5 Secrets to Improve Vocal Health and Perform at Peak Performance

5 Secrets to Improve Vocal Health and Perform at Peak Performance

Maintaining vocal health is crucial for singers, as the voice is their primary instrument. Healthy vocal cords ensure clear and strong performances and the ability to perform at their peak.

In today’s Blog, I will discuss the top 5 secrets to improve vocal health so you can perform at peak performance levels.

• Hydration and Steam
• Posture + Alignment
• Stretching and Vocal Massage
• Cooldowns to Stay in Peak Condition
• Biomechanical Vocal Technique to Improve Core Vocal Production

These techniques are used by professional singers all of the world to stay at the top of their voal performance craft.

Dr. Peak Woo (an internationally recognized laryngologist, clinical research scientist, and author of Stroboscopy) said that the physical effect of a 45-minute vocal performance is equivalent to a 2-hour football game for a linebacker.

The impact of a live concert, the strain on the voice, is irrefutable. Like athletes, is imperative that singers train or they are going to inevitably end up with injuries or issues. You can avoid all of that by learning how to take care of your voice so you can keep your voice in peak performance condition.

1. Hydration and Steam

Hydration is one of the most important aspects of vocal health.

One of the ENT’s I work with in New York told me that if his clients drank enough water he would lose over half of them. Read that again.

The truth is, hydration is more than just chugging water all day.

Hydration is the foundation of vocal health. The voice can’t function well, hit high notes or sing without fatigue without water.

Yes, vocal issues and problems are often traced back to a lack of hydration along with environmental issues (diet and allergies, reflux etc), as well as deep contractions in the muscles of the voice which cause deeper problems.

Your Daily Hydration Goal is to drink half of your body weight in water, including hydrating beverages and foods.

I’ve also added steaming as a daily practice and habit to improve your vocal health. Steaming hydrates the throat and vocal folds immediately, improving sound and vocal production.

For example, if you weigh 120 lbs, half of your weight is 60 oz. 120 lbs = 60 oz of water

Morning: 24 oz.
1-12 oz glass of water with a 1/4 squeeze of lemon
1-12 oz water (or coconut water) before lunch
Inhale steam over hot water 5-7 minutes.

Lunch:1-1 2 oz green juice, vegetable salad (both hydrating)

Afternoon: 27 oz
1-12 oz glass of water w/4 cubes of melon or coconut water
1-4 oz glass of electrolytes
1-12 oz glass of water or vegetable/beef broth
Inhale steam over hot water 5-7 minutes.

Total: 64 to 75 oz of hydration per day

Stay hydrated is a crucial component of vocal health and will make a big improvement in vocal health, sound and endurance.

2. Posture + alignment 

Good posture and practicing the right alignment improves your range and power giving you access to more notes and a fuller sound.

Work on:

1. Aligning your head over your spine with a long lengthened back of the neck.
2. When you sing, think of pulling the sound in towards your mouth, “drinking the tone,” instead of reaching forward with your head. This will decrease tension and easily create more resonance and sound.
3. Strengthen your pectoral muscles. Pectoral muscles are an important part of vocal health. These muscles anchor the laryngeals to give your voice extra support.

When practicing singing, use this alignment sequence:

Start by lengthening the back of your neck and tipping your chin slightly down in a neutral position. Balance your head over your body as if it is resting there. At the same time, lengthen the small of your back.

• Feet hip distance apart.
• Knees relaxed and not locked.
• Tuck the pelvis under you.
• Pull up tall out of the waist.
• Lift the chest up towards your chin.
• Lengthen the back of your neck up towards the ceiling.
• Balance over your body
• Tip your chin slightly down to open and free the back of your neck.
• Keep the chest elevated without tensing.

The better your alignment, the more access you’ll have to your range and the more resonant and powerful your voice will sound.

I teach how to align your posture and voice for singing inside of my Better Voice Challenge, a free 4-1 hour workshop where you learn the 8 Cole Vocal Method sequences to open and free your voice.

Get access to my Better Voice Challenge here.

3. Stretching and Vocal Massage

Your voice is an instrument inside your body. To keep it healthy and performing at peak performance and get a better sound, you must physically open the muscles surrounding it.

The muscles surrounding the voice can constrict the instrument and cause issues with tone, range, and overall sound and production.

Stretching and applying vocal massage techniques to these muscles will release tension stored there that is constricting your sound and can overtime cause vocal problems.

Inside of my Cole Vocal Method I teach specific stretching techniques that remove tension in these surrounding muscles. This opens and frees the voice keeping it in peak condition for singing.

Warming up is key to getting your voice in performance condition. Using the right techniques for warming up will increase sound and endurance in performance and improve your overall vocal health.

Many warmups make the mistake of using big, wide vocal scales and volume to warm the singer up. This is a mistake and only wears out the voice. The key to warming up the voice is to warm up the muscles and the vocal instrument, and then do a specific series of vocal exercises designed to open and free the voice, preparing you to sing.

In my method, The Cole Vocal Method, we start with my Singers Gift Vocal Warmups that are designed with a series of vocal stretches, massages and diaphragmatic breathing that open the singer freeing the muscles, the voice and the breath.

Learn more about The Singers Gift Vocal Warmups here.

4. Cooldowns to Stay in Peak Condition

It’s actually challenging to stay in good vocal shape. It is challenging to prevent damage, stay healthy and continue to escape the dreaded “vocal surgery.” And, while a solution, it’s not something you ever want to happen, because your recovery time can be a month or two and in some cases even longer. That’s a long time in the life of an entertainer.

The voice is too sensitive of an instrument to not take extra care. As I said earlier – you only have 2 vocal cords and they can’t be replaced.

In my Cole Vocal Method, I teach a series of conditioning exercises to keep the voice in peak performance condition. These exercises can be used when you want to get your voice back from oversinging, are recovering from a respiratory illness, or are having issues with mucus, hoarseness, or fatigue. They are great on tour to use post-show and even pre-show to reduce inflammation at the vocal folds and to get the voice out of the throat.

Learn more about my vocal therapy and conditioning exercises inside my Vocal Rescue Kit here.

5. Biomechanical Vocal Technique to Improve Core Vocal Production

“Singers who practice biomechanical vocal technique are twice as likely to preserve their vocal longevity.” Read that again.

There are vast differences in vocal techniques and approaches.

Most “window dress” manipulating the sound on the surface using quick “tips” that don’t fix core production issues.

• The voice will start to break down and wear out over years of singing with the wrong techniques.
• With repeated singing, the laryngeal muscles are often pushed upward. This destabilizes the voice, causes cracking and breaking, and causes vocal problems over time.
• There is a natural accumulation of wear and tear that comes with performing professionally. Singers need to practice healthy vocal conditioning techniques to keep their voice from accumulating tension and inflammation.

You’ll want to use a method that addresses the core biomechanical function of the voice to improve the way your voice makes sound without manipulating sound on the surface.

In the Cole Vocal Method, a biomechanical technique, we first strip away the use of the compensatory muscles that constrict the voice and then strengthen the core mechanics to produce a rich and resonant sound.

Protect and nurture your voice with biomechanical vocal technique to ensure a long and fulfilling singing career. Avoid strain, prevent injuries, and keep your voice in top shape for years to come. Don’t let vocal issues hold you back. Invest in your voice and your future.

Learn more about the Cole Vocal Method, a biomechanical technique here.