Music Strong Goes to Flute Camp

A couple weeks ago I had the priveledge of being on the faculty at Stetson University’s flute workshop.  I was asked to come down and give a presentation on Fitness for Flutists, a daily morning class I call “Morning Mobility”, a smaller “Mobility Masterclass” in addition to coaching chamber ensembles, leading a team of the older campers and playing on the faculty recital.  It was a lot to fit into 5 days but I have come away with some incredible experiences and knowledge of how to help people in a way that my single day workshops and one-on-one training just isn’t able to provide.

One of the most valuable pieces of information I gave was in the form of a survey I passed around. I asked the kids to list if they had any complaints or sites of pain in relation to playing. I also asked them how old they were and how long they have been playing. Surprisingly, kids who have been playing as little as one year complained of pain. The areas of pain  and complaint encompassed the usual culprits such as “upper shoulders” and the shoulder blade region but also extended to less common areas like hips, knees, wrist, pinky and other digits and even sciatic issues.

We can take a lot away from these findings but what I want to focus on in this newsletter are the various exercises and stretches I showed some of the kids.  I've got a lot of articles but this article covers most of what I talked about.
Identifying Shoulder Pain Part 2 - What to Do About It
 
Recap of the week:
There were several stretches and exercises we did every morning and I’ve got a link to my You Tube channel with some of them here.
Forearm flexor stretch
Forearm extensor stretch
Neck Stretches (SCM, side of neck, levator scapulae)
Lacrosse ball on the chest and upper back
Chest stretch
 
Strengthening exercises:
This is by no means a one-size fits all approach but by and large the American population (to include middle school and high schoolers) are deficient in pulling motions.  Almost everyone I see has an imbalance of muscles: the muscles on the front side of the body are over tight (chest, traps, forearms, biceps, hip flexors) and the muscles on the back side of the body are weak (glutes, upper and mid back muscles (rhomboids, serratus, rotator cuff)). Now I made mention to some of the campers that the site of pain is not always the source of pain. Please don’t try to diagnose this yourself, however, you can use this information to make yourself more informed.  The muscles I see most commonly complaining are in the “mid or upper back” region of the body. These muscles tend to be chronically pulled forward as the muscles on the front of the body are too tight.  Those muscles don’t usually cause pain, but the muscles in the bck that are overstretched are crying out for balance.  Everyone would do well to practice rowing motions on a frequent basis.

Strengthening/Corrective Exercises

• Rotator Cuff external rotation with band
• Glute bridge
• Band Walk
• Plank
• Straight Arm Pull Downs
• Rows

 
By the way, did you guys know I have a You Tube channel?  I demonstrate how to execute a proper row here.
 
If you aren’t following me on social media, I am EVERYWHERE (or try to be!) I don’t always post the same things in each place either. You can find me on Instagram, Pinterest, SnapChat, Facebook and Twitter, besides my website.
 
No obviously each body is different and I cannot prescribe a “One size fits all” routine.  If you have any issues that you would like me to assess I am more than happy to !  Please contact me to set up an in-person (if you are in Nashville) or Skype session so we can get you a plan that is tailored to your specific needs.