cool stuff guys, in the next couple of days we should start a thread of our progress maybe start excercising together he he. Im gonna start with   4 reps of 20 sit ups 3 reps of 20 push ups and some small weights. 30 pulls 2 reps. Is that too much you think.

Johno

I've personally found body weight exercises/calisthenics to be the best way to stay fit for drumming. If I lift weights too heavy (like benching, squats, etc.) I'm just too sore for actually playing!

I'm actually looking into a Total Gym to get in a Chuck Norris style workout! Seems like it might be a great piece of equipment for us drummers as it seems easy on the joints...

When I was playing 5 nights a week, plus roofing days I was in excellent shape. Carrying 80 pound bundles up a ladder helped my legs. Swinging a hammer helped my arms. But I never did have a large build or big arms. I found that I had to knock off work a bit early before going to the gig. Shower, get my muscles relaxed, then do a little stretching. If I went to the gig too tired or too tight it worked against me. But if I just stayed loose, then I was ready to rock. I spent some time lifting weights, and quit because it worked against me. Being slim or skinny is something I prefer for playing drums. Being fat or too tight is the worst in my case. Been down that road....I had a friend who lifted weights, had huge arms, and 20 years younger. He made such a big deal of having huge muscles that he became a mental wreck. Took steroids, then killed himself.   

Wow... that's pretty tragic. Sorry to hear that.

I was kind of gym rat a few years back, and it hurt my flexibility behind the kit.

I don't blame the weights, however. 
I didn't do much cardio, because I was trying to get 'big', and I didn't take the time to stretch.  Since then I've started doing yoga and light weights and it works much better for me. 

Like I said, though, if you don't neglect cardio and you stretch properly, it probably wouldn't hinder you too much.   

Doesn't seem like there's enough time in the day to do everything, and I've found my exercise time and my drumming time tend to have an inverse relationship: when one grows more frequent, the other grows more infrequent.  It a yearly back and forth for me.

Ha! Yeah, I saw you're in Dallas. Do you study his martial arts style?

That is all really awesome! I know that he incorporates a lot of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu into his stuff as well...

And yeah, you do have a tough decision! I always just say to follow your heart... 

I trained when I was a kid in Karate and then Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do in high school, but since I've been pursuing drumming as a career, I've had to go easy... I injured my right wrist pretty badly while sparring, which was a bit scary. So more training will have to wait until it's not so much of a liability. The Bruce Lee stuff is pretty intense, and I know that Mr. Norris probably knows that first hand!

But I sure do miss training...