Physioball and Plyometrics -- Week 3

Layering onto our focus of strength training in week 2 at NYSSSA, this week we are maintaining core stability with physioball exercises and increasing speed through quick strength plyometrics. 

Working with a physioball has many benefits:

• strengthens core 
• increases balance 
• develops proprioception skills (related to motion and orientation of the body in space)
• connect upper and lower limbs through the core

See Lauren rolling out to a reverse plank on the physioball; she'll perform a jack knife, then a pike, and finish with a push-up.  

 This is very advanced so we began a few steps before this with simple rolling out and in, testing our balance and strength while maintaining good alignment in a plank and reverse plank.  We practiced other strengthening exercises using the ball, and we found that some of students may not be at this level of strength yet -- you might not be either -- and that's OK! Remember to work within your capacity and to increase own personal ability, not your neighbor's.   

With this series, it's important to keep arms pressing away from the floor so the shoulders don't collapse and to keep the abdominal muscles engaged to support the low spine -- the body should be in a straight line parallel to the floor during the reverse plank, head in line with the spine (make sure to keep that alignment during the push-up Lauren!)  Each of these exercises can be done in isolation, or combined for a powerful workout as Lauren showed us.   

We'll talk plyometrics tomorrow!

How many vitamins should I take?

The students have been asking some fabulous questions this summer -- they've given ME lots to think about and investigate:

Check out the Harvard School of Public Health's perspective on Vitamins and how many we should be taking.  ***Eat a healthy diet and avoid "super" supplements because too much of a good thing can simply be too much.

And keep hydrated!



 

A day at the pool for me!

I spent some of my day off at the Victoria Pool in the beautiful Saratoga State Park near SPAC.  

 Yes, it's as relaxing as it looks! 

I decided this weekend I would try to practice what I've been preaching to my students -- that a little R&R goes a long way.  In order to perform at our best, we need to get plenty of rest to allow time for our muscles to repair themselves. 

I took a day and a half off (!) with no physical activity (other than carrying my laundry to the washer and sitting by the pool) since yesterday around 2pm.  It's been wonderful.  Over the past few days I've had some major pain creep up in my hip and my back where I have a long standing injury.  While I desired to head to the gym to walk it off, or grab some weights to work on my core, I pretended that I was one of my own students and gave my body what it really needed - a day off!!

Read what Dance Magazine has to say about the importance of rest in Your Body: The Rest Test.  The physical therapists interviewed for this article emphasize the need for "intentional rest" (not rest following an injury) and to look at the athletic model of periodization - planning your conditioning/performing schedule over time.

So let's try to remember the final statement in this fantastic article: "The performing body is blood and guts.  It needs its rest to do its best." 

Nutrition questions answered

Here are a few additional resources regarding nutrition.  I had some wonderful discussions with the students this week and some expressed interested in a few specific topics. 

As promised to them... here we go with some information!

For Maria -- Check out page 7 on this document from the University of Illinois for information on monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. ***Remember to keep a good amount of healthy fats in our diet, like yummy avocado and nuts. 

For Lauren -- Check out this information about iron from the National Institutes of Health.  ***Without enough iron we can easily feel fatigued; eating red meats, fish, beans and lentils will help us get the iron our bodies need.   

For Debbie and Bella -- Read the article titled Two Is Better Than One from Best Health Magazine.  *** Eating healthy fats with your salad (like avocado - as we talked about in class), pairing caffeine with carbohydrates post workout, or simply mixing banana with yogurt, will help to increase the amount of nutrients the body is able to absorb and we can maximize the health in our foods.  

Bon appetit! 

Let's Hit the Gym!

Check out two of our NYSSSA dancers as they strength train in the gym during class today.

 Here is Lauren beginning a triceps extension exercise.  She is stabilizing her lower body while in a supine position laying down on the mat; she extends her arms while holding weights in each hand.

 Then she bends her elbows into flexion at a 90 degree angle as she works on strengthening her triceps muscles.  She is stabilizing her humerus bone (upper arm) as she does this.  Check it out in motion.

Check out Sasha completing medicine ball rotation for her obliques (abdominal muscles).  She must keep her lower body still while stabilizing her pelvis and engaging her entire core; only rotating her torso from side to side.

Try these two exercises at home and let us know what you think!

Nutrition for dancers

Check out Fueling the Dancer from the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science -- a great resource I'm using with the students in class today.  Explains the type of specific nutrition that dancers need and how to sustain energy through a long day of rehearsals and performance.  

The Centre for Dance Nutrition, affiliated with the Atlanta Ballet, has sample meal plans for both female and male dancers who are in pre-professional and professional conditioning programs.

Let me know what you think of these resources... feel free to post a comment!

Week 2!

Yesterday started week #2 at NYSSSA and the students spent the day auditioning for repertory.  They spent hours learning movement phrases and then showing them in short groups.  Many students were feeling fatigued in their quadriceps and I quickly reminded them of the foam roller and the need to de-stress the muscle fibers.

Today's class was complete with cardiorespiratory work in the cardio room, and then a trip to the gym for some strength training and weight lifting.  It's important for dancers to have this as a part of their conditioning program -- and this article, though it's from 2005, is incredibly relevant to the work we are doing here this summer.  Titled The significance of muscular strength in dance  from the Journal of Dance Science and Medicine, the authors clearly demonstrate the benefit for dancers hitting the gym!  

Some key points made by the authors:

1.  Fitness related to dance incorporates body composition, joint mobility and cardiorespiratory capacity
2. Fast twitch muscle fibers (for sprinting) are 30%-40% larger than slow twitch muscle fibers (long distance marathon running) and if a dancer has more of these, their body can look more "muscular"
3. Modern dance blends muscular strength with agility, balance and flexibility 
4. Ballet dancers have more slow twitch muscle fibers, and modern dancers often come from an interdisciplinary background (e.g., former gymnasts) so they could have a certain amount of "athleticism" 
5. Lower back is most common site for dance injury 
6. Strength training can help to lessen osteoporosis and weight bearing activity increases bone density 
7. One must put muscles through a full range of motion or you could risk shortening a muscle 

A bit of the conclusion for a quick summary:

Dancers remain subject to the same unyielding physical laws as athletes. However, although muscular strength has been part of the athlete's life since classical times, this physical fitness component has not been considered as a necessary ingredient for success in dance. We presented published data demonstrating that supplementary exercise training can increase muscular strength without interfering with artistic and dance performance requirements. There is little indication that an appropriate strength training regimen would diminish body aesthetics and muscle flexibility.

So.... hitting the gym will not damage a dancer's artistry -- if anything, it will increase bone density, make dancers less prone to injury, and help a dancer to sustain an even longer career.