Hygiene

By Patrice Jones, CPC, CWDS

Participating in a drum corps demands not only physical prowess but also mental clarity and emotional resilience. Personal and sleep hygiene play crucial roles in maintaining overall well-being, enhancing performance, and sustaining energy levels throughout demanding rehearsals and performances. This guide offers practical tips and strategies for RCR drum corps members to prioritize personal and sleep hygiene for optimal health and performance.

Establish a Routine:

• Maintain consistent daily routines for meals, rehearsals, and sleep to regulate your body's internal clock.

• Create a bedtime routine that promotes relaxation and signals to your body that it's time to wind down.

• Set aside time for personal hygiene activities such as showering, grooming, and dental care to feel refreshed and confident.

Sleep hygiene:

• Start aiming for 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night to support physical recovery and cognitive function.

• Create a conducive sleep environment by keeping your sleeping area cool, dark, and quiet. We know you can’t adjust the temperature at the housing sites, but if it’s hot, wear clothing that is thinner and opt for a thinner blanket or no cover at all. If it’s cold in the housing site, wear clothes to bed that provide more insulation or use a blanket.

• Avoid electronic devices such as smartphones or laptops before bedtime, as the blue light can disrupt sleep patterns. Blue light even from phones that have a filter will disrupt your circadian rhythm by interfering with the body’s natural production of melatonin, the hormone that regulates your sleep-wake cycles. Cell phone use before bed can also delay your sleep onset, reduce your sleep duration, decrease the quality of your sleep, increase stress and anxiety, and impact your daytime functioning.

• Practice relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, or gentle stretching to ease into sleep more easily.

• Take a cold shower at night or end your hot shower with a couple of minutes of cold water to help signal and prepare your body for sleep. Cold water immersion activates the parasympathetic nervous system – your rest and digest side. This will induce a relaxation response and can help quiet the mind and prepare your body for restful sleep. Cold showers release endorphins, a neurotransmitter that acts as a natural painkiller and mood enhancer. This will promote feelings of well-being and relaxation making it easier to fall asleep. Research has shown that cold showers before bed improve sleep quality by promoting deeper and more restorative sleep. Lastly, cold showers improve circulation by constricting blood vessels initially before dilating upon rewarming. This enhances circulation and helps with the delivery of oxygen and nutrients throughout the body, getting a jumpstart on the recovery process that happens during sleep.

• Some days will involve less floor time (sleep on a flat surface) and more time on a bus. There are ways to ensure your bus time is as comfortable as possible. A neck pillow will help support your head, so you can get some rest and not wake up with sore muscles. Wearing compression socks on the bus will improve circulation while in a seated position for long periods of time. Bringing a bus box with salty snacks and protein will also help with hunger and nutrients for muscle recovery. As always, LMNT water is a must. Many members restrict water intake on the bus, so they don’t have to urinate as much. You should keep up your hydration especially on the bus to help with all body processes.

• Invest in a good sleep mask. Light pollution is a real barrier to restorative sleep, and this is especially bad on buses. Click here for my personal favorite which has a raised rim to eliminate pressure on your eyes.

• Noise is what keeps some people up. If that’s you, earbud or earplugs might be in order.

• Limit consumption of caffeinated beverages such as coffee, tea, and energy drinks, especially in the afternoon and evening. You won’t have access to caffeine while at rehearsal sites, but many drum corps members purchase these items to consume during free days and while at performances. It’s tempting to do this, but caffeine has effects that last for hours. Caffeine acts primarily on the central nervous system and blocks adenosine, a neurotransmitter that promotes relaxation and sleepiness. Caffeine also stimulates the adrenal glands to release adrenaline which increases the heart rate, raises blood pressure, and heightens the fight or flight response. Caffeine is a diuretic which will increase excretion of fluids from your body. Consuming caffeine on free days or performance days may bring your alertness and pleasure, but you will pay for it. We recommend you choose hydrating beverages like water with LMNT to stay hydrated and energized without disrupting your sleep cycle.

Maintain Personal Hygiene:

Shower daily to cleanse your body of sweat, dirt, and bacteria accumulated during rehearsals.

Wash your hands frequently to prevent the spread of germs and reduce the risk of illness within the corps. This is especially important before handling food or after going to the bathroom. Using soap and water is always the best option. Soap must be on your skin for 30 seconds to do its job, so you’ll notice when we set our wash station outside the food line, the soap water dispenser is a good distance from the clean rinse water dispenser. The intention is to allow time for the soap to work.

DO NOT wear gloves in the bathroom. If you have on guard gloves or white gloves, remove them and leave them outside the bathroom.

Brush and floss your teeth regularly to maintain oral health and prevent dental issues on tour.

Use personal care products such as deodorant, sunscreen, and lip balm to protect and nourish your skin.

Change your clothes daily. This includes underwear, shorts, shirts, and socks. Some clothing such as hoodies can be reused for several days but should be washed on Laundry days.

Bedsheets and pillowcases: Bedding that touches your skin should be washing every laundry day. This means if you use only a sleeping bag or blanket, these items must be laundered.

Instrument and equipment hygiene:

Mouthpieces and sticks should be routinely sanitized, and your caption heads or techs will see to this.

Water jugs will be sanitized at least once a week in groups. For this, you’ll wash and scrub your jug with soapy water and brushes. After rinsing, you’ll dunk all parts of the jug in a sanitizer solution. The jug will be left in the sun to allow the sanitizer to dry before using again.

All guard gloves should be washed at every laundry day – no exceptions. The guard staff will maintain a sanitizing schedule of all equipment.

Personal and sleep hygiene are essential components of maintaining overall health and well-being, especially for drum corps members facing rigorous training schedules and performances. By incorporating these strategies into your daily routine and lifestyle, you can optimize your physical, mental, and emotional resilience, ensuring that you perform at your best while nurturing your long-term health and happiness on and off the field.