Aging and playing

[Chuck(G)]

Will a regular exercise regime, in your opinion(s), help prepare me for consistent high quality playing as I get older, or does aging just erode a few things, no matter how hard you try? I'm specifically thinking of my lung capacity; mine is very good right now I think in part to the rigors of the treadmill. I don't have to work at the air stuff too much right now because exercise really helps..

I'm surprised that Brian F. hasn't chimed in here. After about age 18, it's all downhill. At age 50, you probably have about half the vital capacity that you had at your peak. You also have fewer bones in your body. Cartilage calcifies and things don't bend as easily. Excess weight doesn't help.

That spare tire will just exacerbate things like wear and tear on your organs and joints. It's not a good thing. Regular moderate exercise is important not just for weight control, but for things like skeletal health.

For me, a big factor in getting daily exercise is that we have three dogs who want to be taken out for their exercise every morning, rain or shine. What I've noticed is that when the dogs are in good shape weight-wise, so am I. It otherwise would be just too easy to turn over and get a little more sleep on those nasty mornings when it's raining buckets.

[brianf]

I'm surprised that Brian F. hasn't chimed in here. After about age 18, it's all downhill. At age 50, you probably have about half the vital capacity that you had at your peak. You also have fewer bones in your body. Cartilage calcifies and things don't bend as easily. Excess weight doesn't help.

Why should I chime in when our resident genius somewhat answers the question. At age 50 you have well over half your peak capacity but it does go downhill. Been there, done that - I'm going through it right now.

[Dale Hale]

It made me laugh….guys 54 complaining about getting old and playing the tuba. I’m 73 this month. I started back playing in 88 after a 30 year lay off. For the last ten years I’ve been the only tuba in a 58 piece band. I hold my own and being the only one…if I screw up everybody knows who did it. It makes me work harder not to screw up. And I like it that way. I also play in two Dixie bands and a quintet or two.

GROWING OLD. It’s true…it’s not for sissies. I had to give up my collection of vintage horns (see CoolTubas.com) a few years ago when the hearing in my right ear started to get worse and worse. I needed a horn that brought the bell to my good left ear and closer to my head to hear and tune my own sound better. Getting a good tone has always been very important to me. I know I’m not the fastest player with a great range or a great sight-reader so I do what I can do to get good tone. I pick solos that don’t kill me but are still fun for the audience.

I didn’t want to give up the “bigâ€

[DonShirer]

How right you are, Dale!

Just turned 75, and no longer volunteer for marching gigs!
I make sure I sit with my deaf ear toward the loudest fellow tuba player.
Finally gave up on the bifocal line and bought a pair of glasses focussed at
24+ inches for the music stand. The conductor looks more distinguished now, and they're great for the computer as well.
Also, got a dolly to carry the tuba case around.

So, that takes care of legs, hearing, sight and muscles. Can't wait to find out what goes next?

[iiipopes]

Hey, I'm overweight, on blood thinners for an anti-clotting condition, and I wear bifocals, and...get this...I'm the guy that the church league softball team I volunteered to play for (the church hosts my son's cub scout den, so, you know...) put me in center field! AHHHHHHHH!

I make no pretense about being any sort of ball player. It's all I can do to hit a single over the shortstop's head. But when they put me in the third inning, the other team at that point had scored twenty runs, most of them hammering the center fielder who could not judge fly balls. After I went in, with just the basic attitude of have fun, catch what you can, chase the rest down, don't let anything get by you, and always hit your cutoff man, the other team only scored two runs the rest of the game.

I didn't hurt or overextend myself; I didn't make a fool of myself, and I made the other team work for it. A great game. Just another illustration that you gotta keep in reasonable shape, and it doesn't take much. Your health, your disposition, your family and your tuba playing will all thank you for it.

Hey, DonShirer & Dale Hale -- I'd love to buy you guys a bevy and let you tell me about your tuba playing if we ever meet sometime!

[Ace]

Darn, Dale and Don,-----you are a bit older than I. Shucks, I thought I, at age 70, was the oldest on the board.

Air supply and hearing are my primary complaints. Hauling a tuba around is also a chore.

[tubatooter1940]

I have heard of tuba players in their 90's playing in British brass bands, so you chaps could have some years playing yet - keep it up

Good news Johnathantuba,
I'll soon be 65 and still play rock and pop as well as sitting in with some bluegrass bands -all ear playing. The unusual keys help keep me on my toes mentally and a full support stand for my old King helps me hang in there for four hours.
I have no horn case but my horn gets it's own seat in my van with at least one seatbelt around it. My P.A. system is far heavier than my tuba but a two-way hand truck usually keeps me from hollering for help.

[Rick F]

So, that takes care of legs, hearing, sight and muscles. Can't wait to find out what goes next?

They've got a little blue pill for that...

[windshieldbug]

They've got a little blue pill for that...

That they're not exactly shy about advertising...

[Chuck(G)]

That they're not exactly shy about advertising...

...and sometimes they're downright irritating!

[Rick Denney]

Will a regular exercise regime, in your opinion(s), help prepare me for consistent high quality playing as I get older, or does aging just erode a few things, no matter how hard you try? I'm specifically thinking of my lung capacity; mine is very good right now I think in part to the rigors of the treadmill.

During my tuba-playing career, I've gone from bike racer to very fat (275 pounds) to triathlete to my current pleasantly plump. And during that time, my fitness level has varied to both extremes.

To be frank, having great cardiovascular endurance has not made that much difference in my playing. I'm better now than I was six years ago when I was training for an Ironman triathlon. The main reason is that I no longer spend 12 or 15 hours a week training, and more of that time makes it to the tuba.

Being healthy and fit is ALWAYS better than being unhealthy and unfit. It improves every aspect of your physical and mental condition. That will have a general positive effect, including on tuba playing. But I don't think having supreme cardiovascular endurance means better breathing on a tuba.

When I was endurance training, I would not breathe deeply. I would take relatively shallow breaths. Deep breathing meant that my breathing was out of control, and that meant I was going to fast for my condition--a recipe for disaster in cardio training or endurance sports. Learning how to breathe deeply is a separate skill that has to be learned on its own. Learning how to inhale quickly is another important skill, and another one that is not much used in endurance training.

Swimming is the only endurance sport that has breathing technique similar to tuba playing, but I find the chlorine of pool swimming clogs my sinuses and makes tuba playing more difficult.

Remember that the objective of taking in air for tuba playing is to move large volumes of it. The objective of taking in air during exercise is to provide just the right amount of oxygen in the lungs to keep muscular activity aerobic. Those are different objectives that have different requirements.

Rick "in all things, moderation" Denney

[billeuph]

During my tuba-playing career, I've gone from bike racer to very fat (275 pounds) to triathlete to my current pleasantly plump. And during that time, my fitness level has varied to both extremes.

Rick "in all things, moderation" Denney

Moderation? Sounds like you practice moderation more in the breach, Rick.

I've gone from 140 pounds when I was running regularly to 180 last year as a couch potato in training, and now down to 135 as I've started serious bike riding again. I haven't noticed much difference in my tuba playing, but I've sure noticed the difference in every other way- fitness feels good. And as you get older (I'm 57) it feels even better than when you were young and took it for granted that you could do such things.

Bill Anderson

[tofu]

I cycle 5,000 miles a year, swim 7,500 yards a week and lift three times a week. Since I walk to and from the train I end up walking 5 miles a day or 25 miles a week. I used to run (30 miles a week) before I blew out an achilles tendon.

The only exercise that helps my playing is if I swim before playing. It seems to really allow me to increase the capacity by 25% and the quickness of taking the air in. I have my theories as to why, but I'm not really certain why it has such a beneficial effect.

[Rick Denney]

Moderation? Sounds like you practice moderation more in the breach, Rick.

I'm glad someone got my joke.

Rick "rarely accused of moderation" Denney

[Rick Denney]

The only exercise that helps my playing is if I swim before playing. It seems to really allow me to increase the capacity by 25% and the quickness of taking the air in. I have my theories as to why, but I'm not really certain why it has such a beneficial effect.

My triathlon training was much more into running and less into swimming (I doubt I could have swum 7500 yards in a week if I did nothing else but swim), but overall it was similar.

Where do you find time to practice tuba? All those training activities pretty much eliminated any face time on the instrument, and my tuba playing stagnated during that period.

Swimming requires the same breathing motion as playing the tuba. You have to maintain a positive pressure on your nasal and oral cavities when underwater to prevent ingesting water, and you also have to bleed off all your air by the next breath to avoid having to blow out the bad stuff before taking in the new stuff. And given that the mouth is only above water for a fraction of a second, you have to pull all the air in a hurry.

It also trains you to forget about the mechanics of breathing and just breathe. I spent all my time thinking about stroke technique and didn't have anything left over for worrying about breathing.

I enjoyed my swim training for the most part. I didn't enjoy the sprint competitiveness of master's swim programs--my interest was in long-distance aerobic swimming. I didn't enjoy getting kicked in the face, which happened frequently in the pool. I didn't enjoy my many unsuccessful attempts at learning to make smooth flip turns. And, most of all, I didn't enjoy how much the chlorine irritated my sinuses. My favorite training swims were in the open water of a lake.

But despite my far greater amount of, um, flotation, I think my long-distance swimming days are behind me.

Rick "who has been known to get motion sickness from swimming" Denney

[tofu]

The only exercise that helps my playing is if I swim before playing. It seems to really allow me to increase the capacity by 25% and the quickness of taking the air in. I have my theories as to why, but I'm not really certain why it has such a beneficial effect.

Where do you find time to practice tuba? All those training activities pretty much eliminated any face time on the instrument, and my tuba playing stagnated during that period.

Rick "who has been known to get motion sickness from swimming" Denney

Like everything else in life if you really want it you can find a way to make it happen. I play in three groups and one of those rehearses once a week all year with concerts later in the week at the same location all summer long. The other two groups rehearse twice a month at the same location. I keep a horn there and ride the bike the 25 miles (50) round trip for both concerts and rehearsals. I really like riding late at night after a concert (10:30PM) except for the drunks. Sometimes I'll ride the 25 miles to my office in the Chicago loop and back. The only thing that gets your juices going faster than being chased by farm dogs in Wisconsin is riding through the West Side of Chicago wearing spandex on a skinny bike In both instances riding the bike takes only 20% more time than driving or the train - this doesn't count shower time however.

The toughest part of my workout routine is squeezing in the pool time - which I'm able to do by belonging to two health clubs and doing it early, lunch hour or late night. I actually love the swimming as it seems to clear the mind and many of my best ideas or problem resolutions come then. I don't watch TV etc. and most of all limit my time on TUBENET (my dad would have said "Don't waste your life watching The BoobTube-Net!" )

I also practice whenever & wherever I can. I collect/restore vintage cars (1930-1936 & sports cars) as a hobby and will ride the bike to my storage/restoration facility which is 15 miles away and I keep a horn there for when I want to take a break. With 3000 square feet and 22 foot ceilings it is like playing in a hall. Since I only need 5 to 6 hours of sleep I also tend to practice in the wee hours of the morning in my music/florida room which is in a remote section of the house. I enjoy/thrive on the challenge of squeezing it all in.':D'

[Rick Denney]

Like everything else in life if you really want it you can find a way to make it happen.

No, I think it takes a bit more than that, heh, heh. There are physiological limitations that have become more apparent as I've gotten older, irrespective of my condition at the time. There are financial limitations, too. Plus, I just don't want to spend all my spare time doing things that my wife cannot share.

I really like riding late at night after a concert (10:30PM) except for the drunks...to my office in the Chicago loop and back...by belonging to two health clubs...I collect/restore vintage cars (1930-1936 & sports cars) as a hobby...my storage/restoration facility...I keep a horn there...3000 square feet and 22 foot ceilings...I only need 5 to 6 hours of sleep...my music/florida room which is in a remote section of the house

There's no way I'm gonna try to compete with all that. Blessings upon your (big) house.

I really do envy the workshop. I'm restoring my 1973 GMC Motorhome in a gravel driveway.

Now, my advice is to go to sleep before your head explodes.

Rick "who can no longer sustain such a lifestyle" Denney

[tubatooter1940]

People push these little blue pills at me, Windshieldbug. Fortunately, the plumbing still works. Unfortunately, all the hot women I meet feel they can do much better than what's left of me.
RGbasstrbn reminded me of a song about a geezerette:
"She had dimpled hair and curly cheeks-her false teeth rattle and her glass eye squeaks."