How To Get Abs Exercises Right For Ballet

How To Get Abs Exercises Right For Ballet

I remember years ago explaining to my eight year olds how not to suck their belly button in, but to pull it upwards. 

I didn't try to explain the concentric (shortening) , eccentric (lengthening) and isometric (sustaining the muscle position) contractions to them.

For dancers, here is a video demonstrating the lengthening contraction, even though at first glance at the physio ball portion,it may seem this trainer is doing crunches. 

 To emphasize this lengthening of the abdominal muscles to the younger girls and boys, I would also have them sit on the floor with a straight back. 

Their legs could be comfortable, as I wanted them to feel the isolated abs, with their pelvis in neutral. I also wanted them to feel the pelvis unchanging, in other words, feel their Sit bones on the floor while they pulled their tummy muscles UP.

Deborah Vogel, author of The Body Series newsletter, explains this well to a ballet teacher HERE.

With the children sitting on the floor both I and my assistant could see immediately which of them were doing a crunch instead of a pull-up movement.

The kids could also easily feel that their bones were moving on the floor, and could sense how to pull up without their bones moving.

That made it easier for them to feel their pelvis staying neutral when they stood up, and pulled up.

We were in a studio with only one mirror, in the back corner, which I think is fine for younger children.

This correct use of the abs also helps children to use their turnout muscles without gripping and pulling their buttocks down and in. 

 Advanced Students

When they become advanced, they will then be able to alter their hip placement with deliberation when doing high leg extensions, rather than just losing it, and crunching their abs shorter.

Here is an article on grand battement,  and you'll see while reading that, how the elongated abs will stabilize you in many ballet movements.

Here's a wonderful dance video for seeing great abs control!

If you have to go to youtube to see this, here's the link:

 https://youtu.be/oMcWhGCvHe4

Enjoy your dance classes!

How did you learn about abs in ballet? Please do share!

 

How Many Calories Should I Eat In A Day

How many calories should I eat in a day to lose weight?

If you're a teen, please don't ask yourself that question - ever!

I have written a lot about healthy diets, especially for teens, teens in ballet training.

Healthy weight control diets don't involve restricting calories.

 Eat The Right Calories 

Don't bother counting them,

I was delighted to read an article in Pointe Magazine about delayed puberty in dancers.

" During puberty, you may have to adjust to inconvenient changes: normal weight gain, a bigger chest, wider hips, acne, pubic hair, body odors, plus a new clumsiness that can suddenly emerge as your body develops. In addition, dancers' bodies are under extra scrutiny, as late adolescence often coincides with their first auditions or early career."

Weight control is different from weight loss. You are inevitably going to gain weight as you grow as your bone mass increases, your muscles grow to catch up with your bones, and your hormones fluctuate.

As a teen ballet student, you should focus on nutrition. You don't need to count calories if you eat plenty of:

• High quality protein (fresh meats/fish)

• Fresh vegetables and salads

• Omega 3 fatty acid bearing nuts for snacks and "the crunch factor"

• Butter and cheeses

If you can get organic and pasture-fed sourced foods, all the better. Herbicides and pesticides are hormone mimickers and can throw your balance off.

What you can restrict is:

• Breads

• Crackers

• Sweets

• Pastas

• All grains

Notice I said restrict, not deprive!

If you are chubby and can't stay slim, get some blood tests for your hormones. You may be hypothyroid, or have some other condition that you can fix.

Puberty isn't easy. You go through growth spurts - and yay! "Im losing weight!" 

Then your growth will wane for a while and suddenly you realize you're a little rounder.

That is when you can restrict the calorie-laden breads, sweets etc. Puberty is

 " The process is dictated by hormones that affect both your body and mind. While these hormones may be vilified for increasing the curves of your body and altering your moods, they make it possible for you to build up adequate bone mass and eventually bear children."

You can read the whole article HERE.

When I was a twenty year old teacher at the National Ballet School I had a dancer friend (also twenty) who was shocked to find out she was pregnant. She got that way not through carelessness, but because she had never had periods. So she wasn't using birth control.

She ended up miscarrying because she didn't have the hormone levels to complete the pregnancy.

She also had gone through puberty while training intensively and staying very thin.

I am also happy to see that Candace Thompson, the author of the Pointe article mentions calcium and Vitamin D supplementation. These are important for bone building.

Please teens, stay healthy!

Effective diet habits will keep you as thin as you want to be, with healthy hormones and no danger from stress fractures.

Eating healthy fats will also contribute to your brain power and good moods.

Eating well will contribute to a sustained career in ballet, and for you young ladies, healthy pregnancies when you're ready for those.

To your health!

D. Buxton is a writing partner with Vone Deporter, of The Sedona Series, about a surfer girl in pointe shoes.

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