Effects of various warm-ups on muscle activation and sound quality in violinists

Subjects will perform 5 short (<1 min) violin excerpts both before and after a randomly allocated warm-up or control protocol. Participants will only be required to complete either the intervention or control protocols once. The intervention groups are: core muscle warm-up, general cardiovascular warm-up, or on-instrument warm-up; the control protocol is a 15 minute period of rest. The core muscle warm-up consists of 15 minutes of low-impact exercises targeting the gluteals, abdominals, obliques, back, and shoulders (abdominal planks, gluteal bridges, lower body rotation, single-plane shoulder exercises), performed at a rating of perceived exertion (RPE) of 11-13. The general cardiovascular warm-up consists of a 15 minute walk at a RPE of 11-13. The participant will be required to perform 15 minutes worth of scalar warm-ups on the violin for the on-instrument warm-up. 16 electromyographic (EMG) electrodes will be attached throughout the performance of the excerpts and warm-ups to the left & right upper trapezius, left & right erector spinae, left & right lower abdominals, left & right upper abdominals, right pectoralis major, right anterior deltoid, right biceps brachii, right triceps brachii, right & left forearm flexors, and right & left forearm extensors. Questionnaires regarding current warm-up habits and pain levels, as well as any changes in pain levels resulting from the warm-up interventions, will be administered before and after the performance of the warm-ups and excerpts. Both the pre- and post-warm-up performances of the excerpts will be audio recorded and independently and anonymously critiqued by selected Sydney Conservatorium of Music faculty and/or postgraduate students for comparative sound quality.