My senior year of high school my 3 best friends and I decided it would be a good idea to spend Spring Break in Charleston to run the Cooper River Bridge run, a 10k race over the bridge and through downtown . I mean, why not? Surely it couldn't be that hard. I had never run before in my life, well outside of P.E., but I was a dancer. I could push through 8-12 hour rehearsals with zero problem. My friends Traci and Katie were runners, they ran often and were ready. My friend Stacy, like me, didn't run but she was a swimmer. I was certain if she could do it, I could. How hard could this 10K be?
It was the hardest thing I had ever physically done in my life.
At one point in the run I thought I would not make it and my friends would have to peel me off the sidewalk. Everyone left me in their dust and we met up at the finish line. Katie and Traci did great, had a blast, yada yada. Stacy beat everyone's time and probably could have run it again, her endurance from swimming was outstanding. My ego was crushed. I thought I was in great shape but, after almost throwing up at lunch later that day, I realized I had ZERO stamina. This is where my love of fitness began.
Dance is mostly anaerobic, which means it is mostly a form of exercise that strengthens your muscle groups vs. aerobic exercise where your heart remains elevated throughout.
Since I hadn't been doing any form of aerobic activity, I was unable to regulate my breathing throughout the race. On the plus side, since I was very heavily trained in dance, my legs actually never got tired because I had done so much anaerobic, or power and strength, training through dance.
In dance, we are mostly at the barre, center, or going across the floor. In regular technique classes you are mostly working aerobically to work on strength and power. That is why when we start running dances we get so winded so quickly, because dancers often lack stamina due to the nature of our day to day training. I started running regularly after that, and still do to this day.
I am sharing with you that story to tell you that it is crucial to your dance training that you are working, outside of your technique training, on your stamina and endurance and finding ways to mix in some aerobic activity on a weekly basis.
Trust me, when you get out in the real world of dance you will need the stamina.
I recommend 3-4, 30-45 minute sessions of aerobic activity per week. You might think that sounds crazy and tough but it is actually easier than you think. Taking a brisk walk or jog with your friends, taking a indoor cycling class, or creating your own "dancer conditioning" class are all really fun, great ways to add in some aerobic activity as part of your "dance training". Any type of exercise where your heart rate stays elevated for an extended period of time will do.
Here is a fun way to make your own Dancer Conditioning Class.
First make a playlist of your top 10 favorite songs. Then write down a plan. Alternate every other song with cardio and strength training. Starting the first song with cardio, 2nd song strength, 3rd song cardio, 4th song strength, and so on. Use the songs as your "timer", you don't stop the exercise you have chosen until the song does. Mix and match and make it fun! Cardio songs can be simply walking or jogging around the room to the music, jumping jacks, burpees, ice skaters, high knees, etc. anything that keeps you out of breath to the point where it is tough to talk. Strength sections can be crunches, planks, plies, pushups, squats, lunges, etc. Write down your "plan" for each song first so you know whats next (you will definitely want to mix up the cardio and choose more than one option during those songs), start the playlist, and GO!
Check out my YouTube video below for more ideas/explanation. Have questions? Email me at lizborom@gmail.com.
Take Care of YOU, dancers!
Liz