More Research on Drumming Health Benefits
Posted on June 29th, 2009 in Drumming News | 3 Comments »
As I have written about before, the act of drumming can be beneficial to both physical and mental health. An article was just written for the Denver Post about the research of Dr. Barry Bittman, a neurologist who studies the effects of making music on stress levels and mood. Dr. Bittman’s research shows that drumming can be an enjoyable form of exercise. As the Denver Post states, ” He found that people were having so much fun playing on a drum that they did not feel that they were exercising, even though they burned an average of 270 calories in a half-hour. By engaging mind and body, the entire activity was fun and exhilarating, not tedious.”
Dr. Bittman’s study shows that drumming can have some very specific health benefits. The article states:
Bittman’s research between 2001 and 2005 shows that drumming:
• Improves the aerobic and cardiovascular system.
• Strengthens the immune system.
• Improves mood and reduces burnout from workers under stress.
• Reverses the ravages of stress at the cellular level.
• Reduces anxiety, depression and feelings of loneliness.
It is amazing that the simple act of drumming can have so many health benefits. Wouldn’t it be neat if corporations started providing drum circles as a way for their employees to relax and reduce stress levels. I know I would enjoy my work day even more if I could play in a drum circle on my lunch break. Perhaps that is just wishful thinking, but regardless, I encourage everyone to pick up a drum and beat it, tap on your desk along to music or bang out a beat on some pots and pans. It’s good for you! Visit the Denver Post to read the article in its entirety.
3 Responses
Hi there and thankyou for the post – I have most definately learned something interesting on here. I did however experience a few technical difficulties with this blog, as I had to refresh the page numerous times before it would load properly. I was wondering if your hosting service is able to cope with the bandwidth? Not that I am complaining, but slow loading times will quite often lower your ranking in the search engines and can damage your quality score if advertising with Adwords. Anyway I am adding this feed to my email and look forward to more of your informative content. Please post again sometime soon….
Have you been playing drum kits for long? I tried to learn classical guitar but was not particlularly good, then I tried to be taught keybord as well but did not like it. That is when I found the drums, no doubt the top alternative for me. Enjoying your site, thanks.
hey man, great job on this post this is super interesting how actually playing an instrument such as the drum can help your health in this many ways! who knew!