Injury Prevention

5 Ways to Stay Injury Free in the New Year

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tips for dancers

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!

How To Keep Your Dancers Warm In Class

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Staying warm as a dancer is always a challenge in the winter ESPECIALLY in Cedar Rapids, IA! Learn how in this post!

 

 

Now that it is mid-January, most people feel the thrill of winter start to slowly wear off. We have seen the snow, we have done our fun winter activities and now it is just COLD! Dancers in the studio get tired of throwing on all those winter layers to and from class too. They may start to think… is it really THAT important to stay warm anyways?! We are here to report that YES! It is that important to stay layered and warm before and in between classes, even as the excitement of wearing that favorite Prestige hoodie wears off.

What is the big deal you ask?? This article from IDTA does an amazing job explaining the benefits of warming up. Dancers need to prepare their bodies for what they are asking during class. Muscles need heat to stretch and move to their max capacity. Because the temperatures drop in the winter, it is even MORE important to be intentional with a warm-up.

In all of our classes at Prestige, we include a warm-up at the beginning of class and it is for the very same reason listed above. We want to make sure that your dancers move safely no matter what the weather outside is like. So what can you do to help when it is cold outside?

  • Talk to your dancer about why it is important to warm up before class.
  • Bring your dancers a few minutes early to get a head start on warming up. While dancers catch up with their dance friends have them get moving with some light exercises. This is especially important while recovering from an injury (Ask your physical therapist for a pre-class warm-up).
  • After class, bundle up to go outside. This is always a challenge with young dancers because they are hot after class but the cool-down is equally important. By bringing the body temperature down gradually, dancers can reduce muscle spasms and cramps.

Although these tips are especially important in the winter, they should be used all year long! Staying warm in dance class is a huge part of injury prevention, which is SO valuable to all dancers. Make sure your dancer knows the importance of it and let us know if you have questions. We are here to help and guide your dancer through it! The best part? Spring will be here before you know it!

Stay Healthy & Injury Free This Year!

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Healthy and Injury Free

We are well into our performance season here at Prestige. Between competitions, community performances, and recital, our dancers are dancing more than ever! Staying healthy and injury free during this time of the year is not only important but also harder than the first half of the year. We thought it would be a great time to go over some helpful tips and give you a few useful articles so you can give your dancer a leg up in this department!

  1. Stay hydrated- The number one thing in every dancer’s bag should be their water bottle! Get a sturdy reusable one that they can fill up over and over. Make sure to talk to your dancer about actually using it too! At performances, things get crazy so it can be really easy to forget. Help them out and have an extra ready for them every time you touch base. They will be happy to see it after dancing full out on stage!
  2. Eat mindfully- What we put into our bodies has a HUGE impact on how we feel. Eating foods high in nutrients will reduce our chances of getting sick. They also give us the energy we need to pull off really busy weekends and AMAZING performances. Check here for ideas on what to eat during those long performance days!
  3. Know when to rest- One of the most important parts of staying injury free is knowing the difference between sore muscles and PAIN. It is really tough for dancers to figure out the difference. We love this article explaining it all. For many dancers, resting is NOT something they want to do. They think if they just push through, the pain will go away. However, if they ignore the pain and forego rest, it can turn into a much bigger problem, requiring even MORE time off.
  4. Stretch and Strengthen- Take the time to warm up before running on stage. Try doing jumping jacks or planks backstage while waiting. Dancing full out on cold muscles can lead to injuries. Also, stretching and rolling out after a long day of dance can have a huge impact on reducing soreness. During off weeks keep up with strengthening exercises like these.

We know that with these 4 tips, you are setting your dancer up for success through the busiest time of the year! We can’t wait to see the amazing results!