As a physio, this is a huge topic for me, one I could devote my whole website to. But let me start by summing up a few key principles. I’ll explore some more specifics in upcoming posts.
Why do extra strength training
It is now widely accepted that supplemental training is beneficial for dancers. Traditional dance training techniques cannot completely prepare the body for demanding, virtuosic, and athletic choreography. Adding some specific strengthening exercises into your training plan can both improve your performance and help prevent injury. It is also essential for recovering from injury.
Better technique
Exceptional muscle strength is needed to perform many core dance movements, such as sky-high developpès and explosive jumps. For the lucky few genetically gifted, traditional class exercises can be enough to achieve amazing technique. However, for most of us, targeted strengthening training can give you the extra muscle power you need to perform seemingly impossible moves.
Flexibility
Many dancers spend long hours stretching, and extreme flexibility is generally seen as paramount to achieve success in dance. However, overly-stretched muscles are often weak muscles, and thus injury prone. Flexibility training needs to be balanced with strength training. Not only that, but if you are someone who struggles with flexibility, strength training can actually help you improve your range of motion.
Injury prevention
Long hours of training and pushing your body to its limits, often with insufficient recovery time, puts dancers at risk of injury. Many factors contribute to decreasing your risk of injury, but having strong muscles is one of the best strategies to keep injury at bay. Targeted strength training can give your muscles the strength they need to cope with the demands of dancing, while protecting your joints, soft tissue and bones.
Injury rehabilitation
If you do end up side-lined with an injury, strength training is essential to get you back on your feet, and hopefully back dancing stronger than before. Whatever the injury, strengthening the muscles surrounding the injury will be a key part of both your recovery plan and preventing the injury from returning.
What strengthening exercises should I do?
That depends on your goals, training schedule, and individual areas of weakness. For example, many dancers spend a lot of their training time strengthening their turnout muscles. This can leave the opposite muscle group – the muscles that turn the leg inwards – weak. In my experience, this is a common cause of knee pain in dancers. Hence, training the ‘turn-in’ muscles during a strength training session can be useful. When developing a strength training plan, it’s a good idea to make a list of your areas of weakness, parts of technique that you struggle with, and any areas of aches and pains, and then choose exercises to help address these.
As always, it’s best to seek personal advice from a trained, experience professional. While strength training should be an integral part of your training, it can lead to injury if performed incorrectly. An individualized, dance-specific training program is the best way to get the results you want. To maximize your potential and focus your training effectively, sign up for a few sessions of Personal Training to set up the best training program for you!
