Summer Training: Use Summer to get Strong and Flexible

This may not be an opinion that a lot share, however, I will give my 6 pence worth anyway...

If you are young and budding Dancer... What is the best use of your time this summer...? More training in the style you already do, just in a different location or training that involves a variety of new Dance Styles, methods of expressing yourself and integrated approaches to improving muscular strength, endurance and flexibility.

Summer Schools have increased in popularity over the last decade and with good reason. Many offer training to Dancers in amazing settings that Dancers would not otherwise encounter. However, if Dancers believe that doing multiple summer schools on top of their usual Dance Study and training throughout the year is the answer to their success then they are being misled.

When you have trained so hard all year, is it really the best use of your well earned down time to do more of the same and potentially be un-refreshed for the following year.

Use summer to train and move in different ways. Allow your body to recover from Dance as the Skill Set WILL NOT LEAVE YOU.

6 weeks break over summer is perfect time to gain significant Whole body strength, mobility and endurance that will stand you in a better position when you return to classes after a summer break.

A sort of "pre-season" if you like.

Do not be put off by my message. There are many merits to summer schools such as the integration and mixture of cultures, variety of people, nationalities and a change from the norm. More simply, doing many summer schools back to back may be a positive intention gone too far.

For example, I am delivering on summer schools this year that have decided to include Dance Health! This is a brilliant use of time at a summer school to promote Strength, Conditioning and Nutrition.

More Dancing does not always mean more success. For many this is optimal time to seek advice from Conditioning Experts and explore other activities that may further enrich their Dancing.

At Science in Dance we have just moved out of a well rounded Power Phase and will now proceed to work on Muscular Endurance and fitness with a component of Eccentric work to ensure Dancers have control through their commonly used positions. During this phase we will also be teaching our Dancers the exercises that they can take away with them over summer to ensure that they can still maintain physiological gains whilst they are not training every day.

I will leave some example below... ENJOY

Perturbed Paloff Press (Anti-Rotation)

Split Jump (Plyometric Medium SSC)

Ballet Specific Stability (NOT ON A WOBBLE BOARD)