Just lookin' out. This should be made sticky. Yeah, you'd get sick of seeing it but I gar-on-tee everyone would be paying attention to their posture.
http://thinksimplenow.com/health/dont-break-your-back-tips-to-healthy-posture/

FTA:

Don’t Break Your Back! Tips to Healthy Posture
Tina Su

When you were a child, you may have been told to “Stand up straight!” or “Don’t slouch!” from your parents and teachers. I remember when I was younger, my mother would poke my back out of nowhere to remind me to stand up straight. I hated this as a teen and was determined to rebel for no reason other than to be stubborn and go against what I was told. My purposeful slouching eventually turned into a habit and carried with me into adulthood.

Now that I’m older, I understand why my mother was so insistent. My poor posture now makes me feel:

Pain in my back and shoulders.
I am breathing shallowly.
I appeared to lack self confidence.
Energy was not flowing efficiently throughout my body. I was often tired.
It made me look and feel weak.
I have spent much time correcting the damage, and undeveloped muscles, from my rebellious teen years. Like any habit, breaking bad posture can be a challenge, but definitely doable with some attention and practice.

Many of us may like to improve our posture, but we often don’t know how, or where to start.

Posture 101
Posture is defined as the carriage of the body. Good posture means carrying your body in a way that puts the least strain on muscles and ligaments. Poor posture can cause pain in the back and neck, and eventually causes injury. Improving your posture is a great way to improve your image while at the same time improving your health.

First, let’s go over some of the things that contribute to poor posture. Most of them are fixable, and others (like pregnancy) eventually go away on their own.

Poor habits - sitting and standing incorrectly (this is me)
Weakened muscles
Obesity - The extra weight strains the muscles
Pregnancy
Improper shoes - high heeled shoes are the worst
Reduced muscle and joint flexibility
Benefits of Good Posture
Good posture is beneficial to your health in several ways. Standing and sitting correctly prevents strain and overuse, and helps prevent back, neck, and muscle pain. Good posture also helps the muscles work more efficiently, which helps prevent fatigue. Most importantly, I have found that I can breathe deeply from my belly (my core). The energy I get from a deep breath is what keeps me going during the day.

The physical benefits are many, but there are other side benefits to good posture. When you stand properly, the body looks aligned, looks slimmer, and generally looks better. Good posture can also help you feel more confident - because you look and feel better, your confidence increases.





Most of us work at a desk or on a computer, and it’s very easy to slip into poor sitting habits. If your body posture is not aligned, eventually you will experience pain. Make sure you follow proper techniques for sitting, standing, and lifting. These seem obvious, but let’s list them to reflect.

Sitting - Sit with your shoulders back and back straight. Your legs should be at a 90 degree angle to your body. Keep your neck, back, and heels in alignment. Avoid the urge to slouch at your desk!
Standing - When standing, hold your head up straight and chin slightly tucked in. Keep your shoulder blades back, chest forward, and stomach tucked in. Keep most of your weight on the balls of the feet and not the heels or toes. Your arms should hang down naturally.
Lifting - Lifting something off the ground by bending over forces your back to do most of the lifting and puts a strain on the lower back. The proper way to lift is to bend at the knees and not the waist. This forces your leg muscles to do most of the work.
Keep Your Spine Straight: In general, try to keep your spine as straight as possible at all times. No matter what you’re doing, if you’re conscious of the alignment of your back and neck, you will notice that your posture will improve.
Simple Stretches to Loosen Your Back Muscles
Lower back cat stretch: This stretch is done on all fours, fingers facing forward. Start by dropping your head and raising your back as you push the shoulder blades upward. Repeat in the opposite direction by pushing your chest downward, arching your lower back.
Knees to chest: While lying on your back, pull both knees to the chest with your hands behind your knees. Keep your tailbone on the floor and hold this stretch for at least 15 seconds.
Shoulder blade squeeze: Have arms straight out in front of you at shoulder height. Now swing both arms horizontally towards your back, like you are trying to reconnect your fingers behind your back. Swing your arms back to the front. Do this motion slowly several times.
Shoulder blade lift: Have arms straight out in front of you at shoulder height. Now swing both arms vertically in opposite directions. Keep arms straight. Do this motion slowly several times.
The Core Twist: Hold arms out, bent at shoulder height. Feet planted on the ground, toes facing forward. Keeping your hips facing forward, twist your upper body towards the back (try to look behind you). Twist from side to side. Twist baby! Twist!
Exercises to Strengthen Your Back Muscles
Any type of exercise will benefit you by improving muscle endurance and increasing strength. Exercises that strengthen your core are the most helpful for improving and building the muscles that lead to good posture. Your core is your torso - shoulders to hips - the source of all your strength to your limbs. Here are three exercises that help improve posture:

Back extensions: Lying face down on the floor with hands behind head. Slowly lift your upper body a few inches off the ground and hold for 5 seconds. Slowly lower to the ground. Repeat 10 - 12 times.
Superman: Lying face down on the floor, lift your right arm and left leg off the floor several inches. Hold for two seconds and then lower. Repeat with left arm and right leg. Do 10-12 repetitions.
Shoulder Squeeze: Lift shoulders toward ears and squeeze together, holding the position for five seconds. Relax and repeat 3-5 times.


Tips for Good Posture
Pad Your Chair - Consider adding lumbar support pad to your office chair. I have a pretty economical cotton pad for my office chair. In fact, I use two of these. This drives other people crazy, since there isn’t much room on the chair, but it’s great for my posture.
Push Butt Towards Back of Chair - When sitting, I find it helpful to remind myself to shift my butt towards the back of the chair. This helps to prevent me from slouching, as long as I continue to lean forward.
Sit on Tip of Chair - When you are sitting on the tip of your chair, you are further from the back of the chair so you are less likely to lean against the back support and slouch.
Breaks & Use of Timer - if you are sitting down most of the day, make a point to get up for breaks often. I set a timer for 40 minutes, when it goes off, I stop working, get up and stretch. Alternatively, go for a walk.
Exercise Ball - Try replacing your chair with an exercise ball. Lean, mean and cost-effective. The exercise ball makes a nice tool for stretching out your back as well. Two birds with one stone, that’s how I roll! (haha, get it? Roll with a ball?)









Last edited by BillRayDrums on Tue Dec 18, 2007 3:48 am; edited 2 times in total
_________________
13612
www.billraydrums.com
www.myspace.com/billraydrums

Good article. Stickied it is!








_________________

Dr. Rodney McKay wrote:

Well, I only know one thing and that is that flying darkness that eats energy can only be very, very bad.

http://www.MySpace.com/PageFive

*continues to slouch

Squats and dead lifts man. I've been playing tenors for five years now. That's roughly 75 pounds of drums on my shoulders. I've found that dead lifts and squats drastically improve the lower back area, and helps strengthen both the shoulders and back, for better posture.

Shoes are also important. As said, high-heeled shoes are bad. Converse are almost as bad. Completely flat sole, no arch support. That lead to some serious foot problems in the long run (I'll still wear them though, just not as often). If you want to get good shoues, try to find a foot health store, or go online. Look up Earth Shoes, specially with the negative heel. They are the comfiest shoes in the world. Plus, with the negative heel, it actually helps fix bad posture, by straighting your back. Weird, but it works.

There's my 2 cents.

Homki890








_________________

Homki890 wrote:

I've been playing tenors for five years now.

i bet your blazin fast around the toms








_________________

Good stuff Bill! Happy Holidays! Peace on ya!








_________________
It's so important to make best friends in life!

Tama and Medicine Man Drums, Zildjian, Remo, Roc-n-Soc, DW and Pro-mark.



www.myspace.com/thestarseedproject

xdoseonex wrote:

Homki890 wrote:

I've been playing tenors for five years now.

i bet your blazin fast around the toms

And skanks, sweeps, Around-The-World's, Inside Scrapes, Invert Around-The-World's, ect....

Yeah, actually, Teonrs, Tympani, and Traps, the Three T's of Percussion, are all related. How about that.

Homki890








_________________

Homki890 wrote:

xdoseonex wrote:

Homki890 wrote:

I've been playing tenors for five years now.

i bet your blazin fast around the toms

And skanks, sweeps, Around-The-World's, Inside Scrapes, Invert Around-The-World's, ect....

Yeah, actually, Teonrs, Tympani, and Traps, the Three T's of Percussion, are all related. How about that.

Homki890

i'll give you a skank sweep








_________________

This is a good article, but what about drummers? Those flat round seats play havoc with my back. I would love to get one with back support but I don’t have the money to plop down on one. Is a motorcycle seat better for the back? It also seems like if you don’t have your drums as close as possible to your arms the you sometimes have to extend your body to reach the tom’s or cymbals. What advice would you give to a drummer?








_________________
ROCK ON!!!
http://www.myspace.com/thanimal http://www.myspace.com/highvoltagenorcal

thanks for all the good advice








_________________
DRummer BOy Jeff

i just duct tape a big wooden board to my back
it gets all the chicks








_________________

...a real simple way to reduce back aches while playing, and increase your stamina? Put a piece of 3/4" wood under the rear leg of your throne. It'll keep you from slouching, and force you to sit straight. I tried it... and now, can't play without it!!








_________________
www.mistycreekband.com

[quote="keith bushey"]...a real simple way to reduce back aches while playing, and increase your stamina? Put a piece of 3/4" wood under the rear leg of your throne. It'll keep you from slouching, and force you to sit straight. I tried it... and now, can't play without it!![/quote]

I tryed it and it;s very good.
I actually learnt this when I worked with a physiotherapist.
She had all the back legs of the work shop chairs raised.
And I used to do it before the acqusition of the wheely office chair.

Thanks for reminding me coz I just bought one of those flat round thrones.








_________________
CRISS CROSS RHYTHMS EXPLODE WITH HAPPINESS.

per "bicycle" seats being better than a round seat: I prefer them, but really the posture has to start in your spine. one should be able to sit up and still be relaxed on a flat bench or in an ergonomic chair. it's more about the distance between the seat and the floor, as well as how far you have to reach to hit various elements of your drum kit.

Good points on posture and all - but what about tonage?

Most of my back pains about 5 years ago wasn't caused by posture, but by the gross weight of gear I was schleping around - specifically stands. I was playing DW 9000 series stands. At one point I was bringing (3) cymbal stands, hi-hat, snare, tom stand, seat, and pedals. Got to the point I couldn't pick-up my stand case in the truck. Made the decision then that a 12 pound cymbal stand to hold a .75 lb cymbal was stupid. Went out the next day and bought the Gibraltar flat-base series snare and cymbal stands, and pulled my old Slingerland Dynamo Hi-hat out of the closet. Even got a Tama single braced seat stand for the DW seat top.

Now, I use two mic stand cases for my stands. One case has just cymbal stands, and the other seat, snare, hi-hat and floor tom legs. Both cases are light, and my back is a hell-of-a-lot more happy.

Also - I guess this is where I show my age: I remember growing up playing the old ludwig flat base cymbal stands. They always had a built-in tilt, so you learned how to hit your crashes properly or your stand did a "Timber!" on you and hit the floor. I also remember when Tama first came out with their Titan series in the mid 1970's. I couldn't wait to get them and I remember how proud I was to get a complete set of them for the set. I also remember distinctly that it was at that point my dad stopped helping me carrying any stand. He said, "you want 'em, you carry 'em." Then, I thought he was making a fuss about nothing. Today (at 45), I know what the fuss was about.









Last edited by Atmerrill on Wed Jan 02, 2008 10:16 am; edited 1 time in total
_________________
Alden Merrill

Ford Drums
Zildjian Cymbals, Aquarian Heads
Vater, Cappella and Vic Firth Sticks
Proudly playing drums crafted in the USA.

Atmerrill wrote:

Good points on posture and all - but what about tonage?

Most of my back pains about 5 years ago wasn't caused by posture, but by the gross weight of gear I was schleping around - specifically stands. I was playing DW 9000 series stands. At one point I was bringing (3) cymbal stands, hi-hat, snare, tom stand, seat, and pedals. Got to the point I couldn't pick-up my stand case in the truck. Made the decision then that a 12 pound cymbal stand to hold a .75 lb cymbal was stupid. Went out the next day and bought the Gibraltar flat-base series snare and cymbal stands, and pulled my old Slingerland Dynamo Hi-hat out of the closet. Even got a Tama single braced seat stand for the DW seat top.

Now, I use two mic stand cases for my stands. One case has just cymbal stands, and the other seat, snare, hi-hat and floor tom legs. Both cases are light, and my back is a hell-of-a-lot more happy.

Also - I guess this is where I show my age: I remember growing up playing the old ludwig flat base cymbal stands. They always had a built-in tilt, so you learned how to hit your crashes properly or your stand did a "timber" on you and hit the floor. I also remember when Tama first came out with their Titan series in the mid 1970's. I couldn't wait to get them and I remember how proud I was to get a complete set of them for the set. I also remember distinctly that it was at that point my dad stopped helping me carrying any stand. He said, "you want 'em, you carry 'em." Then, I thought he was making a fuss about nothing. Today (at 45), I know what the fuss was about.

The Schlep in/out is part of the "exercise" portion of my program. But yeah, I get to feelin' the effects of age nowadays. I just try and ignore the small creaks and such.








_________________
13612
www.billraydrums.com
www.myspace.com/billraydrums

tama throne with a backrest...saved my life








_________________
myspace.com/dimaura
myspace.com/nickcetrone

xdoseonex wrote:

Homki890 wrote:

xdoseonex wrote:

Homki890 wrote:

I've been playing tenors for five years now.

i bet your blazin fast around the toms

And skanks, sweeps, Around-The-World's, Inside Scrapes, Invert Around-The-World's, ect....

Yeah, actually, Teonrs, Tympani, and Traps, the Three T's of Percussion, are all related. How about that.

Homki890

i'll give you a skank sweep

Sounds like a fun time








_________________
Hey My names Dave
Slingerland, Yamaha and sonor acoustic drums
Alesis Dm5Pro E-kit (recording kit)
Saluda Cymbals
I want a Medicine Man Snare
Iron Drake is my home boy

Go with the back rest. I bulged a disc in my back in 99 and couldn't sit to play for a year. Since then I swear by the back rest. I just scooch back into the rest and it forces me to sit a bit straighter (I naturally want to slouch right over) and provides a comfortable lower back support. gives me more stamina and I don't hurt like a little baby after.
Worth the extra money if you have a back issue. a good roc n soc will last forever...it's a necessary investment.

A happy tush makes a happy drummer. Should be in a fortune cookie

I am gonna try the lighter hardware too, good common sense there. I hate lugging my stands.








_________________
www.jesusgrocery.com

www.myspace.com/drumczarcoolband
powered by keystone light, kippered snacks & hot sauce
I use cheap sticks, DW & Zildjian

posture is seriously important to playing efficiently and painlessly. I don't understand how all those old jazz guys I love did it while slouching. all about the relaxation and poise.

Nick Cetrone wrote:

tama throne with a backrest...saved my life

Look at the throne in my profile pic. I've had it a couple of months and it is the best throne I've ever used.
Tama HT741 Ergorider quartet with backrest.

Also - an observation. Almost all of the people I know who have ongoing back problems are also overweight.








_________________
The Funkussionist

Funkussionist wrote:

Nick Cetrone wrote:

tama throne with a backrest...saved my life

Look at the throne in my profile pic. I've had it a couple of months and it is the best throne I've ever used.
Tama HT741 Ergorider quartet with backrest.

Also - an observation. Almost all of the people I know who have ongoing back problems are also overweight.

I was in a car accident, and have back problems from that. After I sit down on a drumkit and play for a few, my back loosens up and I feel much better. Drumming seems to do nothing but make my back feel better.

BillRayDrums wrote:

Atmerrill wrote:

Good points on posture and all - but what about tonage?

Most of my back pains about 5 years ago wasn't caused by posture, but by the gross weight of gear I was schleping around - specifically stands. I was playing DW 9000 series stands. At one point I was bringing (3) cymbal stands, hi-hat, snare, tom stand, seat, and pedals. Got to the point I couldn't pick-up my stand case in the truck. Made the decision then that a 12 pound cymbal stand to hold a .75 lb cymbal was stupid. Went out the next day and bought the Gibraltar flat-base series snare and cymbal stands, and pulled my old Slingerland Dynamo Hi-hat out of the closet. Even got a Tama single braced seat stand for the DW seat top.

Now, I use two mic stand cases for my stands. One case has just cymbal stands, and the other seat, snare, hi-hat and floor tom legs. Both cases are light, and my back is a hell-of-a-lot more happy.

Also - I guess this is where I show my age: I remember growing up playing the old ludwig flat base cymbal stands. They always had a built-in tilt, so you learned how to hit your crashes properly or your stand did a "timber" on you and hit the floor. I also remember when Tama first came out with their Titan series in the mid 1970's. I couldn't wait to get them and I remember how proud I was to get a complete set of them for the set. I also remember distinctly that it was at that point my dad stopped helping me carrying any stand. He said, "you want 'em, you carry 'em." Then, I thought he was making a fuss about nothing. Today (at 45), I know what the fuss was about.

The Schlep in/out is part of the "exercise" portion of my program. But yeah, I get to feelin' the effects of age nowadays. I just try and ignore the small creaks and such.

hmmm.. i get small creaks and such at 19, mainly in my right leg (where the hip joins the leg in the socket) and my ankle just cracks, sometimes ya can hear it but most of the time ya can just feel it. and gets annoying. i might have to do more exercises to stop these creaks, cracks in my right leg, ankle, knee, also my wrists.
i even wear a ankle brace thing that ya slip on to make it feel stronger

as for my back im trying hard to correct my posture all the time. i might have to increase the height of my throne a little bit. thanks for the help bill man.
but was there anyone else experiencing those weird little pains, cracks, and creaks in other parts of the body such as the arms and legs?








_________________
Gretsch, Zildjian, Axis, Gibraltar.

"If you can play, you can play anything. I don't like classifications."

http://www.myspace.com/metal_in_entropy

Playing anything with DW hardware on it is a good way to develop back problems. Also, don't use a solid shell kit as your primary gigging kit. Pretty much leave the rack at home.

Did you ever notice bop drummers never seem to have back problems? Except Alan Dawson, but he was in an accident or something.

My best advice? Once you hit 30, stop aging. I hit 38 last May and it was the worst decision of my life.

Any drummers primary goal should'nt be sound...that will come later, it should be comfort! Take care of yourself! For years I concerned myself with sound, and "cool". I was always sore in the pants after 1 hr! Finally I broke down and bought a Roc-n-Soc Nitro throne. Amen! Its the best seat in the house!!








_________________
www.mistycreekband.com

Totally correct!!!!!

In the long run it's always good to have good posture not only for your health but it also helps and improves your drumming.

Ever since I corrected my posture while playing (3 years ago) not only did my playing get better but the stamina I had man I could got through a whole setlist like a walk in the park it just relaxes your muscles.

I got a whole lot of drummer friends and I spoke to them about this and well only about 3% actually took it to consideration and other half well you know what happened why tell you!








_________________
Use it
Abuse it
and lose it
- drumkingkid

Homki890 wrote:

Squats and dead lifts man. I've been playing tenors for five years now. That's roughly 75 pounds of drums on my shoulders. I've found that dead lifts and squats drastically improve the lower back area, and helps strengthen both the shoulders and back, for better posture.

Shoes are also important. As said, high-heeled shoes are bad. Converse are almost as bad. Completely flat sole, no arch support. That lead to some serious foot problems in the long run (I'll still wear them though, just not as often). If you want to get good shoues, try to find a foot health store, or go online. Look up Earth Shoes, specially with the negative heel. They are the comfiest shoes in the world. Plus, with the negative heel, it actually helps fix bad posture, by straighting your back. Weird, but it works.

There's my 2 cents.

Homki890

Great article. I'm also a proponent of back strengthening excercises. I find that working out gives your whole body a lift.

i gotta question tho, does a seat with backrest give more support then one without like just the bycicle throne?

I sleep on the floor. It seem to make my back better. Swimming in the pool every day helps too.








_________________
I practice outside and lots of people watch

u sleep on the floor i thought that would hurt your back?

as one who quit his office job because of developing back problems and the onset symptoms of carpel tunnel, I can't stress enough the importance of posture and stretching. Have you noticed how many aggressive drummers are very built? Take travis barker as an example. He's got a slim build, but he's ripped. He needs to be to keep playing so hard. Be careful when lifting though, because lifting can convert fast-twitch muscles to slow-twitch, which is not something drummers want. We want to develop fast-twitch for those 4 bar single stroke fills. Instead of working out, I've realized that stretching in the morning and evening makes me feel much better, and I last longer on the drumkit. Stretching in the mornings doesn't mean you don't stretch before playing. You can never stretch too much. Atom Willard explains some great stretches he does before his gigs. Basically, he stretches the neck, shoulder, and arms because these muscle groups are all related. In other words, a tense neck can affect your playing. Posture is the other thing, and I'm surprised no one's mentioned this yet. If your back hurts from playing, you could be reaching or slouching. Your drumkit could be setup too low, so raise those toms and snare drum. That'll force you to sit up straighter, or else you'll hit the rim with your hand.

[quote="BillRayDrums"]

Atmerrill wrote:

Good points on posture and all - but what about tonage?

Most of my back pains about 5 years ago wasn't caused by posture, but by the gross weight of gear I was schleping around - specifically stands. I was playing DW 9000 series stands. At one point I was bringing (3) cymbal stands, hi-hat, snare, tom stand, seat, and pedals. Got to the point I couldn't pick-up my stand case in the truck. Made the decision then that a 12 pound cymbal stand to hold a .75 lb cymbal was stupid. Went out the next day and bought the Gibraltar flat-base series snare and cymbal stands, and pulled my old Slingerland Dynamo Hi-hat out of the closet. Even got a Tama single braced seat stand for the DW seat top.

Now, I use two mic stand cases for my stands. One case has just cymbal stands, and the other seat, snare, hi-hat and floor tom legs. Both cases are light, and my back is a hell-of-a-lot more happy.

you make a good point there about hardware weight. i've been trying to find some articles online about hardware weight comparisons, but i can find nothing. i'm thinking of switching out all my hardware to something lighter. i've heard that gibraltar hardware is light, but i wanna see some numbers! should we all go around and weigh our hardware and post the results?

i once took a private lesson from bernard purdie he pointed out that i slouch and stuck his fist into my lower back everytime i catch myself slouching i feel his fist straightening my back out for me.








_________________
www.myspace.com/vincemiezejewski

ONE OF MY BASS PLAYIN FRIENDS IS A MASSAGE THERAPIST. HE TOLD ME THIS.
...LETS IMAGINE YOUR HEAD WEIGHS 10 LBS, FOR EVERY INCH AWAY FROM STREIGHT GRAVITY ADDS THE WEIGHT OF YOUR HEAD...... SO IF WHILE SLOUCHING YOUR HEAD IS 2" IN FRONT OF STRAIGHT, YOUR NECK IS HOLDING 30LBS OF WEIGHT








_________________
THE MORE YOU DO THE MORE YOU GET...

SORRY I TYPE IN CAPS, ITS FOR MY WORK

The best post I've read here yet.








_________________
Some people have talent, I just practice every day.



*******************************************

I spend the first half hour of my drum practice sitting on an excercise ball, I think it has helped to strengthen the muscles you use to keep a good posture. I dont have a back to my stool, but i have put an old stand behind me with a padded sock at the end of the arm position where i can feel it if i sit up straight, its a little reminder of how i should be sitting. I have some old mirrors at either side of me so that I can check all the things my teacher nags me about, posture, arm higth, etc. If the band are not there i sometimes play with a full length mirror in from too-- it realy points out bad habits(and silly expressions on my face!!)I fins it helps to be aware of where each hip bone is and wether or not each shoulder bone is square above it, and without straining try to think of the shoulders being another 2 or 3 inches higher by lengthening the back.

[quote="Nehe555"]

BillRayDrums wrote:

Atmerrill wrote:

Good points on posture and all - but what about tonage?

Most of my back pains about 5 years ago wasn't caused by posture, but by the gross weight of gear I was schleping around - specifically stands. I was playing DW 9000 series stands. At one point I was bringing (3) cymbal stands, hi-hat, snare, tom stand, seat, and pedals. Got to the point I couldn't pick-up my stand case in the truck. Made the decision then that a 12 pound cymbal stand to hold a .75 lb cymbal was stupid. Went out the next day and bought the Gibraltar flat-base series snare and cymbal stands, and pulled my old Slingerland Dynamo Hi-hat out of the closet. Even got a Tama single braced seat stand for the DW seat top.

Now, I use two mic stand cases for my stands. One case has just cymbal stands, and the other seat, snare, hi-hat and floor tom legs. Both cases are light, and my back is a hell-of-a-lot more happy.

you make a good point there about hardware weight. i've been trying to find some articles online about hardware weight comparisons, but i can find nothing. i'm thinking of switching out all my hardware to something lighter. i've heard that gibraltar hardware is light, but i wanna see some numbers! should we all go around and weigh our hardware and post the results?

Who cares about weight (tonnage)? You are essentially carrying what you are comfortable with to a gig. For me if weight were an issue I would get single-braced stands and also clean the 50 or so red flyers from a gig in 2005 from my trapcase that seem to still linger, no matter how hard I try to pass them along. Oh yeah then there's the drawings that people threw in 15 years ago into my tom cases.
My setup has not changed in about 20 years....Double braced stuff and I don't use a cart because I enjoy the exercise. 5 trips to the car? No problem because that's my exercise regimen right there. Humping my shit through whatever obstacle course is presented. I'm pushing 40 and I'll stack up against anyone. Even Stump, that little running maniac that he is.








_________________
13612
www.billraydrums.com
www.myspace.com/billraydrums

i am a little old lady(I will admit to 60) I make lots of trips with my gear and then when I have finished help the band with their stuff, these young lads are very slow. I cannot manage the bass amp by myself but will give the rest a go. If i can pick it up by using my legs rather than my back I will take it. I used to use double braced DW stands for the toms but have recently got a gibralter rack. Lightweight, quick to set up, takes up less room on stage and looks realy cool

this is funny. Just the other day I was thinking about improving my movements around my set. I was sure I could do better by making some adjustments and start to get picky about how I sit at my kit. It has definately added some benefit to my skills. Sitting up helps to, but making sure everything is the proper height and reach...Im golden now!

Next is to practice more...








_________________
Han Solo: Fast ship? You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?

Luke Skywalker: What a piece of junk!

Han Solo: She'll make point five past lightspeed.

Chewy: Word

actually my band say i look more like a MILF--when they are not screaming about how much room I take up. Thats probably why they hide me behind the amps, dont like the band looking if the drummer sent his granny along

grannydrums wrote:

actually my band say i look more like a MILF--when they are not screaming about how much room I take up. Thats probably why they hide me behind the amps, dont like the band looking if the drummer sent his granny along

Heh so you did see that message....

I support you 100%. Whatever I can do to help further your endeavor, I will. Just ask.








_________________
13612
www.billraydrums.com
www.myspace.com/billraydrums

Great post BillRay!
I've been nursing a suspect back for years. The crap hit the fan for me in '02, when my herniated L4 vertebrae decided to fragment. I had to be carried out of my house by an ambulance crew. I had a partial discectomy surgery in August of that year. Knock on wood, I've been relatively pain-free since then. Still some stiffness every once in a while. Luckily, I see a very good chiropracter every month -- he keeps in alignment.
I've got my eye on a SoundSeat. Someday I hope to afford it!








_________________
Steve Nelson
Nelson DrumCraft
www.nelsondrumcraft.com
www.myspace.com/nelsondrumcraft
BlueJimmy
www.bluejimmy.com
www.myspace.com/bluejimmy

The back muscles are easily the most neglected when it comes to working out and fitness. It's all good having great pecs and biceps, but you HAVE to balance it out with a strong back as well.

I find inverted rows are very good for the upper back muscles, and they're a pretty easy excercise to master. For the lower back, I like deadlifts, but before you try those make damn sure you have the right technique and know your limit, because it's very easy to screw your back right up overexerting yourself or doing them improperly.