Dane Holloway

Guitar, by about ten years. I started lifting because touring was wrecking my back. Carrying a half stack up three flights of stairs every night will do that.

Then I got competitive about it, which is the only way I know how to do anything.

Completely. My right hand is more consistent because my grip is stronger. And I have way more patience with repetition. A riff is just a set. You do it again and again until it is automatic.

I do three heavy singles on whatever bar I can find. Usually a trap bar in a hotel gym, sometimes a very confused local gym that lets me in for free if I put them on the guest list.

Then ten minutes of total silence. No phone, no music. By the time we go on, my nervous system is already awake and my head is quiet.

All the time. Rest periods between heavy sets are three to five minutes. I hum ideas into my phone. Our last record has at least four songs that started between deadlift sets.

The opener on the new record. It is built around the rhythm of a squat. Slow on the way down, explosive on the way up. If you lift, you will feel it.

A guy who was strong in his hands and weak everywhere else. The playing is fast but it is tense. Now it is fast and relaxed. That comes from training.

Early. Load-in is usually at three, so I train at nine or ten. Protein in the van, sleep whenever possible. The rule is simple: the show is the priority, training supports the show.

A motel gym with one dumbbell. Singular. I did a lot of single-arm rows that week.