Strength and mobility for ballet dancers

In my opinion, ballet is one of the most beautiful arts, one of the most demanding sports, and requires an immense amount of mental resiliency. As a retired dancer myself, and a current instructor, I have become extremely passionate about applying my knowledge as a physiotherapist to the world of dance (specifically ballet). Having grown up in the competitive dance world to later pursuing it professionally, I have experienced firsthand the rigours of training. Looking back I see things that were well done but also become very aware of the gaps that were present throughout my training.

As in any sport, you need to train and develop strength in the muscles and movement patterns that are dominant for the specific activity in order to perform. In the instance of ballet, this translates to a lot of focus on strengthening and mobilizing the muscles and joints involved in (1) turn out, (2) back extension, and (3) plantarflexion.

Although strengthening and mobilizing these areas is important, it is EQUALLY as important to mobilize the joint into the opposite direction and strengthen the opposing muscles. Any time you have too much mobility and/or the majority of your strength produced into only one direction across a joint, you create an imbalance and it is only a matter of time before the repetitive stress turns into an injury. It might not even be during your dancing years; I have seen multiple retired ballet dancers entering their 50s & 60s with chronic hip and lower back pain, likely as a result of training errors during their professional careers. Fortunately, it does not have to be this way! With a proper strength and mobility program as an adjunct to your regular classes, the body can adapt and become resilient to these injuries.

In all honestly, this topic could be a full course across multiple lectures, so I don't want to pretend to be able to give you a foolproof plan in just one blog post. My goal here is to provide a framework and to get you guys thinking outside the box about the importance of incorporating strength and mobility training into your weekly routine if you are a dancer, and making this a part of your student's curriculum if you are a teacher. I am going to go through THREE important areas of strength and mobility that should be addressed in dancers (ballet specifically), and some sample exercises that I incorporate into a lot of treatment programs. Let's get down to business:

TURN OUT CITY

From the moment you step foot into your first pre-ballet class at three years old to your final performance before retiring those pointe shoes, developing strength and mobility at the hip joint into external rotation is a primary focus in the world of ballet. I mean, who doesn't love looking at a completely flat retiré that continues to extend into a beautifully turned out devéloppé à la seconde?! It is absolutely breathtaking, and it is part of what makes ballet, ballet. Although it is important to train turn out, it:

Needs to be done properly (ie. turn out needs to come from strength into external rotation at the hip rather than being forced at the ankles and knees) and;
Needs to be accompanied by strengthening and mobility into internal rotation (the opposing movement) and abduction to create stability and prevent imbalanced forces which will lead to altered biomechanics at the joint

Here are three of my favourite "less obvious" exercises to address the above points in ballet dancers:

Side lying internal rotation (reverse clamshells): This is a great exercise for strengthening internal rotation! Put a ball or yoga block between the knees. Squeeze your inner thighs into the ball while lifting the top foot towards the ceiling. Make sure to keep your hips stacked on top of each other!

2. 90/90 hip internal and external rotation: This exercise hits on mobility! Keep your legs in a 90/90 position as you alternate between lifting the back foot (internal) and back knee (external) off the floor.

3. Banded lateral tap outs: A go to exercise for strengthening the glute med which is a huge game player in creating lateral stability at the joint. Keep your knees slightly bent, your core activated, and your knees and toes forward as you alternate tapping your foot side to side.

2. BEND YO SPINE IN HALF

To create that beautiful arabesque line, you need a combination of strength and mobility into both hip and back extension. Hip extension is important, but will only provide the first 0-30 degrees of extension, which means that the height for the rest of the arabesque line is achieved through extension through your lumbar spine. Excessive extension in the lumbar spine is not "bad" in and of itself, but if you are not engaging your deep abdominal muscles and pelvic floor to provide stability, it puts an immense amount of stress on the lower back. When treating ballet dancers, I usually find that they are strong in their superficial core muscles (think the "six-pack" muscles), but extremely weak in their deep core muscles (ie. the muscles that attach to and stabilize the spine).

Here are three of my go-to exercises for teaching activation of the deep core in ballet dancers. There are SO MANY progressions for these exercises that are extremely beneficial, but I'll save that for another post ;)

TA (transverse abdominis) activations: This is a foundational exercise for lower back stability - can you activate your deep core?! Lay on your back with your knees bent, and place your hands just inside your hip bones. Without holding your breath, try and contract the muscles underneath your fingers. 10 second hold x 10 repetitions.

2. Heel slides + leg lift with TA contraction: Begin his exercise by activating the TA. With the core engaged, slowly slide out the heel along the floor until straight, and then lift to a hover. Lower the heel back to the floor and return to the starting position. Complete this exercise in both a parallel and turned out position.

3. Cross body sit up: This is a more advanced exercise, however crucial for developing deep core strength in an extended position. Start with your feet planted and back extended over the exercise ball. Activate your TA in this position before continuing to sit up and reach your opposite arm to opposite knee.

3. NO FLOPPY FEET CLUB

"Nice toes" and "naughty toes." Another element of ballet that is practiced from the moment you step foot into your first class. Creating that pointed foot, which eventually transitions into pointe work, requires a significant amount of plantarflexion at the ankle joint. Again, although this position is not a problem on its own, problems begin to arise when you neglect the opposing movement (dorsiflexion). This is specifically important in ballet dancers because you actually NEED dorsiflexion to get depth into your plié which serves as a foundation for all allegro work. So not only will working on dorsiflexion prevent impingement injuries at the joint, but it will also help you produce more powerful jumps! A win-win scenario :)

Here are three exercises targeted at improving dorsiflexion and developing adequate strength in the lower posterior chain:

Knee to wall: This is a great and simple exercise for improving dorsiflexion at the ankle. The goal is to have your foot as far away as possible from the wall while bringing the knee to the wall. It is important to keep your hips square and your heel in contact with the floor at all times.

2. Single leg deficit heel raises: Standing at the edge of a step in a parallel position, let your heel drop as far as possible. From this position, raise onto demi-pointe keeping your weight equally distributed between all five toes. Slowly lower to the starting position.

3. Mobilization with movement: This is a great dynamic exercise for improving dorsiflexion at the ankle. Make sure that the band is around the talus (lower ankle), and that you have decent tension on the band. Slowly lunge forward as you let the band pull your ankle backwards.

Alright folks, that's it for today! As I say in most of my posts, this seriously only scratches the surface of the depth there is to this topic, but I hope it has inspired you to think about the importance of cross-training and incorporating opposing muscle/movement patterns into your weekly training. As always, if you have any questions about any of the topics or exercises covered, please feel free to reach out to me - I am always happy to talk!

Until next time,