How to Work Out Like a Rock Star

Contributor

By Joe Rivera
eHow Contributing Writer

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(12 Ratings)

Adam Duritz on stage after a grueling workout with yours truly.

For years—when I heard the hard-luck stories of rock stars—I had absolutely no sympathy. As far as I was concerned, their lives were a walk in the park. How hard could their lives possibly be? Their music was on the radio, they had adoring fans all over the world, they had more money than they could spend, lived in expensive houses, drove fancy cars, ate at the best restaurants, traveled all over the world, stayed at the best hotels--and all this for doing what they loved—playing music.

Like most of us, it never entered my mind what it took to get where they were. Until I started working with Adam Duritz of "Counting Crows"—I never imagined the kind of sacrifice it took to lead that type of life. It wasn't until I went on the road to train the whole band that I got a hint of how challenging their lives truly were and how hard these guys were willing to work.

The pace of a tour can be unfathomably grueling and making the time to get in workouts can be a challenge. However, consistency is the key to getting results—and these guys were no exception to that rule.

Here are some tips that I used with the band that may help you get more effective workouts and help you train like a rock star.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Common Sense
Focus
Determination
Strong Will

Step 1

Work out first thing in the morning when you wake. As an artist, things can come up all day at the very last minute that you can't even predict—the same is true for most of us. These things can easily get in the way of you getting in a workout—so get it over with first thing before the day even starts—and you won't miss one.
Step 2

Train with focus and purpose. One thing that most musicians who have reached rock star status have: is focus. It takes a quite a bit of concentration and discipline to be able to play an instrument or even sing at the level that some of these people do. It also takes a vision of where you want the music to take the crowd or how you want your song to be received by the audience.

When you train, be present and aware of not only what you are doing, but also what you are hoping to achieve. If you are doing a weight training exercise, focus on the muscles you are working and be cognizant of how those particular muscles feel during that movement. Also, have a clear mental picture of how you would ultimately like that part of your body to look. Visualization, believe it or not, can play a significant role in your success.
Step 3

Immergluck rocking the guitar!

Variety, variety, and more variety! I got this point across with David Immergluck, who plays guitar for "Counting Crows." He was wondering why even though he rode the stationary bike for half an hour and then did half an hour of weight training every day, his body was not changing. He couldn't get why he was doing the same things over and over the same way, but not seeing change. When I asked him, "Do you play a song the exact same way, day after day, over and over again?" He said "of course not" because that would not challenge him as an artist, help him grow or evolve and would lead to stagnation—then it hit him.
Just like with music, if you want to make change, evolve, grow, get better, however you prefer phrasing it—you can't expect a new result if you are always doing the same steps.

For weight training, change up and vary your workouts. Constantly change the exercises, the repetitions, the weight, the rest in between sets, the intensity, even the duration of the workout.

For cardio, change the mode of cardio. If you do the treadmill or run outside, change it up with stair-climbing, hiking or the eliptical machine from time to time. Take a boxing class or some other high-intensity class that is out of your normal routine.

The point is that variety will help keep you motivated, challenged and help shock your body into getting results more quickly.