Will weightlifting mess up my voice?
August 27, 2015 10:55 AM Subscribe
I sing. I also have started lifting moderately heavy weights fairly recently. Will the latter mess up the former? Details inside.
I've tried to do research on this question (i.e., I've Googled it, mostly), but I find so much conflicting information that I don't feel like I'm getting a really clear answer. Some of the information I found says that weightlifting is fine for singers as long as you breathe properly while you're actually doing a lift. Some of the information says basically, no way, you're insane to lift weights if you want to do classical singing because it builds too much pressure and tension in the neck and throat, which then makes the singing apparatus too tight. I did find one actual book on voice that said it's beneficial for singers to do strength training, but it then goes on to talk about lifting light weights for something like 15 minutes. I'm assuming they're talking about stuff like 5-pound dumbbells. I'm way beyond that in my lifting (and it sure looks like baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes is too).
My voice teacher says she doesn't have a problem with it as long as I don't build up the muscles in my neck. However, the other day in the gym I lifted a bit heavier than I usually do, and when I went to practice last night, I felt like I was having some vocal difficulty that I hadn't been having before. I was also having some other physical stuff going on yesterday that could have been causing the problems, so it could just be completely unrelated to weightlifting, but of course I'm not sure. (Teacher is away on vacation for the next two weeks so I can't just ask her.)
I guess I could stick to lower body stuff like squats and dead lifts and so forth, but all other things being equal, I'd rather not if it's not necessary. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks, everybody!
I've tried to do research on this question (i.e., I've Googled it, mostly), but I find so much conflicting information that I don't feel like I'm getting a really clear answer. Some of the information I found says that weightlifting is fine for singers as long as you breathe properly while you're actually doing a lift. Some of the information says basically, no way, you're insane to lift weights if you want to do classical singing because it builds too much pressure and tension in the neck and throat, which then makes the singing apparatus too tight. I did find one actual book on voice that said it's beneficial for singers to do strength training, but it then goes on to talk about lifting light weights for something like 15 minutes. I'm assuming they're talking about stuff like 5-pound dumbbells. I'm way beyond that in my lifting (and it sure looks like baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes is too).
My voice teacher says she doesn't have a problem with it as long as I don't build up the muscles in my neck. However, the other day in the gym I lifted a bit heavier than I usually do, and when I went to practice last night, I felt like I was having some vocal difficulty that I hadn't been having before. I was also having some other physical stuff going on yesterday that could have been causing the problems, so it could just be completely unrelated to weightlifting, but of course I'm not sure. (Teacher is away on vacation for the next two weeks so I can't just ask her.)
I guess I could stick to lower body stuff like squats and dead lifts and so forth, but all other things being equal, I'd rather not if it's not necessary. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks, everybody!
So I just called my voice teacher and asked this question.
His response? "You'll be a better singer in shape and lifting weights. I lift weights. It will not adversely affect your voice."
Now...one thing he DID mention in passing...the voice continues to develop and mature long past physical puberty in men...well into the mid-30s. So, depending on your age, your voice is going to alter and change some over time, regardless of the physical activity.
posted by Thistledown at 12:41 PM on August 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
His response? "You'll be a better singer in shape and lifting weights. I lift weights. It will not adversely affect your voice."
Now...one thing he DID mention in passing...the voice continues to develop and mature long past physical puberty in men...well into the mid-30s. So, depending on your age, your voice is going to alter and change some over time, regardless of the physical activity.
posted by Thistledown at 12:41 PM on August 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Bench pressing is widely acknowledged to require purchasing all new dress shirts, because of the musculature that it builds up in the neck. So I wouldn't necessarily assume that it will have no effect on one's voice.
posted by wnissen at 12:59 PM on August 27, 2015
posted by wnissen at 12:59 PM on August 27, 2015
Another classically-trained singer here. The weight lifting and associated breathing should only benefit your singing, and shouldn't have an adverse effect on your voice itself. I wouldn't necessarily lift right before a performance, but I agree with thistledown's teacher about being a better singer in shape and lifting weights. Keep it up!
posted by inky_the_pinky at 8:35 PM on August 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by inky_the_pinky at 8:35 PM on August 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Strength training is sadly seen as unusual and potentially damaging for women. However, I'm guessing that there are probably lots of male singers* who lift. They seem to manage okay. So I think you likely will be too.
*I also googled [Justin Timberlake shirtless] but .. never mind.
posted by bunderful at 8:43 PM on August 27, 2015
*I also googled [Justin Timberlake shirtless] but .. never mind.
posted by bunderful at 8:43 PM on August 27, 2015
Classical singer and sometimes voice teacher here. I've never done any kind of study of the male voice and neck muscles. But I do have two friends who are tenors and do some pretty heavy lifting. It doesn't seem to have affected their voices at all. Anecdata, IANYT, etc.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:21 PM on August 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:21 PM on August 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
Most people seem to be assuming holborne is male for some reason. I'm not sure how much it affects the answers, but y'all might be wrong.
posted by ryanrs at 6:25 AM on August 28, 2015
posted by ryanrs at 6:25 AM on August 28, 2015
Response by poster: Oh, I guess I should have actually mentioned that -- I'm a woman.
posted by holborne at 8:03 AM on August 28, 2015
posted by holborne at 8:03 AM on August 28, 2015
The main danger to the voice instrument from weight training is the Valsalva maneuver. This is something the body naturally wants to do in order to stabilize the ribcage during certain muscular lifting tasks. It is possible to resist doing it, but you should be mindful of it and remember always to breathe freely when lifting weights. You might also consider a "superslow" weight training regimen, which not only should help eliminate any change of performing the Valsalva maneuver but will reduce the risk of injury, etc.
The other issue is that weight training can, for some people and depending on the type and manner of training, result in habitually increased muscular tension overall as well as reduced flexibility. Both these things are not so great for singing. On the other hand, I assume you're not trying to lift heavy weight and grow big muscles. Still, some stretching afterwards would not go amiss.
As for the difficulty you had in practicing after lifting weights, I assume you're far enough into your training that you understand that a million little things can conspire to make singing more or less difficult on a day-to-day basis. That's just how it is. That said, exercise can certainly have an effect. Personally, I have never liked singing in the hours after I've done a lot of hard breathing (e.g., from running, lifting weights, whatever). YMMV.
posted by slkinsey at 10:09 AM on August 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
The other issue is that weight training can, for some people and depending on the type and manner of training, result in habitually increased muscular tension overall as well as reduced flexibility. Both these things are not so great for singing. On the other hand, I assume you're not trying to lift heavy weight and grow big muscles. Still, some stretching afterwards would not go amiss.
As for the difficulty you had in practicing after lifting weights, I assume you're far enough into your training that you understand that a million little things can conspire to make singing more or less difficult on a day-to-day basis. That's just how it is. That said, exercise can certainly have an effect. Personally, I have never liked singing in the hours after I've done a lot of hard breathing (e.g., from running, lifting weights, whatever). YMMV.
posted by slkinsey at 10:09 AM on August 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
To be clear - I am not assuming the OP is male. I checked her profile before responding.
I am assuming - safely, I believe - that if lifting does not harm a male singer's performance, it will not harm a female singer's performance. And that people who are concerned about the OP lifting are unconsciously factoring in her gender and then having concerns they would not have for a male singer.
I am an amateur singer with classical training. I have experienced no ill effects from lifting.
posted by bunderful at 11:34 AM on August 28, 2015
I am assuming - safely, I believe - that if lifting does not harm a male singer's performance, it will not harm a female singer's performance. And that people who are concerned about the OP lifting are unconsciously factoring in her gender and then having concerns they would not have for a male singer.
I am an amateur singer with classical training. I have experienced no ill effects from lifting.
posted by bunderful at 11:34 AM on August 28, 2015
FWIW, there are most certainly examples of singers -- usually baritones -- who got big into weight training and subsequently developed tones lacking in range, flexibility and opulence. They are often the sort who ended up doing a lot of B+ level Escamillos and a few other roles where companies are willing to trade these things for a singer who cuts a fine figure in the costume. Whether or not any of this was due to the weight training is impossible to say, of course. But it strikes me as an awful coincidence that there are a number of singers with extensively muscular bodies who also have muscular voices. On the other hand, there are also a number of singers who clearly do weight training and who have voices that are in great shape. So, while I would say the evidence suggests that weight training can have a deleterious effect on the voice instrument and singing, the evidence also suggest that it doesn't have to have that effect.
It is less easy to have much to say about what effect weight training may have on women singers. On the one hand, generally speaking female singers aren't doing the heavy weight/low rep muscle building kind of weight training that the male singers are doing (having huge biceps wouldn't exactly be an advantage for a soprano who aspires to sing Violetta). I don't know what holborne is doing, but female singers are more likely to be doing light weight/high rep muscle toning kind of weight training. This sort of training has less danger from the Valsalva maneuver, developing systemic muscular tension, etc. On the other hand, while I have known any number of female classical singers with "workout bodies," none of them has had a particularly impressive operatic voice. Could be 100% coincidence, of course.
One major difference between male and female singers is that due to differences in the vocal mechanism male and female singers employ throughout the majority of their singing ranges, male singing is more muscular than female singing on a physiological basis. Whether that makes male singers more or less susceptible to problems that might potentially arise as a result of weight training, I couldn't say.
posted by slkinsey at 11:56 AM on August 28, 2015
It is less easy to have much to say about what effect weight training may have on women singers. On the one hand, generally speaking female singers aren't doing the heavy weight/low rep muscle building kind of weight training that the male singers are doing (having huge biceps wouldn't exactly be an advantage for a soprano who aspires to sing Violetta). I don't know what holborne is doing, but female singers are more likely to be doing light weight/high rep muscle toning kind of weight training. This sort of training has less danger from the Valsalva maneuver, developing systemic muscular tension, etc. On the other hand, while I have known any number of female classical singers with "workout bodies," none of them has had a particularly impressive operatic voice. Could be 100% coincidence, of course.
One major difference between male and female singers is that due to differences in the vocal mechanism male and female singers employ throughout the majority of their singing ranges, male singing is more muscular than female singing on a physiological basis. Whether that makes male singers more or less susceptible to problems that might potentially arise as a result of weight training, I couldn't say.
posted by slkinsey at 11:56 AM on August 28, 2015
Response by poster: Sorry, not wanting to threadsit, but just to be a little more clear in case it helps:
I don't do what I guess you'd call light weight/high rep, which I envision as using, say, an overhead press using 5-lb dumbbells to do four sets of 10 reps. I lift what would probably be considered moderately heavy for a woman, although I'm lifting way less than the buff guys I see in the weight room. For example, when I do an overhead press, I use 15-lb dumbbells to do three sets of 8 reps. I don't think anyone would consider that extremely heavy, but it's more than I tend to see most of the women in the gym lifting, or at least I think it is. (No disrespect to the other women in the weight room, most of whom are likely way fitter than I am.)
posted by holborne at 12:24 PM on August 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
I don't do what I guess you'd call light weight/high rep, which I envision as using, say, an overhead press using 5-lb dumbbells to do four sets of 10 reps. I lift what would probably be considered moderately heavy for a woman, although I'm lifting way less than the buff guys I see in the weight room. For example, when I do an overhead press, I use 15-lb dumbbells to do three sets of 8 reps. I don't think anyone would consider that extremely heavy, but it's more than I tend to see most of the women in the gym lifting, or at least I think it is. (No disrespect to the other women in the weight room, most of whom are likely way fitter than I am.)
posted by holborne at 12:24 PM on August 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
You have nothing to worry about. There are only a few scenarios that could possibly affect your voice:
1. You are impacting weights onto your chest. For example, some people bounce/drop bars and dumbbells off of their rib cage when doing reps or finishing a set.
2. You are holding your breath while performing a lift.
3. You are grunting or yelling during lifts.
Furthermore, the dumbbell routines you have described tend to be (we hope) steady, lower power movements. If you are lifting correctly, breathing correctly, and using weight appropriate to your current strength level (which you are by the sounds of it), you will be just fine.
posted by incolorinred at 10:54 PM on August 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
1. You are impacting weights onto your chest. For example, some people bounce/drop bars and dumbbells off of their rib cage when doing reps or finishing a set.
2. You are holding your breath while performing a lift.
3. You are grunting or yelling during lifts.
Furthermore, the dumbbell routines you have described tend to be (we hope) steady, lower power movements. If you are lifting correctly, breathing correctly, and using weight appropriate to your current strength level (which you are by the sounds of it), you will be just fine.
posted by incolorinred at 10:54 PM on August 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
When I used to work in voice therapy, the sports-related voice injuries I saw were instructors who shouted over music and people who grunted while lifting weights, especially when combined with a head forward posture. I hope that (as a singer) you've got the posture sorted already. I don't know of anything else that would make lifting weights likely to harm your voice.
(Incidentally, when I was doing a lot of martial arts, that had a hugely negative impact on my voice because they encouraged you to shout. Don't do that!)
posted by kadia_a at 2:35 PM on August 31, 2015
(Incidentally, when I was doing a lot of martial arts, that had a hugely negative impact on my voice because they encouraged you to shout. Don't do that!)
posted by kadia_a at 2:35 PM on August 31, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
I would actually be really surprised to find out that any sort of lifting affected your neck and throat muscles enough to alter your voice. I would be completely amazed if lifting did not alter your diaphragm and breath control.
posted by DGStieber at 11:54 AM on August 27, 2015 [1 favorite]