Fitness in Dance

Despite the fact that dance requires just as much athletic ability and effort as most sports, dancers are not as physically fit or healthy as most athletes of a comparable age and skill level. (This is even supported by dance research.) For the most part, dancers have a lower level of fitness because they do not overtax their system (essential for building muscle and improving cardiovascular conditioning) during class and most rehearsals. A dancer who does not exercise outside of class and rehearsal will not be adequately prepared for the physical demands of performance.

Unfortunately, the erroneous idea still persists in dance that you simply need to “rehearse to get in shape.” In fact, some high-level teachers and artistic directors still strongly believe that dancing “full-out” in all rehearsals is the only physical training necessary. However, repeated all-out performance of a novel task hinders the brain’s ability to remember and fine-tune the execution of this task. This translates to taking longer to learn and remember new choreography and possibly performing, and subsequently remembering, incorrect steps.

So why isn't "rehearsing to get in shape" enough?

Dance class and rehearsal is usually based on tradition, with teachers using the same order and structure of class activities that they were taught 20+ years earlier. These activities were taught to their teachers, which were taught to their teachers, and so on. Considering that the substance of technique classes has remained largely unchanged for generations while the physical demands placed on dancers and the wide variety of movements and choreographic styles have advanced during this same time period, relying solely on the activities performed in class and rehearsals to improve physical fitness does not make sense.

While all teachers and artistic directors want their dancers to perform to the best of their abilities, some dance administrators believe the myths surrounding working out and fear the supposed negative effects of running outside of dance, leading them to actively discourage their dancers from cross-training. From a performance enhancement and fitness standpoint, discouraging exercise outside of dance seems counter-intuitive, since the aesthetic and artistic qualities of a performance will suffer if a dancer is not physically fit enough to perform all of the choreography to his or her fullest potential. Some dance science professionals believe that dance, as an art form, may reach a limit in its development if supplemental physical fitness training is not fully integrated into a dancer’s routine.

What type of training is best for dancers?

Dancers can benefit from a varied exercise routine of both aerobic and anaerobic activities, as the physiological requirements of dance are a mix of aerobic endurance interspersed with brief anaerobic spurts of activity. The type of exercise that most closely resembles the demands of dance is interval training.

Interval-based workouts are also called sprint-endurance workouts and, over time, can maximize the body’s usage of anaerobic metabolism before switching fully over to aerobic activity. This can translate into performing at a peak level for longer before explosive abilities start to decline (i.e. your jumps will remain the same height for longer into your choreography than before you started the training). In addition to improving conditioning and performance, interval workouts are much more interesting and engaging than traditional aerobic activities (running on a treadmill or track at a consistent speed for a specific distance or duration), since they involve variable speeds and changing activities.

See the previously posted explanation of anaerobic and aerobic metabolism and exercises for examples of interval training.