Why exercise is good for your voice

I’m gonna say something crazy: If you’re a vocalist you should be exercising.

Actually let me expand the scope of that…

If you’re anyone who wants to have a stronger, healthier voice you should be exercising.

Now this may not sound very controversial to you (you’re sitting over there going “Uh huh Elissa, thanks, DUH!”) but the voice-fitness connection is actually a fairly new area of research. Until recently there were a lot of people who didn’t acknowledge that the voice and the body were connected!

At Voice Body Connection, of course that’s the premise that we work from. But it’s always very important to revisit why keeping our body limber and healthy is important for our voice:

What is the human voice? It’s sound production created by power from the respiratory system, vibration of the vocal folds, and shaping in the vocal tract. In order to produce sound effectively in the human body, all elements of the vocal mechanism (which is the whole body really, but certainly from the low abdominals upward) must be able to move freely and easily. In order to have voice, we must have movement.

So in order to have a healthy voice, it’s crucial to make movement a part of your routine. What to do? Check out this awesome infographic from my friends over at Take Lessons and choose a form of exercise that feels right for you!