Your body's your most important tool as a dancer! You can't dance your best when your body's not feelin' good.
Here are some tips on nutrition, hydration, and important training tips help keep your body in great dancing condition.
How To Take Care Of Your Body To Dance Better
1. Follow a Healthy Dancer Diet
If you're experiencing joint and muscle pain, then eat tons of raspberries (full of Vitamin C) or drink red raspberry tea.
If you need some extra help focusing in class, then eat more antioxidants!
Blueberries and green tea are a great way to get your fill of antioxidants, which help with focus and memory.
Also, make sure to keep your meals at least 1-2 hours before you start dancing.
Your meal should be high in complex carbohydrates that will give you energy throughout your class or rehearsal.
If you're dancing for a longer period of time, then make a fruit/veggie smoothie to-go!
2. Hydrate
Cardinal rule of being a dancer: keep a water bottle on you at all times.
That, and choose foods that are rich in water, like watermelon, strawberries, broccoli, cucumbers.
Drink water and snack on these throughout long practices or workshops. You’ll feel hydrated the whole time!
3. Incorporate a Dance Warm Up and Cool Down
Many of us start our dance sessions with a static stretch, but you actually want to get your body warm before you start stretching.
Lead with some jumping jacks, running in place, or grooves to a song. And after you dance, don't sit or lay down right away – take some time to cool down your body.
4. Stretch
Keep your body flexible and increase your range of motion by stretching regularly.
Check out our video about how to stretch properly for dancers!
5. Strength train
Lifting weights can not only develop muscle strength, which can help you hit hard, and be more controlled.
If lifting isn't your cup of tea, do something else to condition – pilates, rock climbing, swimming are some fun options.
6. Give Your Dance Body a Break
Yes, you wanna push through pain and keep dancing – but usually, injury or fatigue are clear signs that your body needs to rest or heal.
If you dance on a sick/injured body anyway, you'll only be making it worse. Don’t be afraid to take a break.
It's not a setback, but an investment to come back even better. See a doctor or physical therapist about recurring or frequent pain.
You wanna enjoy dance for as long as possible – not burn out quick!
Taking care of your body requires continual maintenance. Watch this video for even more tips!
Next, we'll get into goal-setting for beginner dancers.
