Ya?l: [OVER THE DRUMS] Don! Hey, Don! Hey!

     [DRUMMING STOPS]

D: Did somebody say something?

Y: Yes, over here, hello!?!

D: Oh, hi Ya?l. What a sec, let my take my earplugs out. Man, drums are loud.

Y: Tell me about it! What are you doing? Starting a rock band?

D: Nope. I'm working out.

Y: Uh, OK. It looked to me like you were nurturing your inner John Bonham.

D: Well, maybe I was living out my rock star fantasies, but I'm also working up a sweat.

    Did you know that during a rock show the drummer's heart rate can get as high as 179 beatsper minute?

Y: Wow! That's like professional athlete range.

D: Yep. Rock drummers burn something like six-hundred calories per hour.

Y: How do you know all this?

D: I'm a big fan of the rock group Blondie. Remember them from the 1970s and early '80s? Anyhow,the group's drummer, Clem Burke, has been working with scientists to study what drumming doesfor the body. Turns out it could be a great form of      exercise.

Y: I can see that. You're using both arms and legs at the same time, and if you're playing  a fast song,that really takes a lot of energy.

D: Exactly. And it's more fun than running on a treadmill like a hamster on a wheel.

Y: So are we going to see drumming fitness centers in the near future?

D: Maybe. There's still more research to be done on drumming as exercise. But drumming could very well emerge as a new fitness trend.