Why Singing is Good for Your BODY, Mind & Spirit. Part 2 of 5

Any physical endeavor requires muscular coordination. Singing is no different. In singing, you are coordinating muscles of your vocal instrument:

Your Breather: Diaphragm, intercostals, and abdominals (inhalation)
Your Sound-Maker: Vocal folds and everything contained within the Larynx
Your Amplifier: Vocal tract – the area from your larynx to your lips

In addition, you’re training yourself to have better posture to support all of the above, and maintain your vocal instrument as you sing.

Are you on the other side of 50 and out of physical AND vocal shape? Studies have shown that exercise, both physical and vocal, along with good nutrition and weight control are the keys to contributing to vocal longevity. In his article Vocal Aging and Its Medical Implications, Part I, (Journal of Singing, September/October 2000, Vol. 57, No. 1, pp. 29-34), Dr. Robert Thayer Sataloff, M.D., D.M.A, states (highlighting added):

Muscle disuse causes loss of muscle fibers [at any age] indistinguishable from that seen with advanced age. Exercise prevents or reverses many of these changes in the young, and it appears to have the same effect when the changes are caused by aging. Appropriate exercise will not only help maintain muscle function and coordination, but it also helps functioning of the cardiovascular system, nervous system, and especially the respiratory system. . . .

[A]s a singer’s or speaker’s respiratory potential diminishes, it is essential that he or she remain as close as possible to optimum respiratory conditioning . . . . If a singer is so “out of shape” that walking up a few flights of steps causes him/her to become winded, there’s little chance he can maintain good abdominal support during a performance.

When the power source of the voice is undermined in this way, excessive muscle use in the neck and tongue usually supervenes. . . Conditioning muscles gradually in a disciplined fashion . . . restores good support.

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Bottom line? Singing is good for your BODY, no matter what your age! There's a lot of stuff to coordinate, but the right exercises will help get the job done vocally and physically.

Sound interesting? Visit www.Sing4Health.com and Let's Talk about getting you singing!