This is probably the execise I’ve assigned as homework to the most dancers over time. You know that front side “pinching” feeling women often get trying to execute a beautiful développé? Often times that pinching sensation arises because the femur is sitting forward in the hip socket. This drill is intended to directly address that. Again, think of this as a “healthy hip” movement that can lead to greater expressiveness as well.
Read MoreRemember, your glutes play multiple important roles: they are powerful hip extensors, they are powerful hip external rotators, they are powerful hip abductors (moving legs away from the body—here we’re talking specifically glute medius and glute minimus), and they keep the femur in the acetabulum of the hip. Given the extraordinary mobility dancers often have in their hips, it makes sense in a training sense to also give them a bit of the stability they can lose over the course of a performance season.
Read MoreEvery strength coach will tell you that they evolve over time, but at this point I can tell you that I’m certain training the posterior chain for dancers is going to be something that evolves for us over time. Dancers cannot afford not to have easy neuromuscular access to these muscles, and yet there is a risk to loading hinge movements in order to target these muscles when the proper work hasn’t been done to ensure sound biomechanics. This is where early off-season work, when dancers are still recovering from the rigors of performing, can be critical to drilling good form as a foundation for loading later in the summer. But if the loading happens before the form is established, strength coaches could inadvertently be steering dancers into injury.
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