Health Issues A Neglected Concern for Musicians is Addressed
Date: June 27, 2016
Venue: WeWork Wall Street
Review by Dawoud Kringle
The third MFM Workshop kicked off with MFM founder Sohrab Saadat Ladjavardi introducing the organization’s history, and statement of purpose. Saadat made an interesting point; music is not dying out. Musicians can make their situation work, despite the inherent difficulties, and the changing times. We can make a success of ourselves if we have the smarts and the courage.
With that, James Rehm offered the traditional MFM Workshop and Meeting musical interlude. He played and sang an original song, “Ensalada, Empanada, Hello, Adios.”
The speaker was Matthew Flaherty, MS, CSCS (National Strength &.Conditioning Association, National Acadamy of Sports Medicine, StringFirst, Titleist Performance Institute, Functional Movement Screen) was introduced. After introducing himself and his credentials, he went into some details of how he applies his knowledge of health and strength conditioning to the specific needs of musicians.
His company, Stafford Strength, bases their program on the individual’s goals, needs, results, and wants. He explained the FMS: a seven point screen looking at mobility, stability, and coordination.
His program stresses training for longevity. Some discussion was offered on how the body ages, the factors of illness, pain, etc.
Sometimes these problems can be fixed with changes in one’s breathing pattern. Flaherty spoke about the advantages of diaphragmatic breathing, or “crocodile breathing.” Many attendees were in agreement with this, knowing that proper breathing is important to a musician (and some self-depreciating jokes all around about how easily we forget it).
Posture is an important thing for musicians to consider. Musicians often have specific movements that make changes in their bodies. These asymmetrical anomalies have to be rebalanced. He stressed that things cannot be trained in isolation, only in coordination with the whole body.
Preventative measures include rest, recovery, massage, acupuncture, stretch, and GTG (greasing the groove). Also keeping hydrated, drinking plenty of water. Nutrition was also touched upon (another problem area for some musicians).
After a variety of subjects were covered and brought to the table for analysis, the workshop drew to its conclusion. In keeping with the MFM tradition, Jim Rehm played one more song, Taj Mahal’s “She Caught The Katy,” and the meeting was closed.
Flaherty shared a lot of practical information. It’s clear he knows his craft well, and knows how to apply it to a wide variety of situations and individual health needs. He has some experience as an amateur musician, and knows how some health issues are specific to musicians; even to different instrumentalists (e.g. Movement and body problems of guitarists as opposed to percussionists). Flaherty’s company, Stafford Strength will be working with MFM, and offering the option of much needed health and strength improvement for musicians.
Stafford Strength is offering a 10% discount for Musicians for Musicians members. Details can be found in the Members Portal.
Overall, the workshop was a lively and informative presentation. And it was a lot of fun too!