Comparing the Impact of Specific Strength Training vs General Fitness Training on Professional Symphony Orchestra Musicians: A Feasibility Study

Abstract

Musculoskeletal symptoms, especially in the upper body, are frequent among professional symphony orchestra musicians. Physical exercise may relieve pain but might also interfere with playing performance. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility and effect of “specific strength training” (SST) versus “general fitness training” (GFT). METHODS: A feasibility study using randomized controlled methods. Primarily, evaluations involved self-reported impact on instrument playing and satisfaction with the interventions. Secondary evaluations included pain intensity, hand-grip strength, aerobic capacity, body mass index, and self-assessed physical fitness. A total of 23 professional symphony orchestra musicians were randomly allocated to either the SST (n=12) or GFT (n=11) groups. Participants conducted three 20-minutes exercise periods/wk at the workplace for 9 weeks. RESULTS: Evaluations of both interventions showed that approximately 50% of musicians were satisfied with the interventions and experienced a positive impact on playing, while 18% reported a slightly negative impact. From baseline to follow-up, SST showed a significant reduction in pain (26.3±22.5 to 11.4±15.2 mm), with no significant reduction for GFT (19.7±24.0 to 13.5±26.0 mm). GFT significantly improved aerobic capacity (34.1±7.9 mL/min/kg to 40.0±13.6 mL/min/kg) compared to no significant gain for SST. For GFT, a significant improvement was seen in self-reported muscle strength (5.7±1.3 to 6.5±1.8) with a tendency toward significant improvement in self-reported aerobic fitness (5.6±2.3 to 6.2±2.5). CONCLUSION: Exercise interventions have the potential to improve musicians’ working situation. For future research, muscle-strengthening exercises and aerobic fitness exercises might be combined in an intelligently designed program, which may include other relevant educational activities.

Musculoskeletal disorders and complaints in professional musicians: a systematic review of prevalence, risk factors, and clinical treatment effects

“…No statistically significant changes in MCD were found in violinists after scapula taping, in musicians participating in yoga lifestyle interventions, or in orchestra musicians attending music didactic lectures and receiving instructions for home exercises or trigger point treatment with radial shockwave therapy combined with physical therapy or specific strength training in comparison to a control group (Ackermann et al 2002a;Khalsa and Cope 2006;Khalsa et al 2009;Brandfonbrener 1997;Damian and Zalpour 2011;Nygaard Andersen et al 2017). However, two studies reported significant improvements within the treatment groups but not in the control group (Damian and Zalpour 2011;Nygaard Andersen et al 2017). Tuina application and groningen exercise therapy did produce statistically significant reductions in pain in the treatment groups compared to the control groups (de Greef et al 2003;Sousa et al 2015a, b).…”

“…Five studies explicitly included participants with complaints to investigate the effectiveness of the interventions (Sousa et al 2015a, b;Damian and Zalpour 2011;de Greef et al 2003;Steinmetz et al 2009). Six studies included both musicians with complaints and musicians without complaints and investigated the prevalence and intensity of complaints before and after the interventions (Nygaard Andersen et al 2017;Ackermann et al 2002b;Brandfonbrener 1997;Chan et al 2014;Khalsa and Cope 2006;Khalsa et al 2009) or during the interventions compared to control conditions (Ackermann et al 2002b).…”

“…Only one study (Ackermann and Adams 2003) reported an analysis or avoidance of additional treatments. Only a few studies reported an intention-to-treat-analysis or reported using all the participants in their assigned groups for the analyses (Sousa et al 2015a, b;de Greef et al 2003;Nygaard Andersen et al 2017). In four studies, the outcome measurements were not considered to be objective, reliable and validated (Brandfonbrener 1997;de Greef et al 2003;Khalsa et al 2009;Khalsa and Cope 2006).…”

Fit to Perform: A Profile of Higher Education Music Students’ Physical Fitness

“…Another source of data pertaining to musicians' physical fitness can be found in studies examining the impact of physical activity and exercise on reactivity to psychosocial stress (Wasley et al, 2012) or for rehabilitation purposes (Chan et al, 2000(Chan et al, , 2013b(Chan et al, , 2014Ackermann et al, 2002;Kava et al, 2010;Andersen et al, 2017). For example, in a study examining the impact of an exercise program on stress reactivity with 46 conservatoire music students (mean age = 21 years), Wasley et al (2012) reported healthy body mass index (BMI) and average aerobic fitness (VO 2max ) and found that fitter individuals experienced lower anxiety after performing.…”

Physical Activity as Cause and Cure of Muscular Pain: Evidence of Underlying Mechanisms

“…The most consistent finding was the decrease in neck/shoulder pain among office workers (2,3,5,7,12,22–24,32,64), dentists (29), musicians (10), and industrial technicians [(40,41) (95)]. This effect was present with both strength and aerobic training and was not dependent on how the 1 hr of exercise training was distributed over the work days (22).…”