Take Care of YOU during Marching Season - 5 Tips for Healthy Band Directors

With the Marching Season starting up it's easy for your focus on the band and the program to cause you to lose sight of your own personal care. With snack breaks, pizza nights, band cookouts, those amazing game-day & competition meals prepared by the boosters, it's easy to put personal heath on the back burner.

Here are some tips on staying healthy during the marching season:

TIP #1 - Stay Hydrated

This one seems like a no-brainer, but don't forget to have your water bottle with you at all time. Especially at the end of summer, when you are outdoors for long hours. Make sure you follow your own advice for the band and "Drink LOTS of Water!"

TIP #2 - Move Around

How many steps have you gotten in today? Don't stay on the tower the whole time. Get down and walk through the formations. Not only will this help you get your steps in for the day, it helps build relationship with the band!

TIP #3 - Keep Up Your Workout Routine

Finding time to get to the gym is tough. ESPECIALLY during marching season. Be sure to carve time into your schedule for your personal workout routine (whether at home or at the gym). Plan to wake up a little earlier or go right after rehearsal. Whatever works best for you - make sure you don't lose the momentum you've started.

Top Leadership Coaches encourage us to map out our schedule weekly. For the past few years I've been using the Ziglar Performance Planner to set long-term & short-term goals. Each week I set my schedule following their formula and include my school obligations along with specific times for family/personal time, recreation (a lot less of this during marching season - but still find time) and my health routine (gym).

The Performance Planner has been a game changer for me!

TIP #4 - Keep Track of What You Eat

It's easy to raid the fruit snacks & granola bars. Keeping track of what you eat will help you say no when you need to. It will also help you know when you need to eat a little more. Being outside and moving around during band camp, you're going to be burning energy than you may have before. Good, balanced nutrition is important.

Give your body what it needs to be successful and not too much to weigh you down.

TIP #5 - Be Sure to Make Time for You and Your Family

Don't lose sight of the truly important things in life!

If you don't intentionally make something a priority, it won't be. As I mentioned in Tip #2, being intentional about our time and mapping it out before the week begins not only gives us focus and direction for the goals we set, but also keeps our priorities in check.

Schedule time for your family. Schedule time for you. Schedule time for your spiritual growth.

When we are specific with our goals and intentional with our schedule we can truly experience Eudaimonia.