Exercises have several benefits for your body and mind. They help you dance better as you get stronger, more agile, improve your mood and even aid in the prevention of injuries and certain diseases. Here are our top 7.  These exercises are focused on strength, posture, the cardiovascular system, overall flexibility and balance.

Exercise #1 Pilates

Pilates builds long lean muscles and benefits dancers by improving core strength, balance and stability. If you are struggling as a dancer with balancing strength on your left and right side, Pilates is the answer for you. It is used by athletes and movement specialists to correct imbalances created by their regular training. Reformer Pilates or machine aided Pilates can improves flexibility and the range of motion in your joints.

Deep core muscle activation

Pilates demands from students to connect to their deep core muscles, which lets them feel more connected to their body after every class. This is why it is said to improve the mind-body connection. Breathing in Pilates is with intention, so it also has positive effects on efficient breathing. In addition to all this, the low resistance training in Pilates is also great for strengthening.

Exercise #2 Stretches

Flexibility is important for dancers to create lines, create lean muscle and recover and release after days of extreme physical strain. A 15-minute stretch session each day, if you can’t manage 30 minutes, will also give you results over a sustained period of time. Holding each stretch for a minimum of 20-40 seconds upto 90 seconds, will improve your flexibility. Stretching with goals is far better than not having any goals, as this takes time and effort. Unless you can motivate yourself to do it, it is easy to drop this from your daily routine. Stretching helps lengthen muscle groups and will improve your endurance. In Ballet, it helps you get a beautiful arabesque, penche’, developpe and truly feel the strength and beauty of the human body. Once you have a stretching routine, you’ll notice your jumps, landing and steps all look smoother. You’ll be able to feel your body’s vitality and agility far better when you stretch daily and with that, see your confidence soar as a dancer.

Yoga asanas or creating stretch flows using active stretching, dynamic stretching, active isolated stretching and PNF stretching are all part of a dancers stretching repertoire.

Exercise #3 Push-Ups

Push-ups increase functional strength through full body activation. Push- ups help strengthen the chest, arms and back and will really help improve posture. It improves core strength and balance. Tip from our mentors for exercises like Push-ups is to keep changing them, to keep the challenge alive for the body. This ensures you get the maximum benefit from them.

Exercise #4 Sit-ups, Plank and Crunches

Core strength is vital. Our core keeps everything connected and strong. Sit-ups, planks and crunches are some of the best ways we can improve core strength and as a result our dancing abilities.  You will see improvement in jumps and landings

Plank exercises are great for core strength and help dancers find their center

Exercise #5 Squats and Lunges

Dancers need strong legs irrespective of their dance form! Squats and lunges are few of the best ways to strengthen the thighs, legs and butt. They also increase flexibility and balance if you try variations, They help dancers develop stronger ankles as well, and jump and land better.

Exercise #6 HIIT

It really teaches the body how to go full out on stage. It teaches the body how to recover. If you have any injuries, specially knee injuries, you can try going on the stationery bike. There are some studies that back that HIIT can increase health and fitness far quicker than moderately paced workouts.

Exercise #7 Cardio

Cardio is very beneficial for dancers. Cardio helps your cardiovascular system, and gives you a feeling of lightness and ease when you dance. Adding a run, jog or a swim to any workout regimen is something all dancers can benefit from.

If you are in Delhi NCR, more specifically in the south of Delhi, and are interested in dance classes, you can call or WhatsApp on our Studio number 9319153005