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couldn't be arsed reading that spiderman, sorry but you had a reply though. I bet you got all excited when you noticed 1 reply.

Heidi Ho!!!!

But enough about her.
I'd say it depends on the gig, actually.
The deciding factor would be how hard and how fast one is required to play on a sustained basis.

The drummer on a speed metal gig, take Slayer or Motorhead for example, he's workin'.
On the other hand, if one were playing with say, Oscar Peterson, the demand is much more focussed on taste and finesse rather than sheer brute strength.

You won't see many (if any at all) tubby drummers in rock-n-roll, but also because of other factors that may or may not be in the picture, I'd suspect. (Plug in your own rock-n-roll stereotype here.) One is that a fat guy in the band is bad for business. Not too many chicks are attracted to grazers, y'know. Another is that it's damn near impossible to eat right on the road.

On the other hand once again, I drank (what was for me, anyway) copious amounts of beer when I was on tour in Europe but managed to escape sans the dreaded "Milwaukee Tumor". In fact, I lost 30 pounds last time I was over there. Besides performing nightly at what I'd call , "romulan stun" volumes, I'm also told that the preservatives in american beer are absent in their european counterparts. (That may also explain the lack of hangovers that I used to get when I still drank in the States.)

So there it is, from the perspective of a bloke whose spent almost 40 years of being too stupid to quit drumming.

I haven't played as many gigs as Ivan, but I do agree (in the most part) with what he has to say.

I class myself as an amateur & unfit at that, and find that I have to work really hard to build myself up to play for gigs longer than 1 1/2 hours. Rehearsals can actually be quite taxing, when you are working for 8 hours - if you don't much time during it when you can relax.

I think it's just as demanding mentally as well as physically -and either way, it will raise the heart rates and pressures.

My heart rate goes through the roof if I'm approaching a difficult song, or get a lapse in memory.

My stamina levels have increased, and I've also been smoke free for nearly a year now - and feel better for it! I don't drink alcohol either (I haven't for a long time).

Diet is all important, and I do like my meat & pasta - plenty of protein and carbs!

I also like working my weak side. I'm predominantly right handed - so I play some songs with left lead - or ride with the left hand, or use left foot lead on the double pedals - though I am left footed! Again, it's mentally taxing as well as physically. I'd listen and play to stuff I'd normally play right handed and "rework it".

I do love drumming because it is a great aerobic activity, and I enjoy just doing it!

but - there are some bloody good drummers who don't necessarily "look" fit... Micheal Bland, Abe Laboriel Jr., Curt Bisquera, Bernard Purdie... and I've seen some heavy metal players that look like if they stop, they'll just explode there and then! (Cue Spinal Tap)

OK that might be true of some drummers, but check out Joe Morello here... He looks like he's almost asleep



but I must say that the surf band I am playing in at the moment keeps me fairly busy, virtually all 160BPM and all played on 1/8 notes... I do sweat a bit. As for my other band, I do move around more than I need to merely for effect though, when I'm knackered and play normally my band think something is up

But it is the teaching that lets the fitness side down... I spend hours just sitting and listening

FIT drummers........................Dave Grohl.......................drool!!
And he plays a mean guitar too!!

Dave Grohl? Look at Taylor Hawkins!!!

And - Stewart Copeland looks bloody well for his age as well!

Mind you, our old drummer has liver disease.