singing

While fitness makes up a good portion of my interests today, that hasn’t always been the case. I’ve touched on me being a music major before only briefly, but it’s a big part of my past. I went on a pretty cathartic walk this weekend in my favorite forest preserve and it got me thinking: music and fitness aren’t all that different. If I want to reach my goals, I just have to use similar tactics.

There were many parallels I found between singing and exercise. There were physical limitations to both. I could only sing so many hours in a day before my voice gave out and I could only workout for so long until the work became more detrimental. Both rely on rhythm for success whether it be the cadence of your run, the tempo at which you’re lifting weights or beats in the music that allow the singer to convey a specific emotion. The most important similarity between them to me is that you get out what you put in.

I’m here to drop a truth bomb: if you workout regularly and you eat right, you’re going to see results. Yes, there are exceptions to every rule and you may think you are one, but before you go telling me I’m wrong tell me you have actually adhered to every single guideline placed in front of you and never strayed. The unfortunate fact of it all is that we’re human and this isn’t the easiest thing to do, but fitness, like studying music, thrives on consistency. If you practice your scales everyday, you will eventually nail them. It just takes time and patience. The more you practice and work towards your goals, the better you’ll get.

It’s just that time and patience thing that gets us when we’re talking about fitness. We want it now. We want to be better, be stronger, be faster, be fitter, but we’re not willing to put our time in to do it. A great pianist does not get to be great by sitting down at the keyboard three times a week and only playing the easy pieces. Just as the professional bodybuilder does not get in shape by working out occasionally while eating the cheapest, fastest food available to them.

This isn’t something new. It’s just fact. In college, they used to harp on us “practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect”. And you know what? They weren’t wrong. Focus on your form when you’re working out to make sure you’re doing things the right way that are going to benefit you the most. Do your research.

But they “perfect practice” people weren’t entirely right. You have to play those wrong notes and have those kind of sucky workouts to know what to change to get better. We learn from our failures and the quickest way to find out how to do something right, is *spoiler alert* to do it wrong first. Don’t be afraid to fail or to try new things. If every musician who ever missed a note quit after, we’d live in a pretty silent world. And if no one tried new things with composition, there’d be a lot more organ music around and a little less Britney Spears.

So, my main take aways from what my walk taught me. Whether it be singing, fitness, or something else entirely: you get out what you put in. Work for what you want. You can never really get it unless you try.

-sj

I recently joined a local choir. I have been a singer for a pretty hefty portion of my life, even majoring in vocal performance in college, but as soon as I graduated, I needed to get away from it. After taking two years off from singing in pretty much any capacity, I was itching to get back into it. But I knew I didn’t want to go in as intensely as I had before. So, I went back to my roots. I joined a local church choir that meets only a couple of blocks from my house. I am by far and away the youngest person there by a good thirty or forty years. When I first set out to join, I was nervous. I hadn’t sung in awhile and I wasn’t sure if I would like singing in that setting, but I couldn’t be happier that I joined. As I was sitting listening to those around me, I couldn’t help thinking about how this paralleled so perfectly with starting a workout regimen.

We all start at different levels. Some have a natural talent for running at the drop or a hat or just being able to lift heavier than the person next to them, but to get better, they have to train. You can’t expect to get fit by just wishing it. You can’t expect to be a good singer if you never sing. Everyone starts somewhere. Even if you are the worst singer in the world, as long as you dive in and try, who cares. The same can be said for working out. Maybe you can’t even run one mile. If you start working for it, eventually you will get there. You just have to break past that comfort zone and just try it. Just start. You could be the worst singer, runner, pretty much anything in the world, but as long as you’re trying at it, it doesn’t matter.

Here’s a little fall full-body workout for you to try that you can either do one time through for a quick 15 minute workout or twice through for a bigger challenge. Either way, it’s a great one whether today is your first day hitting the gym or not. As long as you’re getting out there and pushing yourself out of that comfort zone, you should be proud. And at the end of the day, that’s all that counts.

-sj

Love & Lunge

you get out what you put in. why practice makes perfect in fitness.

getting out of that comfort zone.