As an ex-dancer, I thrived on the challenge of keeping fit. Despite daily ballet classes I only realised the importance of strength training after a few serious injuries which slowed down my performer career. After discovering free weights, spin classes, and swimming, I kept embracing any activity that worked my muscles and boosted my heart rate. This routine left me strong, enduring, and remarkably injury-free. Decades ago, strength training for dancers wasn't common, but today, evidence strongly supports this supplemental training for reducing injury risks and enhancing performance.
Understanding Strength and Conditioning Training
Strength and Conditioning Defined
Strength and conditioning encompass dynamic and static exercises designed to correct muscle imbalances and enhance athletic performance. Widely used in sports for years, these exercises yield proven results.
Strength Training
Strength training involves using resistance – weights or body weight – to target specific muscles or groups, working at a challenging intensity for strength gains. Examples include squats, lunges, push-ups, and deadlifts. For optimal results, exercises should be performed at a challenging intensity, with a specified number of repetitions and sets, approximately three times a week.
Conditioning
Conditioning enhances the cardiovascular system by improving the heart and lungs' ability to transport oxygen to working muscles. Aerobic exercises like jogging, cycling, and swimming build cardiorespiratory capacity and endurance, while anaerobic exercises like sprinting and burpees boost anaerobic capacity for intense energy movements, such as a series of grand jetés.
Why Dancers Should Train This Way
Traditional dance classes focus on technique, artistry, and skill, but often neglect strength and cardiovascular conditioning. Surprisingly, research indicates that professional ballet and contemporary dancers possess fitness levels similar to healthy but sedentary individuals. This revelation underscores the need for supplementary training.
Dance Classes and Cardiorespiratory Fitness
Dance classes typically involve intermittent activity, with frequent pauses to learn combinations or receive corrections. While brief bursts of intense activity occur, they don't suffice for developing cardiovascular fitness, posing a challenge during performances that demand sustained endurance. Fatigue is a major cause of dance injuries, often occurring when dancers are tired and unable to execute movements safely. As choreography becomes more demanding, dancers need higher cardiovascular fitness levels for safe and effective performance.
Dance Classes and Strength
Strength training involves any exercise against resistance. In dance classes, resistance usually comes from body weight, with limited use of equipment like elastic bands or tubing. Misconceptions about strength training affecting body shape have deterred some dancers, particularly in ballet. However, this outdated belief is fading as the focus shifts to building strength and power for challenging choreography. Today's dancers increasingly incorporate resistance equipment like dumbbells, barbells, and kettlebells to enhance their performance.
Benefits of Strength and Conditioning Training for Dancers
Research consistently demonstrates that resistance training positively impacts dancers' dynamic balance, leg strength, and upper limb stability without compromising artistic elements. Additionally, resistance training promotes bone health, reducing the risk of stress injuries and fractures, and protecting against osteoporosis later in life.
How to Get Started with a Strength Training and Conditioning Program
Recognising the benefits of strength training and conditioning, you're likely eager to begin. At KinetoFlex, we are ready to tailor a programme to your specific needs. Whether you prefer 1:1 online sessions or a customised training plan, we offer flexible options to fit your schedule. Reach out to us today – you might be surprised at how much you enjoy this type of training and the impact it has on your dance performance!
