When is it ENOUGH?
You guys know me well enough by now that I feel like I can admit to you something that no health coach should admit EVER…
I don’t actually like exercising.
And frankly, while I’m being honest we might as well get something out there as a voice teacher as well…
I don’t actually like warming up.
Might as well live up to my business name, Keeping It Real, right?
Now, I don’t mean I HAAAAATE these things. I just don’t “like” them.
They’re boring at times. I have to get into weird looking positions or make noises that don’t sound great. I have to set aside time when I could be doing other things for them. I have to do it super CONSISTENTLY in order to see any results.
But that word
- CONSISTENTLY -
that's what this shizz is about!
Because exercising and vocal warm ups have something in common… if you want the results they offer, you have to keep doing them. Consistently. Persistently. Even if you don’t want to. Even during holidays. Somewhere between 5-7 days per week if you want to see real results quickly.
Which brings me to my next point. I recently spoke with a performer who wants to lose some weight and they said to me “It feels like if I don’t go to the gym for and hour and a half every day then what’s the point?”
And that mentality right there, that’s where the BURNOUT comes in.
Because with exercise and warm ups - YES - you do need to do them consistently!
But you don’t have to do them for HOURS every day.
I mean we’re talking about things that you’re ideally doing almost daily FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE PEOPLE!
Why you being cray cray and giving ALL your time to it
every day?!?
When we’re talking about consistency and what it actually takes to build a healthy life as a performer, we’re not talking about full out no marking every damn day.
We’re talking about making sure you come back over and over again to the pieces of work that are NOT glamorous. That DON’T make you feel like a diva. That force you to pay attention consistently to the areas that need to be worked on.
So in voice lessons - NO, you don’t need to hit all your highest notes in every song. It’s not about living in the extremes of your range in every exercise. It IS worth it to just work the middle MANY days. Just getting through 3 warm ups before rehearsal DOES help (though yes the full round is always better).
In exercise - it TOTALLY COUNTS if you just hop on the treadmill and walk for a half-hour. It’s fine if you choose to just do 3 strength exercises REALLY WELL, instead of a full upper body workout.
There’s perfect, and then there’s ENOUGH.
You will never be “done” with these things. Your body doesn’t work that way. So do ENOUGH that you feel like you’ve done SOMETHING, but not so much that you won’t be able to do it CONSISTENTLY.
Consistency is boring, but consistency is the key that starts to unlock the other places you can go with your body, your voice, or your overall performance.
