How to stay Dance Fit during COVID-19 restrictions
Dancers are resilient, passionate, dedicated and committed to routines. Dance has endless benefits, not only is it physically rewarding, but it is a great mental release too. One of the hardest parts of isolating to prevent the spread of COVID-19 for dancers, is the lack of their regular dance classes.
Thankfully lots of dancers are still able to be guided by their dance teachers and do modified online classes at home. However for most, this means a space that is not large enough or surfaces that are unsafe to practice your allegro (jumps) and pirouettes (turns). We understand how frustrating this may be, but we hope the following ideas will keep you inspired and on track.
So what happens when you return to full classes?
How do you prevent yourself getting injured?
How do you maintain your strength and power to jump? Or your balance to pirouette (turn)?
The good news is there are lots of exercises you can perform at home with limited equipment and space to maintain your dance conditioning.
[NEED TO SEE A DANCE PHYSIOTHERAPIST? BOOK HERE TO HAVE AN INITIAL ASSESSMENT WITH JAYDE]
Exercises designed to maintain and improve your dance power and strength:
The following exercises are designed to challenge you, if you are unsure if your skill level is up for the challenge, or you have a current injury, please speak to your Dance Physiotherapist for guidance before attempting!
Calf strength and power
Our calf strength is essential for injury prevention in dance (you can read more about how calf strength prevents injury in Dance HERE). When jumping, POWER is also important. Perform your calf rises with quick speed to prepare them for the demands of jumping.
Try doing as many as you can, until it burns!
Gluteal and hamstring strength and power
We can’t forget about the importance of our glutes and hamstrings for jumping.
Try lifting your hips quickly, and then lowering slowly for replicate the way these muscles work when you jump.
Start with a couple of sets of 10 repetitions, and then increase the number as you get stronger. You can even progress to doing it on one leg to make it even harder.
Side plank retire
This exercise helps improve the strength and control of the muscles required to balance and turn – more specifically, the hip abductor and core muscles.
This is a challenging one!! Start with just a few, and slowly build up as you get stronger.
Positivity propels you in the right direction
Remember there are some positives to take from the COVID-19 experience! Are you a dancer who has a niggling injury that won’t go away and you haven’t given it a chance to rest and recover?
If this is you, now is a great time to focus on your rehabilitation program prescribed by your Dance Physiotherapist. So when classes return you will be stronger and even more resilient.
Or maybe you’re a dancer who has been looking for extra time to build on your dance strength? Now is a great opportunity to work on your long-term strength and flexibility goals.
When you return to the studio:
When you can return to dance classes, listen to your body – it probably won’t feel the same, so take it easy and increase your loads slowly.
For more dance-specific advice book an appointment with our Dance Physiotherapist Jayde HERE.
Or to have an assessment from the comfort of your own home, you can book an ONLINE Physio Consult HERE.