Drummers are athletes

Midnite Zephyr

Platinum Member
Here is an article I pulled from the Tama FB page. Of course, we knew this all along. I can tell you that I feel like an athlete after a long night of rehearsal. We go for 4 hours twice a week. I get a huge endorphin "high" after I play because this style I play now demands so much energy, more-so than any other band I've been in, and the soreness in my arms the next day is pretty intense. I had to ask the guys that we not practice/rehearse two nights in a row.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7518888.stm

Rock drummers 'are top athletes'


Blondie's Clem Burke took part in the study
Playing the drums for a rock band requires the stamina of a Premiership footballer, research suggests.
Tests on Clem Burke, the veteran Blondie drummer, revealed that 90 minutes of drumming could raise his heart rate to 190 beats a minute.
Despite rock's reputation for unhealthy living, Dr Marcus Smith, from Chichester University, said drummers needed "extraordinary stamina".
A hour in concert could burn between 400 and 600 calories, he said.
Clem Burke, who provided the beat for hits such as "Heart of Glass", "Atomic" and "Call Me" was invited to take part in the eight-year project by Blondie fan Dr Smith.
It is hoped that the results could help develop outreach programmes for overweight children who are not interested in sport.

It is clear that their fitness levels need to be outstanding. Burke was connected to equipment to measure his heart rate and oxygen uptake, and the levels of lactic acid in his blood.

He found that during a performance, his heart averaged between 140 and 150 beats a minute, peaking at 190, levels comparable to other top athletes.
However, Dr Smith said that while top footballers were expected to perform once or twice a week, drummers on tour would be doing it every night at a different venue.

Drummers burn 4-600 calories per hour

He said: "Footballers can normally expect to play 40 to 50 games a year - but in one 12 month period, Clem played 90-minute sets at 100 concerts.
"Footballer find playing a Champions League game once every two weeks a drain, but these guys are doing it every day when they are on tour.
"It is clear that their fitness levels need to be outstanding - through monitoring Clem's performance in controlled conditions, we have been able to map the extraordinary stamina required by professional drummers."
The project was conducted jointly by the University of Gloucestershire and the University of Chichester.
A dedicated "drumming laboratory" is now being built at the Gloucester campus and it is hoped that other professional drummers will be tested.
Dr Steve Draper, from Gloucestershire University, said: "This is the first facility of its kind in the world."
Professor Edward Winter, a specialist in the physiology of exercise at Sheffield University, said that the challenge of playing the drums should not be underestimated.
He said that at 190 beats per minute Clem Burke was probably exceeding the maximum heart rate predicted for a man of his age.
"Rock drumming in particular is very energetic, and to add to this, these guys are playing in a hot environment - you'll see them literally dripping with sweat."
 
That's been on here before and I am very skeptical. I played soccer, football, in college and will guarantee you, for me, after a soccer game I was beat, and was in very good shape. I have never crawled away from the drums.

His heart rate of 190 per minute is not always a sign of hard work, but the heart doing hard work because the person is out of shape. Too many holes in this study to justify comparing a drummer to a "top athlete"
Top athletes get in shape so that their heart rates aren't this high when performing. I don't see any mention of his regular heart rate or how long it took after playing to get back to that same heart rate. This recovery time is the true measure of fitness. He said that at 190 beats per minute Clem Burke was probably exceeding the maximum heart rate predicted for a man of his age. This is not healthy. I had an asthma attack a few years ago and my heart rate was 210. Not a sign of fitness but just the opposite. Please don't let this one survey or report be a test for your fitness.
 
You need to play harder!

Honestly, after a 45 minute set of drumming live my body almost shuts down! - and I'm not exactly unfit - but then, I drum extremely cathartically and I put EVERYTHING into it.

Part of that is almost certainly down to the adrenaline as well I'll admit

Dehydration will also speed up your heart rate. Drink some water during your breaks and stay away from the alcohol.
 
It's certainly physical and depending on the gig can require a high level of task specific stamina. But I've just encountered far too many over weight, out of shape and otherwise physically dishevelled drummers who can play up a storm but who couldn't run around the block, do 10 sit ups, or 10 push ups if their lives depended on it, to call all drummers athletes simply because they exert a bit of effort when they drum.

Guys like Kenny Aronoff and his ilk, sure. But is anyone really gonna try and tell me a guy like Gene Hoglan is an athlete simply because he plays hard?
 
The 'old' or 'new' Gene Hoglan? Because he's dropped quite some pounds. You may not recognize him now.

I think the body gets used to the motions and learns to save energy with more and more practice. Endurance can be practiced, too.
 
It's certainly physical and depending on the gig can require a high level of task specific stamina. But I've just encountered far too many over weight, out of shape and otherwise physically dishevelled drummers who can play up a storm but who couldn't run around the block, do 10 sit ups, or 10 push ups if their lives depended on it, to call all drummers athletes simply because they exert a bit of effort when they drum.

Guys like Kenny Aronoff and his ilk, sure. But is anyone really gonna try and tell me a guy like Gene Hoglan is an athlete simply because he plays hard?

You are describing me to a tee, Pocket. Terribly out-of-shape, but can drum like a mo-fo.

Anything is better than nothing at all, Grunts, and if this will get some fat kids away from the TV/computer, then why not? Get those fatty's to play drums. Haha...
 
You are describing me to a tee, Pocket. Terribly out-of-shape, but can drum like a mo-fo.

Ha. It goes without saying that I'm unlikely to be called up to parade around in the latest underwear catalogue myself, Zeph.

As one of my good mates says......well, round is a shape isn't it?

Get those fatty's to play drums. Haha...

You could advertise it on late night infomercials.....yet another way to shed those pounds whilst sitting on your arse.......at least it's a damn sight more fun than the latest ab gadget rip-off.
 
it depends on the style of drumming to, right? I've never seen a wedding band drummer gasping for air in between sets...
 
who knows what may become of this. We may see the day come where the nike and addidis logos are front and center on bass drum heads or bow flex starts building drum kits.
We could see Alex Van Halen on the cover of sports Illustrated or Tommy Lee on a box of Wheaties.

All kidding aside, there are some rock drummers that are world class athletes, they play long and they play hard. They are driven, well conditioned individuals and are addicted to playing there ass off.
 
It depends on how you class an athlete. Saying you drum.for hours does not mean you can play football for 90 mins but, it makes you no less an 'athlete' I suppose 'cos as fit as a football player might be I'd wager they could not makebit half-way through a song with double kicks without cramping up and giving in.

And also hitting like a complete girl after 4 bars...

Same with hands.

So to that extent, drummers train their bodies to a higher level on those things. Just as you would not say a bodybuilder was any less an athlete 'cos he couldn't sprint for very long.
All physically trained in different ways.

I've done a hell of alot of bodybuilding in my time and still come away from the drums like a shakey mongrel after a long session!
 
No way.

Have you seen what happens to F1 drivers in a race? It's pretty much what's going on with Burke.
Compared to an athlete with cardio fitness who produces much higher wattage from working muscles - drumming just doesn't cut it. If so, most of us would have ripping huge arms from hours and years of practice and gigging.
 
And just because Clem Burke had a heart rate of 140-150 up to 190 playing those songs, that doesn't mean everyone's heart rate will be the same given the same music at the same volume. If someone's technique is not particularly efficient, that person will burn more than say a Vinnie, who (I'm guessing) operates much closer to a peak efficiency rate than say a Travis Barker.

I don't think drummers and pro athletes can be compared. I sweat, but I don't get anywhere near the tired I get after I run 5 miles. In fact the goal is to be able to kill it on the drums and have energy left over to spare. It all comes down to how much energy is expended for each hit. That's a widely variable thing. You just can't draw conclusions from one drummers results.

IMO a lot of drummers technique is wasteful of energy. I'd like to see the same test done on Vinnie. Someone who swings from the shoulders and elbows will use (just guessing) 3x more energy than the guy whose arms remain relatively stationary but who opens his hands to generate velocity. In my experience, it's better to have a technique that is as energy efficient as possible so as to have loads of headroom and stamina. If you're operating at 99% capacity all the time, well that's NOT the goal. It's definitely a "work smarter not harder" type of situation.
 
so you want to compare Bun E. Carlos to Calvin Johnson ?

ok
 
so you want to compare Bun E. Carlos to Calvin Johnson ?

ok

Not sure what you're implying Ant. I'm saying a guy with a more efficient technique will be able to play a given piece at a given volume and use less energy, than the person whose technique is not as efficient, that's all.
 
Not sure what you're implying Ant. I'm saying a guy with a more efficient technique will be able to play a given piece at a given volume and use less energy, than the person whose technique is not as efficient, that's all.

honestly didn't even read your post uncle Lar....I was just responding to the thread title and the title of the article
 
Some of the things that some drummers do are athletic in nature. Especially the double bass oriented stuff. Thomas Lang and Pridgeon come to mind.

But to go to another end and call them athletes because Clem Burke can't play a Blondie show without almost popping a rivet is incorrect. As others have stated before me on this thread, who knows what kind of shape or skill level he is at?

So are we mathematicians as well because we can figure out a polyrhythm or superimpose 3/8 over 4/4?
 
so you want to compare Bun E. Carlos to Calvin Johnson ?

ok

Calvin is a supreme athlete, so that is not a fair comparison. Not really. Like I was saying, when I am doing cover band stuff with the standard 4/4 rock songs, I barely even break a sweat, so I wouldn't consider that being very athletic, even though we did play a Blondie song (joke). But the band I'm in now takes a lot of energy out of me, and at the end of the night I feel like I've had a really good workout. I know what a good workout feels like because I did weight lifting for years and I've walked up plenty of steep hills.

The other drummer in my band (who is much thinner and younger), doesn't even show up to practice half the time because he says he simply doesn't have the energy to play it (he has Lyme disease). I don't know what Lyme disease feels like, so I have to take him at his word.
 
Back
Top