Ice vs. heat??

A great article in Dance Teacher Magazine explains the differences in when you should be icing or heating an injury and some helpful tips:

ICE: 

• after an acute injury, immediately, to reduce swelling and decrease pain 
• acute injuries: like sprains and dislocations; chronic injuries: like tendonitis; on bruising 
• apply ice for about 10 minutes every hour to reduce inflammation -- the first 24 -72 hours are crucial! 
• never apply ice directly to the skin and don't leave on for more than 20 minutes 

HEAT: 

• increases blood flow to help with mobility (good to use heat and a warm-up before activity) 
• good for pulled or stiff muscles, or joint issues like arthritis 
• not for use right after an injury occurs! wait at least 48 hours before applying heat 
• do not leave heat on for longer than 20 minutes 

HELPFUL TIPS! 

• using crushed ice (or a bag of frozen peas!) will help distribute the cooling more evenly 
• freeze water in Dixie cups to use for frozen massage -- warning: keep ice moving to prevent burning the skin 
• do not sleep with heating pads on -- could burn the skin with prolonged use!
• use a damp washcloth in the microwave for a heat pack to mold around a joint 

Most importantly..... 

monitor injuries and keep a close eye on your body to keep you dancing and healthy! 

Another summer comes to a close....

We finished the NYSSSA program last Friday and wow -- what an impressive group of students!  They were so open to learning new ways of looking at things and approaching their bodies and their dancing.  I will miss them terribly.

Days were spent in the weight room doing resistance work, using the physioballs, completing circuits, and days learning about bones, muscles, and how our body moves in space..... and collecting info about our own bodies with strength testing, or skeletal assessment as seen here.......

 

In the first photo you see Katrina placing stickers on body landmarks to identify Nadya's skeleton, 

and in the second photo Bella is analyzing Gillian using the landmarks.  

It was a truly inspiring summer and we had a great time all the way through to our final day!  Here they are striking a pose -- show us your muscles dancers!! 

Where does "turn-out" come from?

TURN OUT COMES FROM..... 

YOUR HIP! 

Let's investigate the range of motion inside our hips and see how this might be true..... Check out this great video and you can see the head of the femur moving inside the hip socket while demonstrating: 

• flexion 
• extension 
• inward and outward rotation 
• abduction 
• adduction 

Makes perfect sense that rotation of the hip joint allows us to "turn-out" our legs: 

Now.... let's check out the knee, shall we??? 

Livestrong only mentions flexion and extension of the knee in the above link, because that is the only safe range of motion for knee mobility!  The knee does have limited amounts of rotation while in flexion (when it's bent), and of course each body is different so there may be a little more rotation at the knee joint for some people, but turn-out DOES NOT come from your knee.  You must utilize the rotation from the hip join only, or you risk serious injury. And further more, most over-rotating that I see is when closing a position of the legs (straight legs in full extension like in the above photo!) And it's not only the football players who have to worry about knee injuries during a game...... 

Listen to this: 

"Noncontact forces also are an important cause of knee injury. Quick stops and sharp cuts or turns create significant deceleration forces that can sprain or rupture the anterior cruciate ligament. Hyperextension can result in injury to the anterior cruciate ligament or posterior cruciate ligament. Sudden twisting or pivoting motions create shear forces that can injure the meniscus. A combination of forces can occur simultaneously, causing injury to multiple structures."

So..... twisting or pivoting motions can cause injury to the knee..... that must mean that if I close my foot into fifth position (in ballet class) and then torque my knee to turn-out below my knee, I am doing damage, right???? Yes, absolutely right.  Just like a twisting of the knee on the soccer field can impact the ligaments or the menisci of the knee, over rotating in the wrong places can have the same crippling effect.  

This summer at NYSSSA I've had SEVERAL students come to me with knee pain while saying..... "it only hurts when I over-rotate from my knee."  We have to put an end to this or we risk prematurely ending young dance careers. 

 

YIKES!!!!! This is just about what you're doing when turning-out from the knees...

I beg our dance teachers..... reinforce turn-out from the hips only!!! 

Sprouted nuts..... ???

What the heck is a sprouted nut? 

After a discussion on nutrition for dancers, I found myself explaining the difference between nuts that are found in many different protein bars.  We have: 

Roasted Nuts vs. Sprouted Nuts 

Who will win??  

Nuts are made available in several different ways to enable our digestive systems to easily process the nut and its healthy nutrients..... 

Sprouted nuts --

• are soaked in water to help multiply the nutrients found in nuts (like Vitamins A, B, and C)  
• helps make the nut more digestible by assisting in the growth of the digestive enzymes
• removes anti-nutrients which can interfere with nutrient absorption

Roasted nuts --

• heating the nut also makes it more easily to digest however....
• roasted nuts often contain other additives (like salt, sugar, or preservatives as they tend to go rancid quicker) 
• usually roasted in a saturated fat oil like palm kernel or coconut so be on the look out for roasted nuts with little saturated or no trans fats 
• roasting nuts also increase the primary and secondary lipids during the process 
• if you choose to roast, dry roast the nuts yourself in a pan on the stove for a few moments without using any oils 

Check this out: 

Mmmmm..... a yummy treat with some sprouted cashews other good things! 

And don't forget to read the ingredients when making food choices :) 

Be on the lookout for sprouted nuts! 

Remind me what the "ripstick" was again??!

I'm sure Meg spent the weekend doing a lot of this:

Here she is showing us her "ripstick" skills at the Museum in between classes.  She explains that her dominant foot is in back to control and guide the movement.  Her core is fully engaged and she is really feeling her hamstrings in action.  Check out her awesome balance as she figure-eights around the space and shifts her weight from side to side.... totally impressive :)

Give it a try and happy weekend!

Taking it to the streets!

Why workout inside, when the sun is shining and motivation awaits us outdoors?  You can get just as much of a workout by using the interesting structures around you in a park, at a playground, or even at The National Museum of Dance.... that's where we did our outdoor training this week.

Our workout:

• jogging 2 laps around the parking loop out front 
• 50 (soccer ball) toe taps on the stairs 
• 20 triceps dips while resting our hands on the ledge of the front porch area 
• 10 push-ups facing the ledge 
• 10 single leg squats with a back foot resting on the ledge and hands behind our head
• then we did the whole thing again! 

We even found use for a neat long area that connects one area of the museum to another, and made a loop by traveling with walking lunges and side shuffling: 

Be creative like we were and see the potential for fun activity anywhere!  

(Reminder: Just be sure to watch your form as you won't have a mirror to check out your alignment!!!)

It's BANANAS!

Yes, we went B-A-N-A-N-A-S in Dance Conditioning today

while eating this delicious fruit.... and learning its importance in our diets.  

Bananas: 

• FULL of potassium, which helps maintain normal blood pressure and heart function, while being low in sodium 
• reduces muscle cramps after physical activity! 
• high in fiber to keep us heart healthy --- and specifically pectin, a soluble fiber, help regulate the digestive tract
• replenishes electrolytes lost when sweating 
• contains about 15% of your daily Vitamin C intake 
• full of good carbs to give an energy boost after a workout 
• full of nutrients like iron, magnesium, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin E, folate, carotene and choline

So grab a banana, then toss the peel outside because it's BIODEGRADABLE and good for the environment... thanks Dierdre, for this Earth friendly recommendation!