Sure, a shoulder is going to be under stress during an overhead lift, and the same can be true for backs. But why should such movements lead to injury?

The answer? Poor relational positioning between the ribcage and the pelvis. If a dancer is lifting his partner overhead but allowing his ribcage to flare and his pelvis to dump into an anterior tilt, then chances are he neither has the shoulder stability nor the lower back stability to execute the lift safely.

Dancers: Fix Your Cat/Cow

The key takeaway here is that Anna didn’t use yoga to get Margot into a bigger range of motion. Rather, she took a highly technical approach to shave off some range of motion, which in turn will keep Margot safe on the mat.

Jason HarrisonFebruary 23, 2021Present Tense Fitnessyoga, cat and cow, cat and camel, spinal extension, spineComment

The Lats: A Primer for Dancers

Strong lats are critical for any athletic movement, in other words, so it’s important that we understand the interplay between them and posture, injury prevention, and performance. When we consider how often dancers are in spinal extension—think arabesque or the standing posture we often associate with ballerinas—then we begin to understand the delicate balance between latissimus dorsi strength and latissimus dorsi mobility.