still can't control how healthy your food is. I read
an article that said Rodney Gilfrey takes a jump rope
with him and works out in his hotel rooms, but I would
be that he's in the minority. How do singers manage
to keep themselves as healthy as they can, when 90% of
the time you are away from home with bad eating
habits?
Back into the land of singing...
Isabelle B.
=====
Isabelle Bracamonte
San Francisco, CA
ibracamonte@y...
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