You wouldn’t think that singing is similar to running a race or playing a game of basketball, but in many ways it is.

Athletes don’t normally just walk out onto the court or the track and tear into a full paced game at high speed. Before an event athletes do warm-up exercises to prepare their bodies for the strenuous exercise to come. And with singing its exactly the same. To sing at your peak and NOT do damage to your vocal chord, it is essential that you perform some warm-up singing exercises first.

Warm-up singing exercises do the equivalent of what stretching and slow jogging does for athletes – it warms up the muscles, gets them started and prepared for more strenuous activity later.

Vocal warm-up exercises gets air flowing across the vocal chords and helps to loosen up and relax the muscles in the throat area. These vocal exercises are essential for preventing fatigue and over-use injuries.

All muscles – whether they are the large hamstrings of a runner, or the tiny muscles around and in the vocal chords – tend to tighten up when not in use. They need to be gently worked initially to get them to loosen – when these muscles are warmer they become more flexible and you find that your vocal range improves dramatically.

Its a good idea to initially start your warm-up singing exercises with a general relaxation of the whole body – a “rag-doll” exercise is a nice way to begin. Stand up, bend forward from your waist, and just allow you head and arms to hang free – just like a rag doll would. Give them a little bit of a shake, and breathe deeply in and out through the nose, slowly for 3-4 deep breaths – sucking air into your lungs and achieving some calm and focus for the singing to come.

Now the next step is to do some stretching exercises to ensure you maintain correct posture alignment during your singing. Place your feet flat on the floor in a standing position, with about a 6-8 inch gap between the feet – hip width, and have your arms at your side. Now raise your arms reasonably quickly in a circular motion across your body to a point above your head. Lift yourself up onto the tips of your toes, suck in a long deep breath, as your arms are being raised.

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Next slowly exhale and lower your arms back to their original position at your side, and go back to your flat feet position. You can do this several times, making sure that you keep your chest and shoulders back once you have returned to your original position. The purpose of this singing exercise is to open up your shoulders and keep them back to prevent any slouching while singing. Having your shoulders back will open up your chest and allow more air into and out of your lungs

Perform warm-up singing exercises before you begin your singing and always remember to warm-up first before attempting a strenuous vocal workout.

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