I want a REALLY intense exercise program for dancers. Something that involves building muscle (while staying lithe and lean of course) and something that helps cardio. Some sort of vigorous exercise routine that I can start that will help me with ballet. The faster I can get results the better. I would like something that shows results in a month’s time, but any sort of intense exercise program for dancers would be good; something that helps with endurance, muscle, cardio, flexibility, and technique for ballet. I’m open to anything. Thanks!
My suggestions!
Best cardio exercises other than running: Swimming laps, Elliptical, and jump rope
Most important muscle group for dancers: the core, your abs
Also, I feel like nothing gets you in better shape for dance than dancing! I always feel more on top after a dance intensive than after a similar period of just exercising.
With that said, this is what I did at the beginning of the summer:
Stretch major muscle groups to just warm up, start from top to bottom: neck, shoulders, back, hips (hip flexors and rotators), quads, hamstrings, calves, ankles. Hold or go through each stretch for 30 seconds. So this segment takes about 8 minutes.
Then do what I call a cardio barre. You do a simple barre but instead of taking a break inbetween exercises just flow from one to the next. The key is to get a mix or cd that you can just do barre straight through.
2 demi plies (12, 34), 1 grand plie (5678), tendu (12), tendu (34), 4 degages (5678). Do that en croix from 5th position. Repeat on left. Then do 1 grand plie in 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th en croix. Repeat on left if you want. Next, 4 frappes, 2 degages, 2 frappes, en croix. repeat on left. Next, 4 ron de jambes a tere en dehors, brush front and ron de jambe to 2nd, hold, 6 ron de jambe to your knee, tendu, close front. 4 grand battement front. reverse whole ron de jambe exercise and then repeat whole thing on left. Next one low developpe, one medium, and two high. Do this en croix, then repeat on left. Lastly, do some port de bras. Cambre forward in 5th, then back, then releve, and go forward again, then back, then left, and right, lunge and cambre forward again, then back. From the lunge, come up to tendu derriere, and then raise your leg to arabesque, releve and balance. Repeat to left.
Then you can take a water and cool down break. You can do some barre stretches here if you want.
Next work on your abs.
There are a ton of different ab exercises. Do whichever combination you want, but make sure you work your upper abs, lower abs, and both obliques (side abs). Sometimes if I don’t have time for a full workout, I’ll jut max out (keep going till I can’t anymore), but if you have the time, it is better to do like 3 sets of 30, or however much you can handle. If you’re going to mix things up, do like 2 sets of 20 for each of your different ab exercises. If you have 5 different kinds, it’ll come out to 100 reps by the end.
Next feet and ankles with upper body:
I’d say max out on releves, then stretch your achilles, then do some ankle circles working to your full range.
Do the tricep exercise 3 sets of 10.
Do as many pushups as you can
then do another max out of releves. stretch and circle again.
Do the tricep exercise 3 sets of 10.
Do as many pushups as you can (i can only do 4, hence why I say do as many as you can)
Stretch out your chest and triceps.
Drink some more water.
This would be your Monday Wednesday Friday workout.
Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays, You could see if you can do my ab/cardio power workout. I alternate 1 minute of jump roping with 1 minute of crunches/situps and repeat, 1 minute of jumprope, 1 minute of abs, and I do this for 30 minutes. So it ends up being 15 minutes of jump roping and 15 minutes of abs.
First time I did it, I was like, this should be easy, but I couldn’t finish the 30 minutes, it gets easier with time.
Then on the weekends, don’t exercise, because your body needs a break and to recuperate so that it can be 100% for your weekday workouts.
I hope this helps!
ps, If the cardio barre doesn’t make sense because of the terminology, check out: http://abt.org/education/dictionary/index.html for definitions. Also, if you feel like you can’t remember that, just remember what you do at barre, and do a little bit of everything (plie, tendu, degage, frappe, ron de jambe, grand battement, developpe and stretch) It’s not meant to be an advanced barre, just something to keep you in shape in between classes so you can stay on top! 
August 6th, 2009 at 11:02 am
There is a DVD on sale. It was released by the New York City Ballet and it includes a cross between ballet and cardio exercises. I believe there are small clips from the DVD on YouTube, as I remember having tried a five-minute exercise routine from the DVD and recall it as being fun yet somewhat challenging. I don’t know how much it costs, but I’m guessing it’s more or less 20$.
To build muscle you need to lift weights, but if you do not want to bulk up very much, you need light weights (from 5 to 10 pounds) with a lot of reps.
If you keep practicing ballet at home, you already have a great workout! Remember to stretch as hard as you can (as the saying goes, "No pain, no gain", and this applies to stretching (or it does for me anyways)) as it will make your muscles leaner. You could start jogging but people do not recommend it to dancers who have very turned out feet, as you might end up injuring yourself because running requires both feet to be kept straight. If you walk around with your feet a bit turned out, I think brisk walking would be better for you, just make sure it is VERY brisk.
But what is it that you want, exactly? Do you wish to lose weight, or to simply get more toned?
Good luck !
References :
Dancer and health freak.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
My suggestions!
Best cardio exercises other than running: Swimming laps, Elliptical, and jump rope
Most important muscle group for dancers: the core, your abs
Also, I feel like nothing gets you in better shape for dance than dancing! I always feel more on top after a dance intensive than after a similar period of just exercising.
With that said, this is what I did at the beginning of the summer:
Stretch major muscle groups to just warm up, start from top to bottom: neck, shoulders, back, hips (hip flexors and rotators), quads, hamstrings, calves, ankles. Hold or go through each stretch for 30 seconds. So this segment takes about 8 minutes.
Then do what I call a cardio barre. You do a simple barre but instead of taking a break inbetween exercises just flow from one to the next. The key is to get a mix or cd that you can just do barre straight through.
2 demi plies (12, 34), 1 grand plie (5678), tendu (12), tendu (34), 4 degages (5678). Do that en croix from 5th position. Repeat on left. Then do 1 grand plie in 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th en croix. Repeat on left if you want. Next, 4 frappes, 2 degages, 2 frappes, en croix. repeat on left. Next, 4 ron de jambes a tere en dehors, brush front and ron de jambe to 2nd, hold, 6 ron de jambe to your knee, tendu, close front. 4 grand battement front. reverse whole ron de jambe exercise and then repeat whole thing on left. Next one low developpe, one medium, and two high. Do this en croix, then repeat on left. Lastly, do some port de bras. Cambre forward in 5th, then back, then releve, and go forward again, then back, then left, and right, lunge and cambre forward again, then back. From the lunge, come up to tendu derriere, and then raise your leg to arabesque, releve and balance. Repeat to left.
Then you can take a water and cool down break. You can do some barre stretches here if you want.
Next work on your abs.
There are a ton of different ab exercises. Do whichever combination you want, but make sure you work your upper abs, lower abs, and both obliques (side abs). Sometimes if I don’t have time for a full workout, I’ll jut max out (keep going till I can’t anymore), but if you have the time, it is better to do like 3 sets of 30, or however much you can handle. If you’re going to mix things up, do like 2 sets of 20 for each of your different ab exercises. If you have 5 different kinds, it’ll come out to 100 reps by the end.
Next feet and ankles with upper body:
I’d say max out on releves, then stretch your achilles, then do some ankle circles working to your full range.
Do the tricep exercise 3 sets of 10.
Do as many pushups as you can
then do another max out of releves. stretch and circle again.
Do the tricep exercise 3 sets of 10.
Do as many pushups as you can (i can only do 4, hence why I say do as many as you can)
Stretch out your chest and triceps.
Drink some more water.
This would be your Monday Wednesday Friday workout.
Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays, You could see if you can do my ab/cardio power workout. I alternate 1 minute of jump roping with 1 minute of crunches/situps and repeat, 1 minute of jumprope, 1 minute of abs, and I do this for 30 minutes. So it ends up being 15 minutes of jump roping and 15 minutes of abs.
First time I did it, I was like, this should be easy, but I couldn’t finish the 30 minutes, it gets easier with time.
Then on the weekends, don’t exercise, because your body needs a break and to recuperate so that it can be 100% for your weekday workouts.
I hope this helps!
ps, If the cardio barre doesn’t make sense because of the terminology, check out: http://abt.org/education/dictionary/index.html for definitions. Also, if you feel like you can’t remember that, just remember what you do at barre, and do a little bit of everything (plie, tendu, degage, frappe, ron de jambe, grand battement, developpe and stretch) It’s not meant to be an advanced barre, just something to keep you in shape in between classes so you can stay on top!
References :
life! as a dancer