By: Anthony Campo
The purpose of many fitness articles is to help individuals improve themselves in the best way possible. The majority of my writing is centered on many of the same fundamental principles of exercise and nutritional science. These fundamentals are what will yield that greatest amount of success therefore the greatest amount of time should be spent to understand them. I have found that the best way to truly learn these concepts is to relate the ideas to other areas you already know, and then apply them to your daily life. I find the application most intriguing when the basic concepts of exercise and nutritional science can be applied outside the box of traditional training.
Around 1 year ago I began training an Opera Singer. Like many others, her goals were to get lean, increase level of fitness, and improve her back issues. As we began to learn all of the fundamentals of proper training we began to draw many connections between training in the gym and training for singing. The correlations between breathing patterns to optimize performance in lifting and singing became quite evident. We began to share more information with each other and realized just how much lifters and opera singers could learn from one another.
The more links your can draw between various information, the better opportunity you have to learn and become more proficient at the material. This is especially true when trying to improve motor skills such as lifting or singing. Many individuals would not think of singing as a motor skill; however top level singers have mastery control over all of the muscles that go into vocals. The same could be said for the neuro-muscular coordination and control that goes into mastering the movement patters associated with lifting.
As we continued to draw correlations between lifting and singing we began apply the things we learned. We both were able to take our unique skills to a whole other level by integrating the principles we discussed. By doing this she was not only able to reach her fitness goals, but improve her singing as well. In addition I was able to take what she taught me and apply it to improve my lifting.
Anyone who is truly looking to improve themselves in a specific area should branch out in order to maximize their potential for success. The individuals that are the best at what they do all draw from other disciplines in order to master their skill.