Re: Re: Re: Increase lung capacity - How?


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Posted by Rick Denney on February 22, 2004 at 13:36:15:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Increase lung capacity - How? posted by Henry again on February 22, 2004 at 11:28:45:

Moderate exercise is always a good thing--it improves every aspect of life.

That said, athletic training takes a lot of time, and if that time takes away from practice, it will result in a net loss to tuba playing.

Also, aerobic exercise does not teach you to use the fullest half of your lungs the way you should when playing tuba. It teaches you to use the middle half. At complete relaxation, your lungs about 20-25% full. That's when athletes breathe. But they breathe in rhythm with the cadence of their activity, and breathe only enough to provide enough air to last them until the next breath. Rarely to aerobic athletes use the top quarter of their lung capacity, because filling up that much requires muscular effort that interferes with running economy.

Tuba players exchange more air in a loud passage than is needed for nearly any aerobic exercise. That's why there is a danger of hyperventilation, which there isn't in running.

Moderate aerobic exercise is always good, but it does not automatically provide tuba players with the breathing skills they need to play tuba. You have to be mindful of the differences, and still learn to take in really full breaths.

Of the aerobic activities available, only swimming forces you to take in big breaths at specific and limited opportunities. But the chlorine in pools messes with my sinuses, and that causes me more problems playing than it would solve. Were it not for that, it would come close to being the very best exercise for me as a tuba player. It is also highly accessible as an aerobic exercise for those who have, er, lots of flotation, once they get over their reluctance to wear a swimsuit at a public pool.

Rick "a (now fat) former bike racer and ultra-distance triathlete" Denney


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