An L.A. Times writer found an interesting angle to approach his interview with Peart: fitness.
James Fell wanted to discover how a rocker — a career not known for promoting health or longevity — can keep his body a skin-smashing machine after 37 years in the same rock trio, giving calorie-combusting concert performances that would blow the lumbar discs and ventricles of lesser men.
Fell hooked up with the legendary drummer at the Vancouver stop of the band’s Time Machine tour to talk health and fitness.
Peart works out year-round through a combination of cycling, swimming, yoga and light weights, with winter activities like cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.
"It was actually drumming that gave me the stamina to get into sports later," Peart said. "I started playing drums at 13, and when I got to the international touring level…I got interested in cross-country skiing, long-distance swimming, bicycling…things that require stamina, not finesse. I'm still no good at ball-and-stick games. If I go play golf with the guys, it's intended to be a joke."
"Stamina is the force that drives the drumming; it's not really a sprint,” Neil continued. “The stamina aspect is great because you don't lose that with age so quickly. I know there will be a day when I just can't do it, but at 58 years of age it hasn't come yet. I can still play as fast and as powerful and as long as I ever could."
"Playing a three-hour Rush show is like running a marathon while solving equations. My mind is as busy as it can be, and so is my body; full output all the time."
Read more of Peart’s session at The L.A. Times here.
Rush Rush – Marathon
Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Denver, CO – August 16, 2010
See also:
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VIDEO: Rush’s Neil Peart rocks Drum Solo Week on Letterman
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