3 Ways playing a musical instrument is like working out

If you’ve ever admired a beautiful piano solo, you know what music can do to you. Like working out, music infuses the body with a vivacity and life-force that can’t be quantified. It’s a way to turbocharge your mind and soul, but it’s activated directly through the body.

Learning to play an instrument actually has a lot in common with your average gym routine. Both can seem intimidating to the novice; both require resilience and dedication; and both will reward you with an internal satisfaction that no one can take away from you.

Check out how you can work out mentality by learning to flex your music muscles and play any instrument as an adult beginner.

#1 Schedule It

The worst excuse (and the most common) for not working out is “I don’t have time.” And, unfortunately, the same attitude applies to practicing your instrument.

One of the best ways to combat this lazy attitude is to schedule your workout as you would a meeting. After all, you wouldn’t let the fact that you were tired derail an important business meeting, and once you’ve scheduled yourself properly, exhaustion won’t take you away from the gym or piano bench either.

Once you’re finally at the gym, you’re not going to waste that session on a dumb TV show or a mind-numbing article on Facebook. Look at your instrument practice session in the same way. Set aside a block of time to play your instrument, and don’t let anything else get in the way of that time.

#2 Reps

Once you’ve established a set time for practicing, you should break down your instrument workout into intervals. Doing leg lifts or crunches for an hour straight can get tedious, tiresome and frustrating, and it’s certainly not the most effective use of your time. Instead, you’ll break up your workout into five-minute intervals for muscle training, weight lifting and toning with one minute reps of each exercise within each set. Learn an instrument in increments as well, practicing finger placement for five minutes, your scales for another set of five, and timing and notes for another.

As you get better at playing your instrument, your reps will change, but the methodology can remain the same. Switch things up to keep your practice fresh and exciting.

#3 Get Techie

There are loads of apps available to help you keep track of your workout. You can download a calorie calculator, an activity monitor, a reps counter, a personal motivator, and an entire fitness regimen straight onto your phone. The point of these applications is to streamline the process of working out, making it easier and more manageable to track results and make it happen.

Learning how to play an instruement is no different. Take advantage of technology to help you through the tougher parts of the process. Download a learn piano app to teach you new lessons, chart your progress, set reminders, put on timers and keep the learning process as smooth and uncomplicated as ever. (There are apps out there for other instruments as well.)

Let’s Go!

Ready to learn piano or any other instrument right now? Download Simply Piano today, and give yourself the gift of music forever.