Artist Health On the Road
Mango Music Management understands that personal health is an important part of personal management and development. Personal health and fitness can have either a positive or negative effect on performance.
Maintaining a general state of good physical health can require a great amount of effort. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can become a way of life naturally, but usually requires planning, discipline, and focus. In its simplest terms, physical fitness is as important to our physical well being as the air we breathe, as it gives us the ability to perform to our full potential. Being physically fit also allows people to combat the many stresses of life, which are present regardless of age or gender.
For artists that tour heavily, traveling around the world for months at a time can be very taxing on the body. Changing time zones frequently can negatively affect eating habits, workout objectives, sleep patterns, and other important aspects related to balance in life. “Food is a big challenge when touring,” says Mango’s Kevin Jackson. “People tend to struggle with the irregular schedules and lack of dietary consistency. It’s particularly challenging when touring in foreign countries”.
Touring and life on the road presents its own set of unique issues and challenges to be managed.
Life on the road has seen its share of otherwise healthy people falling into unhealthy habits. For musicians, this can hurt their ability to hit the right notes or perform at their highest level. “Sometimes you have to get creative, like doing sprints in parking lots or working out with things you wouldn’t imagine people to workout with,” Jackson adds. “We were in Amsterdam, back stage, 5 minutes before a festival show, and the artist complained about feeling “flat” and needed to get pumped up. We had a few towels handy. I had the artist hold on to the two ends of the towel and do curls while I provided resistance. It may sound a bit strange but it worked, and after a few minutes the artist was pumped and had a solid show”.
There are many ways to attempt to combat these challenges, including the hiring of fitness trainers to accompany them on the road, nutritionists to develop eating plans, and other professionals integrating a focus on health into day to day plans. Health minded road managers can influence the health of an entire group of people based on a few simple decisions such as booking at a hotel with an onsite gym or choosing the right catering.
The one important thing to remember is that personal health is influenced by a variety of factors and daily decisions. Keeping health in mind allows people to manage it more effectively, usually resulting in better health and performance. In a highly competitive arena, the difference between running at 90% or full capacity is extremely important and can make the difference between a standard or encore level performance.
