Working out and drums.

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xtjdx

New member
Well, I have decided that I am going to take the plunge and start dedicating most of my free time to drums. Right now I've got a 4 hour practice schedule going. 2 hours of snare/rudiments, etc., an hour of double bass, and an hour on the whole kit. However, I have a fairly important (to me) question. Would working out (weights, punching bag, mile or two a day) help with endurance? Or will it come naturally as I get better at the exercises and playing in general? I think that either way I will be doing physical training of some sort because, well, it's healthy. Just curious as to its effect on drumming, if any. Thanks.

Tim
 
xtjdx said:
Well, I have decided that I am going to take the plunge and start dedicating most of my free time to drums. Right now I've got a 4 hour practice schedule going. 2 hours of snare/rudiments, etc., an hour of double bass, and an hour on the whole kit. However, I have a fairly important (to me) question. Would working out (weights, punching bag, mile or two a day) help with endurance? Or will it come naturally as I get better at the exercises and playing in general? I think that either way I will be doing physical training of some sort because, well, it's healthy. Just curious as to its effect on drumming, if any. Thanks.

Tim
Click to expand...

Stamina is supremely important in certain styles of drumming, rock, funk, etc.. Your conditioning will improve the more time you spend practicing, but being healthy and fit will give you a headstart and allow you to practice productively for longer.
 
Yeah, you gotta look like this guy:

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Woops, I guess they don't allow direct image posting here now.
 
drums rule!!!

running and cycling is good training if you want to build stamina in your legs. it has helped me a lot when i started to play with doubble pedals. im not sure if its much help to lift weights but its good to be in good shape if your gonna do time as a drummer!!!! anyway youl of course get better if your on a serious practice program like you seem to be.. have fun!! drums rule!!!!!! :)
 
Well if you weight train and exercise properly not only will it massivly increase your stamina and speed, .......but it means you can take your top off on stage :D
 
I've played drums for quite a while with seasons of weighttraining on and off. I worked out about a year ago pretty much and I was quite a lot stronger then than now. Yet, I have more stamina and speed now that I don't work out.

The moral of the story is not that working out is bad for drumming. It just has surprisingly little effect on it. It's more in the technique. When you let the sticks and pedals do the work for you, it has the most effect on your stamina and speed.

As for the practicing, I couldn't keep myself focused on snare for two hours. However, if it works for you, great!

One thing to remember though is that there are drummers who play very well by themselves but they don't know how to add rhythm to music and make it sound good. Be sure you practice with music also.
 
Working out would only be helpful in the legs. You use smaller muscles in the hands for drumming (also feet for intricate stuff) and the best way to build those up is to practice. Practice slow too. Control is better than speed. Once you develop control, speed will follow on its own. Once you have the speed up, play at that tempo for long periods of time.

Its like one of my old drum instructors told me: How do you develop endurance? You ENDURE something!
 
xtjdx said:
Well, I have decided that I am going to take the plunge and start dedicating most of my free time to drums. Right now I've got a 4 hour practice schedule going. 2 hours of snare/rudiments, etc., an hour of double bass, and an hour on the whole kit. However, I have a fairly important (to me) question. Would working out (weights, punching bag, mile or two a day) help with endurance? Or will it come naturally as I get better at the exercises and playing in general? I think that either way I will be doing physical training of some sort because, well, it's healthy. Just curious as to its effect on drumming, if any. Thanks.

Tim
Click to expand...

Thats great!
however I've experienced that curls can slow you down.
Make sure that you stretch out good!
The best workout for chops I feel is doubles, big stick heights for as long as you can go without buzzing, ;)
Then go to single srokes :D
 
be careful not to overdo it-take a day off, maybe work on your arms one day and your legs the next.

a good exersize for your double bass skills is (I forgot what this is called...so Ill just explain it) stand up, and push your body up with the toe-end of your feet (think tippy toes) and let it down slowly.
 
wow thats a long time to practice! i find that not having a scheduel helps to keep is fun. if you over do it, it will seem like work and you wont want to do it. i also believe that over doing curls can slow you down, makes you feal all club armed. there are some exercises that help, like ones that tear quick twitch muscle fibers in your legs and hands, but ive noticed that most dont help a bit. if you are going to practice that much, make sure to get some good reference material, only thing worse than not practicing is practicing it wrong.
 
My practice is to listen to music. Then maybe i can get 20 seconds of it. Then i play that part over and over again. The only song which I know the whole thing of is "sugar" by System of a Down. The other songs I only know the most basic parts, because they are hard :P and i suck.

1) For double bass drumming, Opeth's "Demon of the Fall"
2) For tom work, Tool's "Lateralus" (still trying to figure out the bass drum part)
3) For rhythm and speed, Pantera's "Walk" and the intro of A Perfect Circle's "The Noose".
4) And then I cap it all off by playing System of a Down's "SUgar".

Its a great way to have fun, to exercise (specially the Opeth stuff), and to practice.
 
Weight training is great for muscle tone. Don't go nuts with the weight. I have a friend who developed some pretty significant shoulder problems by pushing crazy wieghts . You can get some pretty good results with moderate weight .

Play squash. Its fun and forces your heart rate up and down at unpredictable intervals, a lot like drumming.
 
Hey guys. Thanks for all the responses, I really appreciate them.
I went to a personal trainer for some advice on toning instead of monstrously building and am now on a good diet along with a good training plan. I'm still keeping the practice schedule the same because I don't get bored with it at all. I've been working on playing along with songs and can now play 'Between the Buried and Me - Camilla Rhodes' the full way through, which is a huge accomplishment for me. I'm seeing major results from a week of one day working on the practice schedule and the next training. I think this is going to be a good thing.
Thanks again for all the responses!
 
i bet working out your forearms with a little rubber ball or wit some dumbells would improve your drumming. My brother was a drummer, Lots of talent, he was also a mechanic, and mechanics are always turning sockets and wrenches which gives them awesome foreams and finger dexterity,( great for doing those buddy rich trix.)
Back in 81' I was 11 and my bro was 21. i was his rodie, I loved it!
I remember he got together with a few other people and they played at a Prom. They had like one rehersal and when they got to the Prom they just did requests and the seniors ate it up. they must have played tom petties Breakdown 3 times. Anyway there was some time to kill and my brother whips out this 10 minute drum solo that had the girls getting moist and the dudes in awe. I was so proud that day, I was like "That's my brother." :p
 
Another thing that's good to do, which I think no one has mentioned, is stretching before you play. I always stretch my arms and wrists before a rehearsal or gig, and it has made a noticeable difference in flexibility and speed (especially on that first song!).
 
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