The Stamina of Rock Dummers
An article run by the BBC claims that tests show that playing drums for a rock band requires similar stamina to that of a professional athlete.
Blondie drummer Clem Burke was tested during a 90 minute drum session (the length of an average Blondie set), where his heart rate reached up to 190 beats per minute, or BPM, as we say in the industry. That’s getting into Slayer territory — and this is Blondie. We’ll say that the average Blondie song is a moderate rock tempo — 120 BPM. This means that Slayer (whose songs often reach a skull-mashing 240 BPM) drummer Dave Lombardo’s heart can attain almost 400 BPM.
Dr. Marcus Smith from Chichester University (sounds made up, but surprisingly it isn’t!) claims that drumming in concert burns between 40 and 600 calories an hour. Drummer Clem Burke took part in this eight-year study, and the results are promising for outreach programs for overweight children looking for an option outside of sports.
The study, conducted by the University of Gloucestershire and the University of Chichester measured Burke’s heart rate, oxygen uptake and lactic acid levels. As a result, the Gloucester campus will be seeing the world’s first “drumming laboratory” in the near future, and they plan on continuing tests on other professional drummers.
