Hi all,
Besides being a drummer, I am a practitioner of Hindu Martial Art Kalarippayatt (the mother of all Kung-fu and most oriental martial arts).
I also practice and teach Yoga.
Those are very good practices to stay strong yet supple and have endurance.
I have done a gig that lasted more than 40 hours non stop, back in 2001, as a tribute to my mentor Phil Collins (playing all Genesis and His solo stuff), in aid of UK charity Children In Need, and believe it or not all I had after that was one tiny blister on my right hand, and no body pains, cramps or anything! Just pure energy!
Working your prana/chi with pranayam (special yogic breath control techniques) helps a lot too.
Healthy diet is most important. I am Vegan, do not consume alcohol, do not smoke and do not take drugs/intoxicants of any kind.
Btw, about Phil Collins, it is not a spinal injury that He's got, or posture related problems, as wrongly said in press, but He has problems following an op to re-aligne some vertebreas in His neck that got dislocated on the Genesis tour in 2007. These ops on neck are very tricky and take a long time to recover from. At the moment He has trouble with gripping properly and when sitting at kit or piano, but it may improve over time, with physio, rest, and healthy lifestyle.
Phildas