You’re probably already fully engaged with taking studio classes and everyday dancing as the first day of fall draws near. While it’s amazing that you’re moving your body in the studio, there are several things you can do outside of the studio to ensure that you’re giving your finest performance this fall. Check out our 6 greatest ideas for staying in shape for the fall dancing season, from feeding your body well to making sure you walk enough each day.
1. Get those steps in
One of the best things you can do for your physical and emotional wellness is to go for a stroll! Did you know that doing 10,000 steps a day can improve your mood, reduce stress, and aid in muscular growth and flexibility?
Walking has a modest impact on the joints, making it an excellent supplementary exercise for dancers. We move around leaping, whirling, and shuffling all the time as dancers. Due to the high-impact nature of dance, our knees, lower backs, and ankles may experience significant strain.
As a dancer, you can give yourself the time and space to have a clear mind by incorporating walking into your daily practice. You can also maintain your muscles warm and active without overdoing it. Aim to go for at least one stroll of your choosing each day!
2. Stretch your body
Stretching has countless advantages. Stretching is something that every dancer should be doing for a variety of reasons, including minimising muscular pain after a strenuous day of dancing, improving flexibility, and lowering the chance of injury.
But in what manner should you stretch? Being the most adaptable isn’t necessarily the best strategy! Mobility and joint protection are also important. To improve mobility, we frequently advise performing controlled leg and arm swings. Gentle movements are necessary for this type of stretching to elevate your heart rate, improve blood flow to your muscles, and get your body ready for intense work. Consider something more akin to Pilates or Vinyasa Yoga, which combines breathwork with movement.
Always wait until the end of the day or after your studio courses if you do want to do any static stretching, such as sitting in your second split. Overall, stretching could be a little uncomfortable, but if you ever experience sudden, severe pain, stop what you’re doing!
And when is a good opportunity to stretch? as soon as you finish your regular walk and your body has warmed up
3. Strengthen your muscles
It’s a fallacy that lifting weights will make you “bulky,” despite how common it is to believe this. Your regimen will only benefit by using body-weight and lightweight training, which will help you build lean, toned muscles. Weight training can help dancers improve many of the muscles they utilise every day!
Throughout dancing training, the muscles in the core, lower body, and upper body are constantly worked, therefore it’s critical to maintain their strength. You may work these muscles while dancing by including exercises like squats, push-ups, calf raises, crunches, planks, and more in your routine.
Less strain and injury result from this!
Every other day, or every day if you’re switching off the muscle group you concentrate on, is when you should spend 20 to 30 minutes working on growing muscle. Try exercising your lower body on Tuesdays and Thursdays and your core on Mondays and Wednesdays, for instance! If you don’t want to, you don’t have to spend hours in the gym every day. Even just ten minutes of strengthening can have a big impact. You can use only your body weight for any of these strengthening exercises, or you can try to include 5–10 pound weights.
4. Explore cross-training
Try different body movements! Running, riding, and other cardiovascular exercises can help you gain endurance both inside and outside of the studio. If your body and mind are used to working out hard and maintaining high cardio levels, you’ll have more energy to finish the class combo’s final performance and give it your all.
5. Take online dance classes
Online dance lessons are a fantastic way to complement your in-studio training, push yourself with new choreography, and develop as a dancer. Additionally, you’ll get the chance to work with choreographers from whom you would not have otherwise had the chance to attend a class.
6. Rest, hydrate, eat well–repeat!
Remain hydrated—we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. Loss of energy and mental clarity can result from even mild dehydration. Not to mention aches and pains in the muscles. Try to consume 12 to 15 glasses (12 to 96 ounces) of water per day, as well as hydrating foods like fruit.
Never forget that leading an active lifestyle necessitates recovery time. Dancers are unquestionably athletes, and athletes need to rest. Without proper rest, the body starts to deteriorate, which lowers performance, depletes energy, and increases the chance of injury.