Are you mindful of your training schedule?
Healthy performance training is essential for musicians, actors, dancers, and all creative practitioners to sustain their craft without injury or burnout.
Without this, you risk your future well-being and creativity, so if you haven’t already, it’s time to introduce some healthy techniques and habits into your day-to-day life.
In this blog, we’re exploring what this concept means for performing arts professionals, where to find healthy performance training across the UK, and how to participate in BAPAM’s upcoming expert-led events.
What Is a Healthy Performance Routine? And Why Establish One?
A healthy performance routine helps keep performing artists strong, focused, and injury-free. It’s all about things like warm-ups, posture, fitness, hydration, and rest— small habits that are easy to forget but fuel creativity and endurance.
Establishing these healthy practices can prevent burnout, boost resilience, and help you sustain lifelong creative practice.
However, consistency is key, and you’ll need to build healthy habits into your day to day routine for the best results.
Healthy Performance Training and Collective Wellbeing
Healthy performance training focuses on skills and techniques to help prevent injury and health problems and can also help you when you are recovering. This knowledge can help individuals manage creative work-related challenges.
But don’t forget that improving health and wellbeing in our sector is a collective effort. BAPAM and our partner charities, unions and organisations advocate for working conditions that support healthy practice. We are working to embed wellbeing into our creative spaces. For instance, has risk been properly assessed? Is there a culture of inclusivity and equity of access? Are participants supported to manage work demands, avoid stress and learn and embed healthy practices? While it’s important to support your own individual injury prevention and healthy practice, the industry also needs to support artist wellbeing.
Injury Prevention
Performance training habits will differ depending on your discipline. However, we’ll discuss a few common examples below.
Prevention techniques are used to avoid injury, increase well-being, and build a sustainable career.
Physical warm-ups, vocal warm-ups, postural awareness, and hydration are key to injury prevention for performers. Likewise, prioritising rest and recovery is just as crucial. Without it, burnout, fatigue, and low mood can set in.
Building healthy habits into your routine ensures stamina, resilience, and helps you achieve long-term performance success.
● Did you know that strategies for meeting the psychological demands of your rehearsal schedule, expectations, and performances can also help you avoid physical injury? Our Performance Psychology Guest Blog from Dr Anna Waters this month looks at How Performance Psychology Helps Prevent Injury.
Recovery Strategies
If you do experience ill health or injury it is important to address problems as early as possible. Your NHS GP and other NHS services are essential in diagnosing, managing and improving health problems affecting your work. If you need further specialist care, BAPAM’s free, expert clinical services help you overcome problems quickly and safely with occupation-focused guidance.
Prioritising sleep and rest, hydration, and nutrition can aid healing. You can then gradually build up to your usual performance activity.
Related: Returning to Playing and Performance for Instrumental Musicians
Don’t forget! Psychological recovery matters too. Practice mental wellbeing techniques, seek support from trusted loved ones, and adjust routines to prevent future strain.
Upcoming BAPAM Events
BAPAM is a charity that connects performing arts professionals with clinical experts and health and wellbeing services. So, we’re serious about strategic healthy performance training.
Many of our upcoming events explore the balance between professional performance and building healthy, sustainable habits. Here are the highlights:
- Looking After Your Voice: Guide to Vocal Health — February 27th
- Wellbeing Series for Actors and Stage Managers: Stress, Anxiety and Burnout — March 3rd
- How to Prioritise Self-Care When Working in Music: Physical Injuries — March 5th
- BAPAM Healthy Practice: Physical Health and Injury Prevention — March 6th
- Wellbeing Series for Actors and Stage Managers: Self-Esteem & Rejection — March 11th
- Wellbeing Series for Actors and Stage Managers: Relationships, Healthy Boundaries, & Networking — March 17th
- How to Prioritise Self-Care: Creativity and Motivation — March 19th
- Wellbeing Series for Actors and Stage Managers: Isolation, Loneliness & Socialising — March 24th
Jump to the events page here to see all upcoming events in one place.
Creating a Healthier Future
Whether you’re new to healthy performance training or already practicing it, refreshing your habits and learning the latest best practices is always valuable.
Join our upcoming events for expert insights or explore the BAPAM blog for the latest tips, news, and guides to keep you performing at your best.