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Basic abdominal training--the kind that leads to a "six pack"--won't help your breathing much. I think you'd be a lot better off working on your "core" musculature, which includes the lower abdominals (almost at the crease of your thighs), your lower back muscles and others that hold your body up.

Eastern physical practices, including yoga and the martial arts, can do wonders for both core strength and breath support.

I practised yoga (traditional hatha with a pinch of vinyasa) for a few years (3x/week) and was never in better shape. Then a change of jobs messed up my schedule to the point where I couldn't find a teacher/practice that was at all convenient. So, after putting on a few pounds and losing some energy and muscle tone, I started practicing Tae Kwon Do. I'm loving it, feeling better (more focus, more energy), and I think it helps my breath support. And nobody bothers me.

I don´t do abdominal training other than using my horn, but I may say that I have built up quite some muscles doing so.
(hiding beneath a layer of fat )
One principle of nature is that nothing is wasted on useless things, which is why muscles grow as you work hard and shrink if you don´t. So if I didn´t need abdominals for tuba playing, they weren´t there.

After all-day band practices with lots of monster playing I feel strained muscles the next day, so yeah, I guess it helps to build up abdominals. I don´t know about depth of breath though.

The answer to your question, No.

I have friends who spend a lot of time with weights who don't have the same breath control I have. The muscles we use when we play don't have to be built up for some show.

Kenneth wrote:Should we work out abdominal muscle to be a better tuba player? If we work out abdominal muscle, can we have a better sound and longer breath? Do you have any scientific explanation?

Perantoni made me do a paper on this, and it was probably the most informative bit of research I ever did in college.

Your rib cage is the exterior shell of your chest cavity. Your lungs are inside that. Now there's this muscle called the diaphragm. Ever had a director tell you to support the sound with your diaphragm? They're full of schnike. Why?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaphragm_%28anatomy%29

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Diaphragm (anatomy)

Under surface of the human diaphragm
Gray's subject #117...
Nerve: phrenic and lower intercostal nerves

Action:
In the anatomy of mammals, the diaphragm is a shelf of muscle extending across the bottom of the ribcage. The diaphragm separates the thoracic cavity (with lung and heart) from the abdominal cavity (with liver, stomach, intestines, etc.). In its relaxed state, the diaphragm is shaped like a dome. It is critically important in respiration: in order to draw air into the lungs, the diaphragm contracts, thus enlarging the thoracic cavity and reducing intra-thoracic pressure (the external intercostals muscles also participate in this enlargement). When the diaphragm relaxes, air is exhaled by elastic recoil of the lung and the tissues lining the thoracic cavity. The diaphragm is also found in other vertebrates such as reptiles.

The diaphragm also helps to expel vomit, feces, and urine from the body by increasing intra-abdominal pressure. A hiccup occurs when the diaphragm contracts periodically without voluntary control.


Check that out... "...air is exhaled by elastic recoil of the lung and the tissues lining the thoracic cavity." So, in the strictest sense of how Arnold Jacobs taught players to be fully relaxed, your abdominal muscles have nothing to do with breathing at all, and certainly won't help you play tuba.

Now, most mortals playing tuba occasionally (or often) use their abdominal muscles (and other muscles) to quickly reduce the size of the thoracic cavity and expel air faster from the lungs than their natural elasticity will allow. Reasons should be self-evident. You do not need to excercise your abs for tuba playing. If you got out of bed recently, your abs generated enough torque to lever your upper body into an upright position. That's more than enough power to crunch your lungs into little pouches and create an offensive sound at the business end of a tuba.

This is interesting - not the question but the answers.

The idea of tight abdominal musculature comes from the old school concepts of breathing. A number of years ago I thought that this was concept was dead. It isn't. I run into a number of people who are taught this by those who still think it is holy ground. I've seen people walk out of lectures Mr Jacobs gave when he talked about this. I feel it is a compliment when they walk out when I get into the subject.

You can tell this is a tuba list and not a trumpet list. Everyone says no to developing abdominal muscles. The trumpet world is different, they talk about compressing the body and the tighter the better. Once there was a discussion on a flute list I monitor about brass players talking about compression. I responded that there are brass players then trumpet players. Seems the trumpet school has done more to destroy brass pedagogy than anyone else - listen to the tuba players.

i've heard that swimming is really good for breathing. Is this true?

The problem is that when most people play their horn, they turn it into an athletic event,

In my experience, playing dramatic pieces in band IS an athletic event more often than not.
At all loud passages with the whole band at ff, all tubists I´ve met so far were working like the guys in "Titanic" shoveling that coal into the steam engine to keep building that ensemble sound on a solid fundament.

Look at tubists that aren´t fat.
(OK, it´s hard to find one )
There will be quite a chunk of meat about 6 inches wide going from their rib cage down to their more private regions.
When relaxed, it can easily be mistaken to be a sign of regularly consumed adult beverages. It´s there for a reason.