Strength Training for Dancers: Improve Your Control
The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research just published a study, “Effects of a Resistance Training Intervention on Strength, Power, and Performance in Adolescent Dancers” that largely serves to confirm what progressive thinkers in the dance medicine world have been advocating while simultaneously providing persuasive arguments that ought to nudge dance teachers, artistic directors, and choreographers to view strength training as integral to a dancer’s preparation.
The study used a 9-week residence training program and a battery of measurements to determine whether weight-bearing exercise could improve “maximum lower-body strength and power, dynamic balance, and dance performance in adolescent dancers.” It probably won’t surprise you to find out that the authors’ conclusion was “yes.” The authors reported “significant” improvement in “lower-body peak force and single-leg peak power.” This is obviously what anyone might expect, of course. If you give people access to strength training who aren’t currently strength training, then they’re going to get stronger.
But stronger isn’t really the end goal for strength training with dancers. The end goal is injury prevention and performance improvement. The study doesn’t address injuries, but the strength and power improvements are strongly suggestive that young dancers could be more resilient against injury than they otherwise might be.
The most interesting conclusion in the study—which confirmed previous research on the subject—is “that the inclusion of specifically designed resistance training program can lead to significant improvement in dancing performance.” Lift weights to get stronger. Lift weights to try to prevent injury. But that’s what strength coaches worry about. Lift weights to become a better dancer? Now that should get the artistic community’s attention.
“Of the variables assessed,” according to the study, “control was the most significantly affected.” This is entirely intuitive, of course, because we know that one of the principal adaptations to strength training is improved neuromuscular control. That’s why when we work with dancers in our studio, including in the professional ranks, we spend the first few weeks of training getting the individual in front of us to move well in a strength training context. This enhances their ability to understand how to move their body, and coupled with the increased strength, allows them to more easily express themselves artistically.
Remember that this study involved adolescent dancers, so by definition one of the major benefits of their strength training was introducing them to concepts key to their longterm athletic development. In our studio, whenever we get a young dancer who trains with us, our primary concern is teaching and reinforcing good movement patterns. A 14-year-old who learns the most basic exercises now becomes the 18-year-old who has access to more advanced lifting techniques. Contrary to what many believe about strength and conditioning, well-trained coaches aren’t looking for maximum load on the bar or maximum technical difficulty. We’re looking for the most basic movements done well consistently over time. When a dancer is ready for a more complicated version of an exercise, the well-trained coach will know when to progress her. But there is a lot of low-hanging fruit with the basics. The exercises included in the referenced study were among the most basic movements strength and conditioning coaches teach. Push ups. Rows. Hip thrusts. Planks. And the dancers not only got stronger, but they also became better dancers.
If you’re interested in how we approach using basic movements to help make dancers stronger, we’ve just launched the Dancer’s Guide to Strength presale.
When you purchase the Dancer's Guide to Strength, you'll be investing in:
Lifetime access to a full library of exercises--to which we will constantly be adding.
Discounts on future Dancer's Guides (we have some exciting ones planned for you!)
The ability to ask questions in an online community and discounts on working with us one-on-one.
A 12-week sample training program with guidance on how to customize it.
A PDF that walks you through the science of programming and how we think about exercise selection and order.