Dancer Conditioning: Walk, Run or Sprint, but Don't Jog

I’ve been critical before about the use of running as a conditioning tool for dancers, but I think when I’ve talked about that publicly I’ve been too imprecise with my language. While I continue to think that long, slow jogs probably aren’t a good use of a dancer’s energy, I do think that sprinting and running can be.

So, let’s agree on terminology first.

SPRINTING

RUNNING

JOGGING

To understand why I think jogging is a bad idea for dancers, let’s start with the most important training question there is, which is “why am I doing this?” Presumably you’re trying to develop your cardiovascular capacity. If that’s the case, then keep in mind it’s going to take more long, slow jogging to accomplish your conditioning goals than if you ran harder.

The issue with this, even though slow jogging might be relatively low impact, is that you almost certainly don’t have the time to long slow jog your way to fitness. You need to learn complex choreography AND develop strength AND work on power AND rest AND cook most of your meals AND spend time with community.

If you sprint, on the other hand, you’ll be both developing your athletic power AND conditioning simultaneously. I also suspect that for a dancer, working on the skill of sprinting likely would have a strengthening effect as well. (I’d love to conduct or read research on this front, but for now it’s just an educated hunch.)

Hamstring Injuries

Perhaps I’ve convinced you already about the efficacy of sprinting for dancers. But hold on.

There’s a reason I’m still researching the application of all this, and it’s the risk of injury. Hamstring injuries are a common occurrence in sports, and they happen specifically during sprinting. Among the risk factors for hamstring injuries, according a hypothesis in a paper recently published in the Strength and Conditioning Journal? Poor lumbo-pelivc control.

Despite only a relatively small amount of current evidence, lumbo-pelvic hip control should be considered as a potential risk factor for HSI [hamstring injuries]. An increased anterior pelvic tilt during sprint running is believed to place the hamstrings into an elongated position, thus increasing the strain placed upon them (47,96). This may be particularly critical during the terminal swing phase, when the biceps femoris long head is already placed under increased stretch, which may be further exacerbated by the presence of an anteriorly tilted pelvis (21,47,96). This may result in an increased chance of suffering a HSI; however, further research is required in this regard to fully corroborate such a theory.

This is critically important when we’re talking about dance populations given the propensity for hypermoblity and a general inability for dancers who are novices in a strength and conditioning context to maintain a neutral pelvis when performing basic hinge movements. If a dancer has trouble performing a basic deadlifting pattern, then it stands to reason that they might not be able to maintain lumbo-pelivic control while doing something as dynamic as sprinting.

So while sprinting might be a great idea athletically, teaching a dancer how to sprint well would be paramount. This is no different, really, than teaching a dancer how to lift weights properly and safely, but again, there is an increased risk factor involved given the inherently dynamic nature of sprint work. I might trust a dancer to perform a dumbbell Romanian deadlift weeks or months before I trust her to do a kettlebell swing for the same reason.

One of the ways we could mitigate this risk is adopting an approach advocated by sprinting coach Derek Hansen. He uses sprinting as a return-to-play protocol designed to rehabilitate hamstring injuries.

You read that right. Hansen uses sprinting as a mode of recovery.

He’ll work athletes using sprint drills first before proceeding to acceleration work and short sprints of 10 meters. And he coaches the hell out of these movements!

I continue to believe that making dancers stronger should be our primary focus given the hours upon hours they spend in the studio. But some cardiovascular fitness is obviously necessary, and I think strength and conditioning and dance medicine professionals ought to be considering how best to apply sprint work in a dancer’s program. But they must be taught properly and with fine-tuned attention to detail. Poor sprinting mechanics will lead to an inevitable rise in injuries.

Strength and conditioning always involves risk/reward analysis. Given the propensity for dancer injury now, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to suggest that it’s more dangerous for us not to innovate when it comes to the physical preparation for dancers. Sprinting holds some promise, but we must proceed with caution and place a premium on the highest level quality sprint mechanics coaching.

I mentioned this in the title of the piece but haven’t yet in the body: walking is a great form of exercise! It’s low impact, dancers should be strong enough to do it, and it can be done outside (which is particularly important during the COVID era). We should encourage dancers to maintain good posture and report any discomfort, particularly in the anterior hip, but otherwise walking probably is a safer alternative to sprinting or running than jogging, which has a tendency to reinforce mechanics (again, at the anterior hip) that could be devastating to a dancer’s ability to perform.

When it comes to walking, I think it’s important for dancers to understand that walking should be viewed less as a weight loss or body composition strategy than as a recovery strategy. Building and holding onto muscle while fueling with adequate protein intake will be more beneficial for decreasing body fat than trying to walk (or run) calories off, but that doesn’t mean that walking isn’t beneficial. There’s something to be said about the mental and emotional benefits of getting outside, getting away from the studio, and moving one’s body free from the pressure of the prying eyes of artistic directors and choreographers.