Cross-training for Dancers Architecture

I wrote a series of posts on Instagram recently that showcased the architectural foundation of our programming for dancers. You can find that series of posts beginning with this one, or you can read the recap below.

Monday April 5, 2021 — (A) Power and Plyometrics

This week I'm going to break down the architecture of our programming for dancers. Not every program will look exactly the same, but generally speaking the framework I'm going to lay out for you will be very similar to what every dancer we train is doing.⠀

Today, I'm going to break down the (A) slot, which is the first thing we have someone do after they've done positional breathing, foam rolling, and general warmup.⠀

This (A) exercise is where we work on sprint drills, plyometrics like hurdle hops or box jumps. or explosive movements like dumbbell split jerks. ⠀

We put these exercises up front because they require full body coordination and can have a high central nervous system cost. We wouldn't want to have a dancer do a dumbbell split jerk last in their workout, because they could be more susceptible to injury.⠀

The (A) slot is where we work a lot of general athleticism, which translates onto the dance stage by giving a performer access to a wider range of explosive movement. These movements don't look like dance at all, but the artists we work with report that they feel stronger in their jumps as a result of this work.⠀

Tomorrow, as you might suspect, I'll break down the (B) slot, which is where we program full body strength movements.

Tuesday April 6, 2021 — (B) Full body strength

Yesterday we talked about the (A) slot in our program for dancers. Today, as you might suspect, I'm going to break down the (B) slot, which we reserve for full body strength movements.⠀

Whereas the (A) exercises incorporated the full body in explosive movements, the (B) slot is a strength movement that requires full body coordination, but not as explosively. ⠀

What these exercises end up being a lot of the time is your classic big strength movements: squats, lunges, and deadlift variations. If you're a general fitness person, you might think of these as "leg day" exercises, but generally speaking for dance populations we never do body part splits. ⠀

Body part splits aren't bad! They're derived from the bodybuilding world, where you might hear someone do a leg day, back day, or chest day. Those splits work well for people trying to sculpt a very specific physique. And they work *really* well for people using performance enhancing drugs like steroids.⠀

For athletic populations (and, honestly, most "general" population clients)? Thinking less about muscle groups and more about movement quality and strength works best.⠀

Anyway, why do I think of these "leg day" movements as full body? Well, to do them right, you need full body tension to keep you safe. Ain't no way you can squat well without having a strong anterior core. Ain't no way you can have a strong deadlift without knowing how to activate your lats. Ain't no way you can perform a walking lunge without your obliques keeping you from swaying from side to side. ⠀

As with the (A) slot explosive movements, we put these (B) slot strength movements up front in the workout because they can have a high central nervous system cost and because we want the dancer to be as fresh as possible while doing them. The risk of injury is far greater on a deadlift than on a dumbbell bicep curl, so we do the deadlift as early in the workout as possible while a dancer is still able to devote full concentration to the lift.

Wednesday April 7, 2021 — (C) Supersets

In this morning's edition of our programming architecture series, I'll talk to you about how we use supersets. You'll recall that we begin most of our sessions with a power/explosive movement (plyometrics, split jerks, etc.) in an (A) slot, then progress on to a full body strength movement (deadlifts, squats) in the (B) slot. ⠀

Next in our programming, you'll see a series of supersets on our spreadsheets, denoted with (C1), (C2), and (C3). That means you're going to do all three of those exercises back to back with no rest.⠀

Generally speaking we will do a push and a pull for (C1) and (C2), and then we'll do some sort of core exercise or danc(ER) specific movement in (C3). ⠀

Something you might see is:⠀

(C1) Dumbbell overhead press⠀

(C2) Lat pulldown⠀

(C3) Hollow body hold for time⠀

But let's say we're training a dancer who wants to work on her extension height. We might keep (C1) and (C2) as is, but then use (C3) for something like an end-range isometric liftoff to help work on that leg height in développé.⠀

Not all of our programs look *exactly* like this. @presenttense_yoga is particularly gifted at creative programming, so you might look at one of her spreadsheets and see something slightly different. Or @presenttense_coaching might incorporate with her dancers some sort of drill she picked up from her own work with @katie.stclair.fitness. ⠀

But generally speaking, this architecture that I'm laying out for you is going to be what you see in our spreadsheets. We start with this framework, and then we adjust based on the person in front of us.⠀

Thursday April 8, 2021 — (D) Supersets

This week we've walked you through the architecture of our dancer programming.⠀

You've seen:⠀

(A) Power/plyometrics⠀

(B) Strength (generally full body)⠀

(C1) Push or pull⠀

(C2) Push or pull⠀

(C3) Core strength or danc(ER) specific assistance movement⠀

Today I'll walk you through what our "D" exercises look like. If you were to take a look at one of our programming spreadsheets, you might see something like:⠀

(D1) Knee flexion or hinge ⠀

(D2) Push or pull⠀

(D3) Push or pull⠀

That's something you might be more likely to see in the off-season when a dancer isn't at the barre or in their artistic studio as much. ⠀

In-season, you might see something like this:⠀

(D1) Knee flexion or hinge⠀

(D2) Danc(ER) specific assistance movement⠀

(D3) Danc(ER) specific assistance movement⠀

Why the difference between in-season and off-season? Well, generally speaking I'm less concerned about a dancer's cumulative fatigue during the meat of an off-season. I can confidently work them hard knowing that I'm not going to get in the way of rehearsal or learning new choreography.⠀

In-season, I'm likely going to use those (D2) and (D3) slots for injury prevention tailored to the individual's needs in front of me.⠀

One thing you'll notice is that with both in-season and off-season, that (D1) slot says "knee flexion or hinge."⠀

This is where we have to understand that the entire day's work fits together both within the workout and with the week's work.⠀

If I train a dancer on a Tuesday and Friday, I might have them do a squat as their (B) lift on Tuesday and a deadlift variation as their (B) lift on Friday.⠀

If I have her do a squat, then in that (D1) slot I'm going to hinge (since the squat is knee flexion dominant). And if I have her do a deadlift variation, then in the (D1) slot I'm going to have her do something like a lunge (knee flexion).⠀

In other words, we're looking for balance in the programming--which doesn't happen randomly.⠀

If you're a decision-maker at your company and you have questions about incorporating this type of danc(ER) specific and well-rounded cross training for your organization, get in touch. We can help.

Another option if you want to learn more about our dancer programming is to purchase our Dancer's Guide to Strength. You'll get a 3-month sample program, lifetime access, a PDF ebook, one of our spreadsheets, and coaching videos that correspond with every exercise in the program.