This article is brought to you as part of the ASCAP Wellness Program.

While strength training might seem like a questionable addition to your music-making toolkit, there’s a lot that creators stand to gain (much more than just muscle) from slotting it into their schedule alongside staples like writing and rehearsing.

First, let’s define what strength training is. Scientifically speaking, according to Penn State College of Medicine, strength training is any type of exercise that causes your muscles to contract against outside resistance. Allie Guillerm Tichenor, a certified Pilates instructor and the owner of Pilates Punx, says this resistance can come from various sources – think weights, resistance bands, or even your own body weight. 

While strength training has plenty of benefits (more on that below), it’s especially great at upping your power and endurance – two things that can come in handy for creators in a multitude of situations.

“Movement is key for health – both physical and mental,” says Guillerm Tichenor. “Every music creator should be doing strength training to help their bodies stay limber and not get rigid. Don’t underestimate the toll that merely sitting or standing can take on the body.” 

How Strength Training Can Benefit Music Creators

While strength training is great for building and maintaining muscle, its benefits extend far beyond mere physical strength. Incorporating it into your weekly routine offers a variety of advantages, from becoming less fatigued during performances to better navigating stressors. 

1. Improved muscular endurance

Muscular endurance – the ability to perform repeated movements or hold static positions for an extended period of time without becoming fatigued – can be highly useful in supporting various aspects of a music creator's endeavors, says Guillerm Tichenor.

“Muscular endurance can be super important for music creators with things like holding and lugging gear, maintaining stamina while on stage, and readily having the ability to hold certain postures for longer without fatigue when creating or performing.” 

When you’re under constant pressure to be creative, life can get overwhelming. That’s why maintaining good mental health is incredibly important as a creator, and strength training can be a powerful tool to help alleviate these challenges, says Guillerm Tichenor. “Mental health is greatly affected by strength training, as exercise induces endorphins and serotonin that help improve your mood.” 

While she emphasizes that strength training can help reduce anxiety and depression – which are, of course, two major wins – it can also be beneficial in equipping you with the resilience needed to navigate other stressors that come your way.

“Working in solitary sessions, having anxiety about crowds, and performing tend to be a large drain,” she says. “The mental health benefits associated with exercise are genuinely useful in helping to combat some of the typical stressors for music creators.”

Sleep is well established as an important factor in optimizing cognitive function and, by extension, creativity. However, it can also be elusive at times for independent creators dealing with the stressors and pressures that come with the industry.

When you don't get enough sleep, your memory, mood, motivation, and other aspects of your daily life can suffer. In contrast, “a good night’s sleep can lead to more mental clarity, and even help stave off illness,” says Guillerm Tichenor. “Improved quality of sleep is especially beneficial for music creators who are often working odd hours, creating music outside of other life endeavors, or perhaps traveling frequently.” 

If you often find yourself struggling to fall asleep, strength training’s combination of physical exertion and hormone stimulation might be just what you need to drop off faster and improve the overall quality of your sleep, says Guillerm Tichenor. Aside from waking up feeling energized and ready to take on the day, you’ll also be setting yourself up for better long-term physical and mental health.

 

3 Strength Training Exercises to Start With

Now that you’re familiar with a few of the ways strength training can benefit your life, it’s time to get started! According to Guillerm Tichenor, strength training ideally should be performed about three times a week for anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour.

As for the type of strength training, that’s up to you. “There are a number of versions of strength training, including weightlifting and Pilates,” she says. “Choose the type that you enjoy.” 

Below, Guillerm Tichenor shares a few of her favorite moves to kickstart your journey, along with her step-by-step instructions for each. 

1. Side-lying fire hydrant

Frequently find yourself planted in a chair for too long? The hydrant is for you. “It’s important for people who sit a lot, or suffer from back pain, to work their glutes,” says Guillerm Tichenor.

2. Cobra

Benefitting virtually every movement imaginable, the cobra can help strengthen the lower back extensors and abdominals. Just move into it slowly, says Guillerm Tichenor. “Make sure to only lift to where the movement is comfortable, and don’t force extension by using your arms to push up.”

3. Chest expansion

Doubling as both a strength exercise and also an effective stress reliever, use the chest expansion to open the shoulders and release tension. “This exercise is also great for reversing poor posture,” says Guillerm Tichenor.