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Fueling Drum Corps
Fueling Drum Corps: Strategies to Enhance Performance and Prevent Injury The visual design of today’s drum corps shows places incredible physical demands on the individual performer. The rigors of both performance and rehearsal produce energy expenditure rates comparable to those of competitive athletes. Further, the incidence of repetitive use injuries appears to parallel the increase in performance demands. Deficient energy (calorie) intake contributes to both poor performance and repetitive use injuries, especially when energy expenditure is high. Energy deficiencies cause low blood glucose levels, which forces the body to breakdown muscle tissue to use as glucose energy. Decreased muscle mass leads to decreased physical performance and increased injury risk. Fueling frequently (i.e. consuming calories every 2-3 hours) is a proven strategy to avoid energy deficiencies. Frequent Fueling Regimens Research in athletes shows that frequent fueling increases muscle mass, decreases body fat and improves performance. Proper fueling before, during and after activity further maximizes training and enhances performance. Fueling before activity provides the carbohydrate energy and fluids required for physical activity. Meals consumed 2-3 hours before activity should provide mostly complex carbohydrates (e.g. starches and grains), moderate protein, minimal fat and decaffeinated fluids. Foods high in protein and fat should be avoided as both digest slowly and increase the risk of dehydration. Additional fuel and fluid should be consumed during the 30 minutes immediately before physical activity. Simple carbohydrates (i.e. simple sugars) and fluids should be consumed during this period. Sports drinks and gels, fruit and fruit juice are good sources of simple carbs. Fueling during activity provides energy to sustain activity, prevent muscle breakdown and delay fatigue. Injury rates are considerably higher when athletes are fatigued. Thus, simple carbs and fluids should be consumed at regular intervals during rehearsal. Snacks (e.g. fruit, energy bars, trail mixes, etc ... ) should be provided when rehearsals last more than 3 hours. Recovery fueling and rehydrating is essential to both repair the body and prepare it for the next day. Beverages containing a 4:1 carb to protein ratio should be consumed immediately after rehearsal and competition. While numerous recovery drinks are available, chocolate skim milk also does the trick. Frequent fueling should continue during the hours after activity and provide a balanced mixture of carbs, protein and fat. Fueling and hydrating regimens should be tested and practiced by each athlete during rehearsal. Consuming a new fuel or fluid before a performance can be as disastrous as trying an unrehearsed drill move in competition. Proper fueling and hydration regimens are essential tools in any athlete’s repertoire.
 
Conditioning Drum Corps
Conditioning Drum Corps:Strategies to Enhance Performance and Prevent Injury - Part II The physical demands of today’s drum corps require that marching members be well conditioned athletes. Repetitive use injuries, normally associated with traditional sports, is on the rise in drum corps. Fatigue is a major cause of injuries and results from excessive time in an activity, inadequate physical conditioning and insufficient caloric intake* (*see Part I, Drum Corps International, Fall 2008, p. 42). Budgeting time to properly condition athletes is a challenge faced by both touring drum corps and collegiate athletic programs, whose practice time is limited by NCAA regulations. Thus, collegiate sports programs have developed targeted conditioning exercises that are integrated into practice time. Drum corps would benefit by taking a similar approach. The design of any physical conditioning program must adhere to the fundamental concepts of overload and task specific training. Overload: Training adaptations occur when physiological systems and muscles are overloaded or stressed beyond their normal limits; i.e. their training threshold. Overload is best achieved by varying both the intensity and duration of an activity. High intensity exercises require that duration be limited, whereas duration should be extended when intensity is low. Conditioning drills should challenge athletes, but not push them to the point of fatigue. Thus, an effective training regimen will progressively challenge an athlete’s training threshold while reducing the injuries caused by fatigue. Task Specific Training: Training adaptations are specific to the physiological systems and muscles that are stressed. Any activity that stresses the heart and lungs will improve cardiovascular endurance and enhance the delivery oxygenated blood to working muscles. However, increases in muscular strength and the muscles ability to utilize oxygen are limited to the specific skeletal muscles used in an activity. While the concept of task specific training appears simple, conditioning regimens often violate this basic premise. For example, jogging is is a popular exercise that effectively improves cardiovascular endurance. However, training adaptations are confined to the specific leg muscles used in jogging. Thus, jogging fails to properly train the leg muscles used to cut and sprint on a soccer field, run and jump on a basketball court, or march and dance on a drum corps field. Assessing the physical demands of each drum corps section is essential to designing specific conditioning exercises that meet the individual needs of performing athletes.
 
Recovery and Rest
Recovery and Rest: Strategies to Enhance Performance and Prevent Injury How many injuries caused a marching member to miss a show or be lost for the season? How often has your corps left its best effort on the practice field? Has your corps ever caught fire during the week and then gave a flat performance at the big show on Saturday night? High injury rates, inconsistent and flat performances are classic symptoms of over-training. Proper recovery and sufficient rest are proven ways to enhance performance and prevent injury in well-trained athletes. Effective training programs alternate periods of intensive physical training with periods of recovery and rest to improve performance. Overuse injuries occur when tissue repair mechanisms are compromised by excess training and inadequate recovery and rest. Recovery Recovery should begin immediately after the last note of a performance or rehearsal. An active cool down facilitates recovery better than simply halting the activity. Continuing the activity at a lower intensity gradually lowers heart rate and returns blood to general circulation and away from working muscles. Competitive swimmers may spend 30+ minutes in the “swim down pool” after a single race. A period of static stretching should follow as flexibility exercises are most beneficial after activity when the muscles are warm. A recovery drink containing a 4:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio should be consumed soon after activity to initiate muscle repair. Decaffeinated fluids should be liberally consumed to rehydrate. Ice should be immediately applied to any tight, sore, inflamed or injured area. The cold showers, often common on tour, can aid recovery by fully cooling down muscles and joints. Rest Muscular and metabolic adaptations to training occur only when the body is at rest. Thus, scheduling rest days is an essential, and often overlooked, component of any training regimen. Continuing to train fatigued muscles dramatically increases injury risk and can produce negative training adaptations. Additionally, fatigue increases mental errors and wastes valuable rehearsal time. A drum corps tour has been aptly compared to marathon training. However, competitive marathoners reduce their workouts during the final month of training so that their muscles are fully recovered and fresh on race day. How often has your corps best performances occurred after a laundry day or rain-out? Proper recovery and sufficient rest are essential to maximizing rehearsal time, reducing injury and preparing for the big show. Corps will also benefit by using the fueling and training tips published in two previous Drum Corps International articles (see Fueling Drum Corps, Fall 2008 and Conditioning Drum Corps, Winter 2009).
 
The Physical Demands and Challenges of Participating in Marching Band. Presented at the 2009 American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting
The Physical Demands and Challenges of Participating in Marching Band. Gary Granata, PeformWell, LLC, New Orleans. Dan Benardot, FACSM, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA Marching band is a physical activity that has been largely overlooked in sports medicine research and practice. The visual design of today’s marching band shows, which is mainly influenced by competitive drum and bugle corps, places high physical demands on the individual performer. Repetitive use injuries, normally associated with traditional athletics, appear to be on the rise in both marching band and drum corps participants. PURPOSE: To document the physical demands, challenges and injury prevalence that results from marching band participation. METHODS: 172 (74 female, 98 male, age 15.5 + 1 yrs) members of the Avon High School Marching Band (Avon, IN) completed an anonymous questionnaire that addressed the physical demands and injuries resulting from regular participation in a marching band. The Avon Marching Band competes in Bands of America’s highest division and has won numerous national and state titles. RESULTS: Responders indicated that, as a result of either rehearsal or performance, 17.4% (N=30) indicated they were always tired, 43.6% (N=75) were frequently tired and 38.4% (N=66) were occasionally tired. They also reported that 24.4% (N=42) had experienced episodes of faintness or nausea after marching band participation, and 51.7% (N=89) experienced heat-related illness. Nearly all responders (95.3%; N=164) experienced sore or stiff muscles following marching band rehearsal or performance; 38.9% (N=67) reported an injury that was a direct result of marching band participation; 24.6% (N=44) had a previous injury that was worsened by marching band participation; and 27.6% (N=39) reported seeing a physician to diagnose a marching injury or injury worsened by participation. Marching band related injuries were the cause of missing rehearsal or performance in 7.5% (N=13) of responders. CONCLUSION: This initial survey of health and injury issues associated with marching band participation suggests an activity-related injury rate that is similar to competitive sport. As a result, more attention should be given to the development of preventative strategies that could successfully reduce fatigue and injury in marching band participants.