When I was in high school, there was an ongoing debate about whether or not marching band counts as a sport. Personally, I think it definitely does; walking with proper form while carrying any kind of weight is physically challenging enough, but doing the breath work required for brass and woodwinds WHILE marching and carrying weights? It definitely takes more physical exertion than golf, and no one questions if that’s a sport!

A lot of create endeavors don’t involve that much physical effort. I’m certainly not breaking a sweat as I sit here typing. That being said, no matter what you’re doing, you should still warm up!

If you’re just starting to introduce structure to your practices, you might wonder why you need to warm up before embarking on a task. Since I’m primarily a pianist, I’m going to explain it through the lens of practicing an instrument. Try thinking about how it might relate to your personal creativity!

I see warming up is a “grace period” when practicing. I like to play something simple and repetitive. Scales and arpeggios are common musical warm-ups for that reason. I also like Hanon and Czerny.

The goal is to get your fingers comfortable moving—not to play it perfectly! You’re going to miss notes, and it won’t sound great, but this is the time to really focus on how good it feels to move your fingers, and be grateful for the ability to engage in your art from a physical sense.

Warming up can feel like meditation; your mind can wander, but ultimately, you’ll return to the familiar motion of your fingers like breathing. It’s grounding before you move onto what comes next—whether that’s a difficult piece you’re working on, or if you decide (after giving yourself a chance to be relaxed and have fun) that you’d rather not do anything more serious today, that’s alright! Warming up just helps us remember that the act of creation is just as fun as experiencing the product of our labor.

It can be hard to motivate yourself to practice at all, let alone warm up. But the less you touch the keys (pick up the pencil, put on your slippers, go to the library), the less confidence you’ll feel in your drive and ability to do what you love!

Right now, I may be a little rustier than I’d like, but I always know the first thing I’ll do when I practice is play some simple, repetitive exercises to loosen up. Most of the time, warming up is all it takes to break through to creative confidence, getting into a nice groove for the rest of practice where I’ll be enjoying myself even when things get difficult.

Marching bands train in a large, structured musical environment, meaning that the community as a whole holds each other to a high standard that can only be met by warming up. Many creatives aren’t set up like that, and the best we can have is our own standard. If you aren’t sure where your standard is, or where to begin, don’t let that keep you from action—just start with a warm-up.