Posted by Rick Denney on February 15, 2003 at 14:50:31:
In Reply to: Re: Tuba players and weight posted by More Tuba jobs on February 15, 2003 at 11:13:12:
Despite the words of Mr. Jacobs repeated below, which I have strong suspicion were delivered with tongue planted in cheek, I think the best explanation for tuba players tending to large size is that they were large to begin with. The big kids were the ones pointed to the tuba, because they could physically handle the instrument in the 7th grade.
I crept up from about 195 when I raced bicycles in college to about 270 in 1994, which is an average weight gain of 5 pounds a year. In late '94, I had an attainment of knowledge, and over the next year lost 75 pounds to get back down to 195. What did it take? Working out 12-15 hours a week--8 hours at the gym (including "cardio") and a couple of long-distance bike rides on the weekends--plus a complete transition of diet from hamburgers, Mexican food, fried seafood, and chicken-fried steaks to pasta with marinara sauce (and no meat), broiled fish and chicken, and no Mexican food.
Then, I sorta got into the exercise, and started doing triathlons. I got stronger and the weight crept up, but not the fat. I did a marathon in '99, and an Ironman triathlon in 2000 at a weight of 205. Then I got married and just did not want to spend 15 hours a week working out. I'm now creeping back up again, and am in the middle 220's.
The more I play tuba, the more I gain weight. But it has nothing to do with massaging the stomach, heh, heh. It has everything to do with enjoying an hour with the tuba more than an hour running. There is a balance point in there somewhere, and I suspect I'll settle into it over the next year or so. I miss the enjoyment of a good workout, but getting to the point where a good workout brings enjoyment requires enduring a couple of months of workouts that aren't fun. Kinda like playing the tuba. When you stop for a month or more, it's that much harder to get back into it, because you feel like you've backed up so much.
Did I play better when I was really fit? No. I spent too much time working out and not enough time practicing. There's a balance point in there, too. Not everyone has to be super-fit.
Rick "mmmmmm. Do-nuts" Denney