October 6th Q&A Summary 🤓 · Fitness For Musicians

October 6th Q&A Summary 🤓

This week’s Q&A focused on two major themes: how to prepare physically and mentally for demanding performance weeks, and how to keep making progress in strength training without letting technique break down.

We discussed Dinis’s preparation for two upcoming concerts with the Gulbenkian orchestra, including Wagner’s Die Walküre and Lindberg’s Graffiti. These works bring some of the most intense demands a musician can face: fast tempos, complex rhythms, and physically exhausting passages—especially on viola.

What came up in the discussion is relevant for many of you:

How do we stay resilient under extreme demands?
How do we manage stress, both physical and mental, when the music pushes us past our limits?
And how do we make sure that training supports performance instead of interfering with it?

We also talked through key technical elements in strength training.Some of the takeaways include:

Progressive overload doesn’t mean rushing weight increases. It means increasing intelligently, without compromising technique.
Inverted rows and rollouts are incredibly effective for posture and core control, but only when executed with the right alignment.
Filming your exercises is one of the best tools to spot hidden inefficiencies — even if you think your form is fine.

Several corrections were discussed that apply to many musicians:

Keeping the trunk flexed during Reverse Crunches
Adjusting bar height and grip for Inverted Rows to maintain scapular control
Managing fatigue across sets with smart load distribution (e.g. heavier first set, lighter second)

Finally, we touched on something that’s often overlooked. Using training as a way to mentally reset before long rehearsals. For Dinis, a short gym session the day before a 6-hour rehearsal is less about gains, and more about clearing his head and getting centered.

If you’re training alongside your practice, these insights can help you stay consistent and avoid the common traps, like rushing progress or compensating with poor form.

Feel free to watch the recording or join us live next week. These Q&As are open to all members, and even if you're not sending videos for review yet, there's always something valuable to take away.

See you there next week!

Manuel

29:42

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