Happy New Year Prestigians! 2021 may have been the most anticipated New Year’s celebration that we’ve ever imagined. After last year’s craziness, it’s safe to say that we ALL are ready to turn over a new leaf. Our dancers faced some unique challenges during the pandemic, which has inspired us to provide some useful tips for dancers on our blog in 2021!
Dancing at home for months in 2020 made all of us shift our skill-building into smaller spaces and not-so-ideal flooring. We knew this was going to have an impact on our dancers, and since returning to the studio for our 2020/2021 Dance Classes, we’ve witnessed our students adjust and re-learn how to dance in big spaces.
Our dedicated Prestige teachers recognize that this transition has probably made our dancers more prone to injuries in the last couple of months. But we are always here to help! Check out this list of 5 proven ways to stay injury-free this year!
5 Ways to Stay Injury Free in 2021:
1. Stretch, Stretch, Stretch!
We’re putting this one at the top of our list because we KNOW that most of our dancers don’t do this as much as they should! It’s okay, we’re guilty too sometimes! Stretching is the act of lengthening muscles and tendons. Doing so increases your range of motion and takes stress off your joints when dancing. Longer and more flexible muscles are less likely to strain, pull, or cause pain elsewhere!
2. Strength Training
Dancers are athletes, and athletes must condition their bodies in addition to practicing their chosen sport or technique. If certain muscles are weak, the body begins compensating by overworking other muscles and joints. Of course, this leads to pain and difficult injuries. If you’re looking for some guidance, follow along with this great video! Tailored specifically to dancers, this Youtuber posts videos of super useful strength and stretch workouts!
3. Roll It Out!
This one is especially important for our dancers that took a break from dance recently! Inactivity can lead to tightness in your muscles. Rolling out can help release and relax those muscles, increasing your range of motion. Foam rolling is also great for recovery AFTER dancing, reducing soreness and fatigue.
4. Placement Over Power
Here at Prestige, we often remind our dancers that proper placement and technique is more important than executing impressive tricks. We would ALWAYS rather see a clean single turn than a messy double, or a clean leap with low legs than a messy leap with legs in a split. When you are pushing for a skill that your body is not ready for or hasn’t perfected the technique for, injury is just one wrong move away.
5. Always Give Yourself A Warm Up Before Practicing At Home
We LOVE when our dancers work on their skills and routines at home. But we were young once upon a time and we remember always wanting to jump RIGHT in with no warm-up or stretches! Don’t do it! You’ll regret it when you pull a muscle. Give yourself some light cardio, a quick stretch, and some pliés and relevés before going hard at home.
We must admit, we have a ton of goals for 2021, but encouraging injury prevention among our dancers is high on the list! We take safety, longevity, and technique very seriously here at Prestige. We hope this list offers some great tips for dancers!
Did you know that we are still enrolling in our 2020/2021 Dance Classes?! If you are interested in adding a class or joining in on the fun this winter/spring, visit the schedule and get registered today. Contact us if you need assistance finding the perfect class for your dancer!
The New Year served as a long-awaited fresh start for all of us! Here’s to a brighter year and staying injury-free in 2021!