Viola
The violists’ guide to physical health
Musicians need to keep themselves in tune because playing an instrument is a physical activity that carries with it a relatively high risk of discomfort, pain and injury.
We believe that this is preventable, and we have put together a comprehensive plan for violists to help keep you playing at your best.
We have curated exercises specific to playing the viola and we have videos giving tips and advice on how to look after your physical health.
Exercises for viola players
To get the best from an exercise plan you need to know which is the best exercise to do and when to do it, and we have made this easy by putting together lists of exercises for different purposes. Each exercise comes with an image, a description, and a video describing how to do it.
Warming up
Warming up before you start playing is a great way of preparing the muscles you are about to use and should take about 5 to 10 minutes.
Recovery
Spending 5 minutes doing some movements after you have stopped playing can help to prevent carrying tension forward to the next day.
Conditioning
The best exercises to do to prevent injury are those that make the muscles stronger and more resilient to long periods of playing.
Mobility
Many musicians get stiff joints, we show you how to keep them moving.
Stretching
Stretching feels good and we show you which muscles to stretch and how to stretch them.
Additional exercises on a gym ball
A really useful piece of equipment is a gym ball, especially for building a strong posture. We show you what you can do to build a solid postural foundation.
Maintain your physical health
There are many things we can do to help enhance and maintain our physical health. We have separated fact from opinion and give you up-to-date evidence-based information in a video format on the following topics:
Nutrition
How what and when we eat can help or hinder our performance.
Hydration
Dehydration affects our physical and cognitive abilities. Hear about how much we should drink, and when.
Sleep
Why getting the right amount of quality sleep is one of the best ways of maintaining your health.
Rest, recovery and repair
How we recover from an activity is as important as training for it.
Psychology
The mind and body are integrated in such a way that they are inseparable. We look at the negative and positive ways that our physical performance is affected by how we think and feel.
Breathing
We all need to breathe, and for some musicians, breathing well is very important. We look at ways that our positioning affects our ability to breathe and some of the effects of certain foods on our breathing quality.
Exercise
The purpose and benefits and optimum dose of exercise. What exercise is good for musicians, and what is not.
Posture
A quick routine to get into the optimum playing position and how to get back to when you lose it.
Practice
A couple of reminders on looking after our body when practising.
Orchestral playing
Some ideas on how to stay comfortable on stage or in rehearsals.
Common injuries
We tour the body looking at where the most common injuries happen and what are the most likely causes.
What to do if something hurts
If you have pain everyone will give you their opinion on what to do about it. We give you some evidence-based facts.
Take the course
This course is suitable for the professional musician who is playing for several hours each day.
To take the course click on this link or the ‘Take this Course’ button above.
