What’s the most important muscle for a great développé? It’s possibly one you’ve never heard of – the iliopsoas. In this post, I’m going to go through why this muscle is so important, how you can test it’s function, and how you can start strengthening it today.
The iliopsoas is one of our two main hip flexor muscles. It sits deep within the front of the hip and also attaches to the base of the spine. When you start to développé, the iliopsoas acts together with the iliacs and rectus femorus together to lift the leg up. However, once you get above 90 degrees, the iliopsoas is the main muscle performing this action. There’s no other muscle that has the ability to perform a high développé. It doesn’t matter how strong the rest of your muscles are, or how great your technique is, if your iliopsoas is weak, you will struggle to get the leg above 90 degrees.
Iliopsoas has to be strong enough to lift the weight of your leg against the downward pull of gravity. Then, it has to support and stabilize the leg to allow the knee to straight. What’s more, it has to do all of this while working in a disadvantaged position.
Muscles can create their most power when they are in a resting length, that is neither elongated or shortened. To perform a développé, the iliopsoas has to shorten. The higher you développé, the shorter it gets. So as you work towards a higher and higher développé, you are actually asking the iliopsoas to create more power in a weaker position. Long story short – to get a great développé, iliopsoas has to be super strong.
Naturally, one of the first things I want to assess when helping a dancer with développés is iliopsoas strength. The below video is my go-to test for this. When performed correctly, this test assesses how much power the iliopsoas can generate in that above 90 degree position. The results of the test can then help to identify how much potential you have to achieve a high développé with the strength you have right now. The better you can perform the test, the higher you can potential développé. If you struggle to even lift your leg off the chair, then you will not be able to développé without cheating by hitching at the waist or tipping your pelvis.
Sit on the edge of a chair. You should try to find a place to sit that will allow a 90 degree angle at your hips. So, if you are younger or shorter, try to find somewhere lower to sit on. Sit up tall and find a neutral spine. Do no allow your lower back to curve or your pelvis to tuck under. Gently pull in your tummy muscles. Lift your leg as high off the chair as you can. The higher you can lift your leg without tipping your pelvis, the better your développé potential.
This test is also a great exercise to start building strength and stamina in the iliopsoas. This exercise is often my starting point with dancers wanting to improve développé. Lift your leg as high as you can, hold for a few seconds, then gently lower. Try to perform 10-12 repetitions every day. When this is easy, add some ankle weights. Once you can comfortably perform 12 repetitions with weights, it’s time to move on to a more challenging exercise.
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