Preparing for Summer Intensives: Tips for Going In Healthy and Leaving Stronger

Summer intensives typically involve long training days. A dancer may train 6-7 hours a day for 5-6 days a week. It is important that a dancer is physically prepared to sustain these long hours to avoid overuse injuries and burnout.   



​Preparing for Long Training Days:

• Refine your technique: Ensure that you are taking daily technique classes to prepare. Focus on alignment and stability to avoid misuse injury. Avoid mistakes such as excessive turnout from the knees/ankles, overpronation, clawing the toes, winging/sickling en pointe, and sinking into hyperextension.
• Increase your endurance: Technique classes alone don’t always prepare you for dancing for extended periods. It is important to supplement dance classes with cardiovascular exercise and strength training to prepare for choreography and long training days. Most injuries occur when a dancer is fatigued and therefore it is important to improve aerobic capacity to delay fatigue. About 20 minutes of moderate to vigorous cardiovascular exercise such as swimming or cycling can bring about aerobic fitness increases and improve stamina (Koutedakis 2004).
• Increase your strength: Dancers need adequate strength to sustain intense training. Cross-training to build strength could include Pilates, yoga, or weight training. Diversifying physical activity helps prevent muscle imbalances and can improve endurance and strength without redundancy.
• Address areas of weakness: Core strength and proximal hip control are better indicators of ankle stability than isolated foot/ankle strength. If a dancer has poor turnout control from the hip and inadequate core stability, the ankle is less stable en pointe,  thus placing the dancer at increased risk for injury. Focus on developing core stability and proximal hip strength to prevent injury (Bullock-Saxton 1994).
• Address areas of tightness: Stretching exercises can be performed daily. Common areas of restriction include the hip flexors, the long toe flexor (flexor hallucis longus), external rotators of the hip, and the piriformis. Dynamic stretches (holds of <30 seconds) are appropriate for warming up the muscles. Prolonged stretches (>30 seconds) should be performed after class has ended. Make sure to avoid over-splits to prevent joint damage and ligament laxity.

​Come Back Stronger
Avoid working through through fatigue, illness, or injury. Always seek help from a medical practitioner if an injury occurs. Ensure that you are getting adequate rest in between training days to prevent tissue damage. The muscle requires 12-24 hours of rest following intense levels of physical activity in order to heal and repair damaged tissue prior to additional workouts (Koutedakis 2000). Set a mandatory rest period after summer intensives and avoid jumping into another intensive. It is recommended that a dancer takes a rest period of 2-5 weeks after an intensive or performance season to improve/maintain strength, flexibility, and aerobic capacity. Cross-training can be performed during rest periods (Koutedakis 2004). A rest period is critical for adequate recovery and time to reflect what you have learned.
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1) Koutedakis, Y., & Jamurtas, A. (2004). The dancer as a performing athlete. Sports Medicine, 34(10), 651-661.
2)Bullock-Saxton, J. E., Janda, V., & Bullock, M. I. (1994). The influence of ankle sprain injury on muscle activation during hip extension. International journal of sports medicine, 15(06), 330-334.
3)Koutedakis, Y. (2000). " Burnout” in Dance: the physiological viewpoint.