For many dancers, the end of the year means performances, exams, and competitions, followed by a well-deserved summer break. After such a busy term, it’s tempting to take time completely off from training. But did you know that staying active and maintaining your strength over the holidays can make a huge difference to your dancing next year?
Dance Physiotherapist and Exercise Physiologist, Jayde and Kirsty see so many dancers come back after summer feeling rusty, often because they have lost some of the strength and control they had built in the previous year.
Don’t Let 6 Weeks Undo All Your Hard Work
During the year, dancers build incredible strength, flexibility, and control through regular classes and rehearsals. When you take a long break from training, your strength and stability can drop off surprisingly quickly, especially in your feet, ankles, hips and core. That makes returning to dance more challenging and increases your risk of injury.
Maintaining strength is especially important for dancers who have just passed their pointe assessments. Pointe work requires strong, stable ankles and excellent control through the calves, feet, and core. Keeping up your conditioning over the holidays will help you start next year safely.
Cross-Training: The Key to Becoming a Stronger Dancer
Dance alone isn’t always enough to build the strength and endurance needed to reach your goals. Cross-training is essential for developing strength, injury resilience, and body awareness.
Some great forms of cross-training for dancers include:
- Resistance training focusing on strength and stability
- Clinical Pilates, which helps improve core control, alignment, and muscle balance
At Pathways Physiotherapy, we love helping dancers build their strength and confidence through a variety of exercise modalities.
Summer Is the Perfect Time to Address Any Niggles
The end of the year can leave dancers with small aches or niggling injuries that they’ve been pushing through to get through concerts, exams, or competitions. The quieter summer months are the perfect time to give your body the attention it needs to recover.
Booking an appointment with Jayde, our dance physiotherapist, is a great way to start. As an ex-dancer herself, Jayde can assess any dance related injuries and help you build a plan to come back even stronger.
Kirsty works alongside Jayde in this process and together they can formulate the perfect strengthening and goal specific exercise plan to help you return to dance stronger than before.
Get an Individualised Strength Program
Summer is the ideal time to work on your strength and conditioning with a tailored program. Whether you’re looking to maintain your fitness, improve your turnout, prepare for pointe, or build more power for jumps, Jayde and Kirsty are here to help you create a program to suit your goals.
At Pathways Physiotherapy we offer a variety of appointment options, each tailored to you!
- 1:1 sessions are perfect for focused attention and personal feedback
- 2:1 sessions let you train with a friend, great for motivation and fun
- 4:1 Clinical Pilates classes with your personalised dance program
Make the Most of Your Summer
Taking care of your body now means you’ll return to dance next term feeling strong, balanced, and ready to progress. Use your break wisely; keep moving, stay strong, and look after the little niggles before they turn into bigger issues.
👉 Book your summer strength or physio session with Jayde or Kirsty [book online here] and start your next dance year at your best.