Unforseen side effect...

In my practicing this week, I became acutely aware of a wobble in the base of my tongue which was causing a wobble in my singing. Alarmed and unsure how it got that way, I started doing some reading on the subject on how to work it out. Then, in my lesson today, I told my voice teacher about it. She asked about my weightlifting...

Apparently, weightlifting that stresses the neck and shoulders is not healthy for the voice because of the tension it creates in the neck. At a voice symposium once, she saw a body builder with huge muscles, and his speaking voice was very strained. The muscles in his neck had gotten so big that they put enormous pressure on the larynx, thus inhibiting its functionality. In my case, she advised me to cease the lifting that directly affected the neck and reduce the weight in other upper body lifting, replacing it with more reps at a more negligible weight.

I might add that I started my weightlifting under the instruction and guidance of a personal trainer, and he understands that I wanted to lose some weight, not build huge muscles. But even so, the singing voice is outside his area of expertise. And for someone like me who sings every day, honing details in my sound that most people wouldn't even notice, the effect was noticeable at a very early stage.

How very unexpected!!