KEEPING IN SHAPE DURING A BREAK

SET GOALS:

• What goals are you looking to achieve during this break (e.g., improving core control, extensions, jumps, turnout)?
• What motivates you to reach these goals? 
• What barriers stand in the way of reaching these goals?
• What daily steps can I make to reach these goals? 

TIPS FOR SETTING GOALS

• Make attainable goals
• Create a daily schedule 
• Focus on the foundations (e.g., increasing core control and hip control to improve developpe and turns)
• Realize that it takes time to achieve goals - it takes 6 to 8 weeks to build muscle strength!

 
USE THIS TIME TO CATCH UP ON REST:

• Ensure you are getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night. Healing and repair requires rest!
• Set aside at least 1 day a week for physical rest. This is a great time to allow dance-related injuries to FULLY heal!

 
MAINTAIN ADEQUATE NUTRITION:

• Eat a balanced diet to reduce stress, improve cognitive function, increase recovery, and improve performance
• Incorporate a lean protein source with each meal to aid in muscle repair/recovery

 
IMPROVE OVERALL FITNESS LEVEL

• Increase strength (conditioning, resistance training)
• Restore muscle imbalance (cross-training)
• Gain flexibility (by improving strength!)
• Increase endurance (brisk walk, hike, stationary bike, rower for 20-30 min 3x/week)
• Improve balance control
• Refine basic dance technique/alignment
• Take advantage of online resources 

Use this time to re-set, re-focus, recover, and refine your technique! 

Online resources:
*Health en Pointe individual nutrition and physical wellness sessions (by appointment)
*Lisa Howell ballet blog training at home series: https://www.theballetblog.com/blog/training-at-home/; 
*Dance prehab digital for videos to improve dance foundations as well as individual wellness/dance-specific training sessions: https://danceprehab.com/login/)