Courage is what you do when you don’t know what to do.

Alan Greenspan

Use partially deflated ball on bike to support upper body for back help

— mb

Musicians experience a variety of physical and mental stress during their work.  Performance anxiety, physical stress, mental stress, long hours of practice, time management conflicts, cumulative trauma from repetitive stress injuries, and traumatic injuries from stage performances and practices are important threats to the vitality of musicians.

In addition, short term illness, such as upper respiratory infections or stomach flu can negatively affect hearing perception, sound output quality and performance energy.

A wellness and fitness program for musicians focuses on proper technique, appropriate exertion intensities to enhance the body as an instrument or to optimize the human-instrument interface to prevent injury and strain.

Cardiovascular endurance can definitely help with breath control and energy for singers and instruments that utilize breath control.

Possible injuries to musicians include the following:
Vocal chord strain (singers)
Pharyngocele (e.g., trumpet)
Carpal tunnel syndrome (drummers, pianists)
Hand pain, tendinitis, blisters, calluses (guitarists)
Knee injuries (stage performers that include dance in their performance)
Back injuries (stage performers that include dance in their performance)
Hearing loss

Rigorous traveling can make it difficult to eat healthy foods that promote weight control and longevity. Drug abuse is also a common threat to performers.

Speculation that Madonna’s fitness regime may be taking its toll on her looks. As reported by the Daily Mirror,

A fellow guest said: “Madonna usually looks so groomed. It was a bit of a shock to see her looking so ropey.”

The mum-of-two exercises at least three hours a day, sometimes runs 10-miles, and eats mainly whole grains and vegetables.

At 47, Madonna has a strict exercise routine.

Two to three hours a day of Ashtanga yoga
Pilates,
Swimming
Weight training
Cycling

Dance rehearsals consisting of 10-hour sessions

More info:
Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute
Ashtanga.com

In a March 2004 interview with VH1, Usher said he went from ‘doing like a thousand push-ups a day to now barely making a hundred, because I’m always working.’

He talks about a switching from eating what he wants to being disciplined. ‘I’m on a see-food diet, right now – I see it, I eat it. In a second, I’ll go back. I’m very disciplined. When I don’t want to eat, I won’t eat. I go on a fish, chicken and broccoli diet, and throw in some carbs – preferably sweet potatoes,’ Usher said.

He’s also reported to do 1000 ab crunches per day.

10 minute circuit of abs, 30 minutes treadmill or bike, 60 minutes of supersets and circuits, 10-15 minutes of static stretching.

Reported to use hollywood personal trainer Cliff Boyce (hollywood-fitness.com).

The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.
– Vince Lombardi

More quotations from Vince Lombardi …

A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done.

Additional quotations below advertisement …

Coaches who can outline plays on a black board are a dime a dozen. The ones who win get inside their player and motivate.

Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.

Dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you’re willing to pay the price.


I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.

If it doesn’t matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep score?

If winning isn’t everything, why do they keep score?

If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm.

If you can accept losing you can’t win. If you can walk you can run. No one is ever hurt. Hurt is in your mind.

Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.

It is time for us all to stand and cheer for the doer, the achiever – the one who recognizes the challenges and does something about it.

It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.

Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.

Leaders aren’t born they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.

Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later the man who wins, is the man who thinks he can.

Mental toughness is many things. It is humility because it behooves all of us to remember that simplicity is the sign of greatness and meekness is the sign of true strength. Mental toughness is spartanism with qualities of sacrifice, self-denial, dedication. It is fearlessness, and it is love.

Once you agree upon the price you and your family must pay for success, it enables you to ignore the minor hurts, the opponent’s pressure, and the temporary failures.

Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.

People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.

Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.

Show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser.


The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.
 

The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall.

The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.

The leader can never close the gap between himself and the group. If he does, he is no longer what he must be. He must walk a tightrope between the consent he must win and the control he must exert.

The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.

The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.

The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.

There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game and that is first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay and I never want to finish second again.

We didn’t lose the game; we just ran out of time.

We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.

Winners never quit and quitters never win.

Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is.

Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.

God,

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Possibly written by theologian Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr

The average American might eat the equivalent of 20 teaspoons of sugar a day, according to figures from the most recent federal Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (1994-1996/Results [pdf]). Nearly 60 percent of this intake, according to The Sugar Association, is from corn sweeteners (in sodas and drinks). Another 40 percent is from sucrose (table sugar), and a small amount comes from honey and molasses.

Humans naturally have an appetite for sweet food, but in excess, sugary foods can result in concentrated calories and excess eating, which adds up to surplus calories. In order to lose weight, the total calories from foods, especially those with lots of calories from sugars as well as fats, must be decreased and physical activity increased. Many people choose sugar substitutes to control calories.

The American Diabetes Association calls sugar substitutes “free foods” because they make food taste sweet, but they have essentially no calories and do not raise blood sugar levels.

Source: FDA: Sugar Substitutes: Americans Opt for Sweetness and Lite

Brady Quinn at the 2007 NFL Combine bench pressing 225 pounds for 24 repetitions.

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