Strength Training for Dancers

Strength Training for Dancers

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COLIN SLADE’S WORLD DANCE CURRICULUM

SUMMARY

Objective Explain the relevance and importance of strength training for dancers. Introduce dancers and dance educators to the Starting Strength method. Recommend programming for strength training and rehearsal and performance schedules. Establish associated costs in time and resources for the addition of strength training to dance curriculum.

Goals Dancers and dance educators should be able to: 1) Identify causes and effects of musculoskeletal weakness in dancers 2) Define stress, recovery, and adaptation 3) Define linear progression in strength training and its application in dance 4) Understand the most important exercises and equipment to spend time and money on

Solution Deliver information to dancers and dance educators (and parents, where applicable) in written and presentation format.

Outline Part 1—Musculoskeletal Weakness in Dancers • Strength - The Foundation of

Performance • Dance Kinesiology • The Young Female Dancer Part 2—Strength Training for Dancers • Stress, Recovery, and Adaptation • The Starting Strength Method • Practical Programming for Dancers Part 3—Associated Costs • Equipment • Strength Coach

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PART 1—MUSCULOSKELETAL WEAKNESS IN DANCERS

Strength - The Foundation of Performance What is strength? • Strength is the ability to produce force

• Product of muscular contraction; muscles can only pull, not push • “The strength of a muscle is the ability of the muscle to exert force against external resistance,

provided by the skeletal attachments of the muscle and the skeleton’s ability to transmit the force of muscular contraction to the environment. The skeleton is a system of levers that provide an interface between the muscular contractile force and the objects we wish to move with our muscles. The system of muscles operating the system of skeletal levers comprises the totality of our physical existence – it is what our bodies are for, the most basic element of our lives.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

• Every movement of the body uses strength • Absolute strength is displayed as the body exerts force on an external resistance

• Weight is objective; 200 pounds is 200 pounds • Whoever can lift more weight is the stronger person

• Relative strength is absolute strength adjusted based on bodyweight and size • A dancer may have low absolute strength, but still be relatively strong • Functional bodyweight movement, such as dance, benefits from high relative strength • Balance and posture are isometric (not moving) displays of relative strength

• Power is the ability to exert force rapidly – to display strength quickly • Used in jumps, lifts, and quick gestures • “This is of extreme importance to

every athlete and coach: the ability to generate power directly affects performance in all sports. Training programs that increase power output should be used for all athletes, from novice to advanced, from tennis players

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to shot putters. All other things being equal, the more powerful athlete will always beat the less powerful athlete.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

How is strength the foundation of performance? • Strength is the most important physical characteristic for human performance

• “Strength undergirds all other factors when one considers the total functioning of the body movements. Without sufficient strength, factors such as endurance, flexibility, and skill cannot be used effectively.” (Professor Gene Logan, Adaptations of Muscular Activity)

• While a dancer may have extreme proprioceptive talent, they may lack sufficient strength to perform the movement

Dance Kinesiology Dance is Movement • Dance is by definition human movement

• “A transient art of expression, performed in a given form and style by the human body moving in space.” (Joann Kealiinohomoku, Reflections and Perspectives on Two Anthropological Studies of Dance)

• Dance is therefore an artistic display of strength because the dancer’s muscles move their body through space

• A stronger dancer may not necessarily be a better dancer, but increased strength—and the proprioception to control that strength—equates to increased artistic potential

• Dance is a whole body activity

• Dance involves multiple muscle groups and multiple joints moving around various—sometimes extreme—ranges of motion

• The posterior kinetic chain is weight bearing and central to dance • The feet interact with the ground • The legs, hips, spine, shoulders, and head

stack on top of the feet • Dance is instructed and learned using the

whole body; not by isolation or artificially in a machine

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• Dance lives in the anaerobic spectrum of metabolic activity • “ATP is produced in three ways: 1) through the regeneration or recycling of previously-stored ATP

by creatine phosphate, 2) through non-oxygen-dependent glucose metabolism (glycolysis), and 3) through oxygen-dependent metabolism that utilizes both fatty acids and the end products of glycolysis (oxidative phosphorylation). Conventionally, the first two mechanisms for ATP production are termed ‘anaerobic’ and the third ‘aerobic.’” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

• “The form of energy stored within the muscle is glycogen, the storage form of glucose, which is made up of long branched chains of glucose molecules stuck together. Intense exercise longer than 12 seconds and up to a few minutes in duration, such as longer sprints and high-repetition weight training, requires the breakdown of glycogen molecules into glucose, a process called glycogenolysis. The resulting individual glucose molecules are further broken down through the processes of glycolytic metabolism. Steps in this process generate ATP, and the

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ATP produced by glycolysis is available as a fuel for continued intense exercise. (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

• Both in rehearsal and in performance, bouts of intense activity rarely last more than a few minutes

The Body of a Dancer • The Aesthetic Ideal

• Enormous professional and social pressure to be thin, flexible, low weight, and low body fat • Dancers avoid activities that build muscle for fear of “bulking up” • Preference given to stretching for greater flexibility and aerobic activity because it “burns fat”

• The technique and nutritional requirements are typically at odds with the ideal physical aesthetic • Not to mention the psychology of dance

• Technique Requirements

• Joint flexibility typically emphasized over muscular strength • Though specific to genre, each type of dance has minimum

movements that must be mastered in order to be considered proficient

• Movements get more complicated as proficiency and experience (strength and proprioception) increase • Dancers get more proficient at only the movements they

rehearse • Dancers are chronically strong in some muscle groups

and weak in others • Proficiency or ability to advance in technique typically based

on age or experience (i.e. number of years dancing) or the subjective judgement of a dance educator

• Fueling the Dancer • Dance requires glycogen

• Glycogen comes from food, especially carbohydrates and fat • Dancers try to avoid these foods to maintain physical aesthetic

• Rehearsal and performance schedule, as well as lifestyle tend to lead to poor nutritional choices and habits

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• Caloric intake should equal amount expended in dance PLUS amount required for recovery PLUS amount required for homeostasis • The United States Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is between 2000-2500 kcal per day • “The RDA is based on the needs of the average population, and the average American is

sedentary. It is not logical to expect the nutritional requirements of a sedentary individual to be the same as the requirements of anyone undergoing a program of systematically increasing physical stress and adaptation.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

Common Dance Ailments • Overtraining

• “Overtraining is the cumulative result of excessive high-volume or high-intensity training, or both, without adequate recovery, that results in the exhaustion of the body’s ability to recover from training stress and adapt to it.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

• Diagnostic signs of overtraining in non-novices are severe, when finally apparent: obviously compromised performance, disrupted sleep, increased chronic pain, abnormal mood swings, chronic elevated heart rate, depressed appetite, weight loss, and other physical and mental abnormalities. (In fact, these are the same physical symptoms characteristic of severe depression, a clinical problem also arising from the accumulation of unabated stress.) . . . Once overtraining is diagnosed, it is imperative to take remedial action, as longer periods of overtraining require longer periods of recovery. It quite possibly can take as much as twice as long to get a trainee out of overtraining as it took to produce the condition. Horror stories about severe overtraining abound, with examples of athletes losing entire training years. No effort must be spared in recognizing and treating this very serious situation.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

• Musculoskeletal Injuries • “Both external (e.g., type of movement, number of repetitions) and internal (e.g., muscular activity)

factors could . . . be held responsible for exercise-related injuries. This may simply be the failure to effectively absorb or dissipate the forces of repetitive impact on hard unyielding surfaces, leading to increased stresses on the ‘shock-absorber’ system (i.e., mainly skeletal muscles), and/or the lever system (i.e., bones and joints). If excessive physical stress occurs on bone tissue that is already fragile (i.e., bone with a decreased density), it could explain why there is such a

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high incidence of serious skeletal injuries in both dancers and athletes.” (Lynne Myszkewycz, B.Sc., and Yiannis Koutedakis, Ph.D., “Injuries, Amenorrhea and Osteoporosis in Active Females”)

• Feet, Lower Legs, and Knees • Ankle Sprain, Dropped Arch (Navicular), Shin Splints (Tibial Stress Syndrome), Knee Pain, etc. • “Most studies report that between 60% to 80% of injuries in dancers involve the foot, ankle, and

knee. . . . Overuse injuries are by far the most common type of injury. Obviously, such problems are usually associated with technical errors and physical imperfections. . . . However, other less obvious factors may need to be reviewed, such as . . . inadequate nutrition leading to osteoporosis and stress fractures.” (Stephen F. Conti, M.D., and Yue Shuen Wong, M.D., “Foot and Ankle Injuries in the Dancer”)

• “The typical dancer is a teenage girl with insidious, vague anterior knee discomfort not associated with a particular trauma. The pain is aching and dull, overlying the patella and the medial femoral condyles. . . . While quadriceps strength is emphasized in many protocols, there is support in the literature for strengthening the hamstrings.” (David M. Jenkinson, D.O., and Delmas J. Bolin, Ph.D., M.D., “Knee Overuse Injuries in Dance”)

• Hips and Spine • Hip Pain, Lumbar Lordosis/Anterior Pelvic Tilt • “The majority of hip injuries in

professional dancers are muscle strains. . . . These injuries are generally treated with relative rest, followed by a progressive stretching and strengthening program to restore flexibility and strength around the hip. If there are concerns about dance technique, they should be addressed when the dancer has adequate strength and flexibility in the hips to make changes in technique and not before. Dancers, in our experience, often try to dance their way into shape, but we have not seen this as an effective rehabilitation tool.” (David Stone, M.D., “Hip Problems in Dancers”)

• “It can be hypothesized that as a result of injury, degenerative change, or repetitive motion, dancers may develop impairments in spinal motor control of lumbar extension. Comprehensive

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assessment and management of these dancers should identify and correct faulty movement patterns and affect specific changes in muscle recruitment.” (Jo Smith, P.T., O.C.S., “Moving Beyond the Neutral Spine: Stabilizing the Dancer with Lumbar Extension Dysfunction”)

• Posture and Alignment Issues • Turnout

• Cheating turnout, “screwing” the knee, foot pronation

• “The development of turnout is of greatest importance in ballet, and it is generally stated that dancers obtain 60% of their turnout from the hip joint, and about 40% from below the hip. . . . Turnout is limited by several anatomic factors including: 1. Femoral anteversion; 2. Capsular flexibility; 3. Orientation of the acetabulum; and 4. Muscle-tendon unit flexibility. . . . It is extremely uncommon for dancers to have perfect turnout, and dancers must understand their limitations and work within their true physiologic range of motion. . . . Hip injuries rarely end the professional dancer’s career, but inadequate turnout is commonly the reason dance students drop out of dance programs.” (David Stone, M.D., “Hip Problems in Dancers”)

• “Slow progression [is important] in order to gain good control of demi-pointe, three-quarter pointe, and finally full pointe. The muscles of the foot must be strengthened to create strong arches before pointe work can be recommended. In all foot positions the action of the foot and ankle should not be compromised, even if turn out of the hip is not fully satisfactory.” (Jarmo Ahonen, P.T., “Biomechanics of the Foot in Dance: A Literature Review”)

• Stability • Postural fatigue • “In closed kinetic chain movements, supination is always related to external rotation of the whole

lower extremity. Thus, it is important to encourage dancers to strengthen their deep external rotators of the hip joint and to teach them to use those deep muscles actively in demi-pointe. If the leg is turned out with no proper control of the movement, it may lead to sickling of the foot-ankle unit, and hence to inversion ankle injuries. For this reason, the hip

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adductors also need to be well-trained and “connected” in relevé. In demi-plié the foot tends to abduct due to the orientation of the talocrural axis. Therefore, the muscles of the lower extremity must be trained to counteract the tendency for the tibia to rotate internally on the talus when doing plié (this is especially important in landings jumps).” (Jarmo Ahonen, P.T., “Biomechanics of the Foot in Dance: A Literature Review”)

• As shown above, strengthening the musculoskeletal system is both the prevention and the treatment for the majority of dance related injuries and ailments • “The biggest mistake made by therapists is the incorrect application of

this concept. Many of them seem to regard the injury itself as the stressor, and fail to realize that 1) the stress of injury has already been adapted to, that 2) the subsequent lack of training stimulus is a stress that has likewise been adapted to, and 3) that the rehabilitation stress they provide must be sufficiently intense to produce the stress/ recovery/ adaptation response that took the athlete to his previous level of performance. “Rehab” in the sense an athlete uses the term cannot do its job unless it provides sufficient stress to cause the adaptation to that stress plus a little more – just like it did the first time, and mistaking the stress of the injury that occurred days, weeks, or months in the past for something that must be allowed to rest more or heal a little bit longer is a failure to understand the fundamental processes that govern performance.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

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The Young Female Dancer The Vulnerable Population • Young female dancers are particularly susceptible to dance related injuries and ailments

• Extreme pressure to meet both aesthetic and technical demands • Female hormonal profile and physiology predispose them to injury • “The physical demands placed on dancers are significant, as success is dependent upon both

athletic capabilities and aesthetic factors. In order to achieve the desired long, lean figure, ballet dancers often severely restrict dietary intake or engage in abnormal eating behaviors. Student and professional ballet dancers, particularly females, consume less than 70% to 80% of the recommended dietary allowance for total energy, and often weigh 10% to 12% below ideal body weight.” (Ashley F. Doyle-Lucas, Ph.D., and Brenda M. Davy, Ph.D., R.D., F.A.C.S.M., “Development and Evaluation of an Educational Intervention Program for Pre-professional Adolescent Ballet Dancers Nutrition for Optimal Performance”)

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The Female Athlete Triad • Poor nutrition, dance schedule, and lifestyle

habits lead to poor health • Low Energy

• Female dancers often eat less than 1300 calories per day

• Eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia, are common • “Although the combination of exercise

and low body fat in relation to the pathogenesis of amenorrhea has been widely covered, the effects of eating disorders as another possible causative mechanism have not extensively been studied. Semi-professional and professional female dancers are at greater risk of suffering from eating disorders than the general population, as expectations for the dancer to achieve established body-shape norms force them to adopt any available method. Audiences and choreographers are guilty of expecting ballet dancers to be sylph-like and long-legged, but still to maintain almost supramaximal performance.“ (Lynne Myszkewycz, B.Sc., and Yiannis Koutedakis, Ph.D., “Injuries, Amenorrhea and Osteoporosis in Active Females”)

• Insufficient caloric intake to fuel activity, much less recovery and homeostasis • Bone Loss and Osteoporosis

• Hormones govern the growth and absorption of bone • Hormones are created from protein, fat, and micronutrients • If the body is nutritionally deficient, it can’t create the hormones it needs

• “Alarmingly, an increasing number of young, physically active, females have also been identified with symptoms of premature osteoporosis. Abnormally low bone densities have been reported for both dancers and athletes. These abnormalities have been observed primarily in trabecular bone, such as the vertebrae, rather than in the long bones. In some cases, active young amenorrheic females may have skeletons that exhibit features typical of that of 51-year-old post-menopausal females.” (Lynne Myszkewycz, B.Sc., and Yiannis Koutedakis, Ph.D., “Injuries, Amenorrhea and Osteoporosis in Active Females”)

• “. . . bone tissue adapts in response to the functional forces acting upon it. Although the type, intensity, and frequency of physical stresses necessary to enhance formation of bone tissue are not yet clear, the significance of weight-bearing exercise for maintaining a

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healthy skeleton has been widely appreciated.” (Lynne Myszkewycz, B.Sc., and Yiannis Koutedakis, Ph.D., “Injuries, Amenorrhea and Osteoporosis in Active Females”)

• Menstrual Disturbances and Amenorrhea • The menstrual cycle is also governed by hormones

• Proper nutrition should support exercise, recovery, and homeostasis • In the event of nutritional deficiency, the body will prioritize homeostasis and survival over other

functions, such as menses • “One mechanism that is thought to be responsible for the delay in the onset of menarche is

‘energy drain’ caused by the intense physical activity, which inevitably results in decreased body fat. Indeed, Malina and coworkers have observed that runners and gymnasts have a later menarche than swimmers. They concluded that low body weight and estimated body fat might account for these findings.” (Lynne Myszkewycz, B.Sc., and Yiannis Koutedakis, Ph.D., “Injuries, Amenorrhea and Osteoporosis in Active Females”)

• “Secondary amenorrhea has also been linked to certain external factors such as type and volumes of physical exertion. For example, secondary amenorrhea is much more common in females participating in endurance- type training, compared to females participating in strength or weight training programs.” (Lynne Myszkewycz, B.Sc., and Yiannis Koutedakis, Ph.D., “Injuries, Amenorrhea and Osteoporosis in Active Females”)

• “Calorie restriction is another factor that in influences the development of secondary amenorrhea; the more severe the calorie restriction, the greater the risk of amenorrhea. Even worse is when calorie restriction is combined with heavy exercise programs, as such combinations inevitably lead to significant body fat reductions.” (Lynne Myszkewycz, B.Sc., and Yiannis Koutedakis, Ph.D., “Injuries, Amenorrhea and Osteoporosis in Active Females”)

• Strength training addresses all three areas of the Female Triad • Low energy

• Weights are objective; if the individual can’t lift the weight, they aren’t strong enough • They either haven’t trained long enough, have issues with technique, or aren’t recovering

properly (sleep and nutrition) • It is physically impossible to progressively build strength without sufficient nutrition and caloric

intake to support activity, recovery, and homeostasis • Bone Loss and Osteoporosis

• Bones adapt to support the weight they carry • The dancer’s body is rarely subjected to more than their own body weight

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• Additional weight ensure the dancer’s body can handle body weight and then some (factor of safety)

• “After all, the bones are what ultimately support the weight on the bar. Bone is living, stress-responsive tissue, just like muscle, ligament, tendon, skin, nerve, and brain. It adapts to stress just like any other tissue, and becomes denser and harder in response to heavier weight. This aspect of barbell training is very important to older trainees and women, whose bone density is a major factor in continued health.” (Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training)

• Menstrual Disturbances and Amenorrhea • Proper nutrition supports a healthy hormonal profile for activity, recovery, and homeostasis • “The menstrual cycle may introduce a scheduling factor. The variability of discomfort and the

associated effects of menses requires close cooperation between trainee and coach, especially at higher levels of training advancement where a competitive schedule will demand attention to all performance and training parameters. For novice women, it will present no greater an obstacle to training than it does for anything else in the monthly schedule. One other consideration: the average American female is protein, iron, and calcium deficient. All of these deficiencies may affect health and performance. Most American women, in a misguided attempt to reduce fat intake, have managed to also reduce their protein intake to levels below that which will support training and recovery. Protein intake for female athletes should follow the same guidelines used for men – 1 gram per pound of bodyweight per day. Low iron stores can affect metabolism and oxygen transport, leading to a perception of chronic low energy or fatigue. Altering the diet to include more iron-rich foods, cooking with cast iron cookware, and iron supplementation are good ideas. Low calcium intakes predispose every age group to lower bone density and degeneration (osteopenia). Virtually every study examining weight training with osteoporotic women shows dramatic improvement in bone density. Adequate calcium is needed to allow this adaptation to occur.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

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• PART 2—STRENGTH TRAINING FOR DANCERS

Stress, Recovery, and Adaptation What is Stress? • Stress is defined as an external load or other stimulus that causes the body to react in some way

• Examples include weights, food, temperature, electromagnetic radiation (light), etc. • The body has three courses of action when it encounters a stress

• 1) Ignore or resist - The stress was not significant enough to disrupt homeostasis or outside the body’s coping mechanisms; e.g. no change

• 2) Adapt - The stress disrupted homeostasis and the body compensates by increasing its coping mechanisms; e.g. increase in strength, skin tan

• 3) Failure - The stress overwhelmed the body’s coping mechanisms; e.g. overtraining, sun burn

• “Training is predicated on the process of applying physical stress, recovering from that stress, and thereby adapting to the stress so that the processes of life may continue under conditions that include the applied stress. . . . Training stress needs to be relevant to the performance being trained for to elicit an adaptation that improves this particular performance.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

What is Recovery? • Recovery is the body’s process returning to homeostasis following the application of a stress

• The physiology of the recovery process is the same for everybody; male, female, young, or old

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• Genetics have a small effect on recovery • Recovery is most affected by sleep, nutrition, caloric intake, hydration, and periodization; all are

aspects in the dancer’s control • “The body responds to the training stress through the modulation of gene activity, changes in

hormone production, and increases in structural and metabolic proteins, and the accumulated effects of these processes are known as recovery. In essence, the body is attempting to ensure survival by equipping itself to withstand a repeated exposure to the stress. The effects of the stress produce a group of reactions specific to that stressor, and recovery from the stress will be specific as well. In the context of training, performance increases.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

What is Adaptation? • The ability to adapt to stress is the hallmark of biological life

• The body adapts by changing its physical characteristics; i.e. muscles get stronger, bones increase in density

• The body adapts only to the specific stress it is subjected to

• “In the hours and days after the training session, performance abilities will recover to normal and then performance ability will exceed the pre-stress level. This is supercompensation, the process by which the body readies itself for a potentially greater stress than the one for which it was already prepared, and which it has already successfully accomplished.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

The Starting Strength Method Why barbells? • Barbells allows the body to move naturally, using its full range of motion; machines do not

• “Expensive machines are not necessary and may be detrimental depending on the weight and the range of motion used.” (David M. Jenkinson, D.O., and Delmas J. Bolin, Ph.D., M.D., “Knee Overuse Injuries in Dance”)

• “The reason that isolated body part training on machines doesn’t work is the same reason that barbells work so well, better than any other tools we can use to gain strength. The human body functions as a complete system – it works that way, and it likes to be trained that way. It doesn’t like to be separated into its constituent components and then have those components exercised separately, since the strength obtained from training will not be utilized in this way. . . .

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Barbells, and the primary exercises we use them to do, are far superior to any other training tools that have ever been devised. Properly performed, full-range-of-motion barbell exercises are essentially the functional expression of human skeletal and muscular anatomy under a load.” (Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training)

• “Exercises that use only one joint, and that usually require machines to do, are non-functional in the sense that they do not follow a normal human movement pattern. They also quite often predispose the joint to overuse injuries, and the vast majority of weight room injuries are produced by these exercises. This is true not only by default, since it is obvious that in a world where most people only use machines, most of the injuries will occur on machines. Isolation exercises cause tendinitis because human joints are not designed to be subjected to the stress of movements in which all of the shock, moment force, tension, and compression are exclusively applied to one joint. There is no movement that can be performed outside the modern health club that involves only the quadriceps; the only way to isolate the quads is to do an exercise on a machine designed for that purpose. This is a function that hundreds of millions of years of vertebrate evolution did not anticipate. The knee is the home of many muscles, all of which have developed while working at the same time. Any exercise that deviates from the function for which the joint is designed contributes very little to the function of that joint and is a potential source of problems.” (Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training)

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• “For an exercise to be useful as a conditioning tool for a sport, it must utilize the same muscles and the same type of neurological activation pattern as that sport. It need not be an identical copy of the sport movement. . . . Effective strength training for a sport should incorporate all the muscles involved in the sport in a coordinated way, so that strength is produced in the generalized patterns of movement used in barbell training – and specific to nothing else. Then, sports practice incorporates the newly acquired strength as it develops. A sport such as [dance] requires the use of all the muscles in the body because force is generated against the ground by the hips and legs, transmitted up the trunk . . . through the arms and shoulders. Presses, squats, deadlifts, bench presses, and power cleans develop that strength through progressive training, and as the athlete gets stronger, [dance] practice precisely applies the strength in the actual pattern of its use.” (Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training)

• “We want these exercises to train lots of muscles through a long range of motion. We like it when some muscles are called into function as other muscles drop out of function, and when muscles change their function during an exercise. This is because we are training for strength, to increase the force we produce in a big, general movement pattern; we are not training a “favorite muscle.” We are not concerned with our favorite muscles. We do not have favorite muscles. The use of the full range of motion is therefore important for two very good reasons. First, it allows you to quantify the amount of work you do: if you hold the range of motion of an exercise constant, you are holding constant the distance variable in your work equation. Then, if the force you can exert on the load increases (if you lift more weight), you know that your work has increased for a given number of reps. You know you’re moving the weight the same distance, and the weight is heavier, so you know you’re stronger. You can therefore compare performances, both between lifters and between your own workouts over time. If you touch your chest with the bar every time you bench, progress – or lack thereof – can be assessed. This

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principle obviously applies to every exercise with a prescribed range of motion. Second, full-range-of-motion exercises ensure that strength is developed in every position in which the joints can operate. Strength development is extremely specific: muscles get strong in the positions they are made to be strong in, and in precisely the way they are trained. And motion around a joint is usually composed of the functions of several muscles working together in changing relationships as the movement progresses.” (Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training)

• The entire motion is controlled by the individual • “Furthermore, barbells require the individual to make these adjustments, and any other ones that

might be necessary to retain control over the movement of the weight. This aspect of exercise cannot be overstated – the control of the bar, and the balance and coordination demanded of the trainee, are unique to barbell exercise and completely absent in machine-based training. Since every aspect of the movement of the load is controlled by the trainee, every aspect of that movement is being trained.” (Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training)

• “The leg press does not provide the biomechanical specificity to sports played on your feet: any major strength exercise that could be considered “functional” has one important feature – you should be able to fall down while you’re doing it, so that you have to make sure that you don’t. This balance aspect of the movement, along with the fact that it can be done with heavy weights, is a critical criterion for functionality in exercise selection.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

Stress, Recovery, and Adaptation - Keys for Successful Strength Training • “Stress is any event that produces a change in the physiological state of the organism. Stress can

be a hard workout, a sunburn, a bear mauling, or 3 months of bed rest. Stress disrupts homeostasis, the normal physiological environment that exists within the organism.

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Recovery from the stress event is the organism’s way of perpetuating its survival, by returning to its pre-stress condition plus a little more (if it can – a suntan is easy, bears can be a problem), just in case the stress happens again. This adaptation to the stress is the organism’s way of surviving in an environment that subjects organisms to a variety of changing conditions. Indeed, the ability to adapt to stress is one of the hallmarks of life.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

• Weight—incrementally increased over time—is the stress that causes adaptation, an increase in strength, assuming requirements for recovery are met • It doesn’t have to be a lot of weight, but it does need to increase • “Stress must be applied, recovery from that stress must occur, and the net effect will be an

adaptation that causes improved performance. But it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the process of creating the improvement consists of accumulating the effects of the increasing stress/ recovery/ adaptation process over time – the individual workouts themselves are not the point; the accumulated effects of the workouts over time produce the adaptation. If this is not managed correctly, training is less than efficient. If it is not managed at all, we are not training. We are merely exercising.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

• Starting Strength is the perfect place to start strength training • Novice trainees are defined as individuals who complete recovery within 48-72 hours

• The typical Novice has never trained with weights before • The vast majority of dancers are Novices • Novices benefit from the “Novice Effect” and linear progression

• The Novice Effect is the idea that a weak individual will get stronger by doing anything that is more difficult than what they’re adapted to • “When an untrained person starts an exercise program, he gets stronger. He

always does, no matter what the program is. He gets stronger because anything he does that is physically harder than what he’s been doing constitutes a stress to which he is not adapted, and adaptation will thus occur if he provides for recovery. And this stress will always produce more strength, because that is the most basic physical adaptation to any physical stress that requires the body to produce force. For a rank novice trainee, riding a bicycle will make his bench press increase – for a short time. This does not mean that cycling is a good program for the bench press; it just means that for an utterly unadapted

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person, the cycling served as an adaptive stimulus. The problem with cycling for a novice bench-presser is that it rapidly loses its ability to act as an efficient enough systemic force-production stress to continue driving improvement on the bench, since it does not produce a force-production stress specific to the bench press.” (Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training)

• Linear progression is the practice of increasing the weight lifted by 1-10 lbs every workout until the individual can no longer recover within 48-72 hours • “Novices accomplish two things with every workout: they “test” their strength with a new,

higher workload, and the test loads the body to become stronger for the next workout. The act of moving 10 more pounds for the prescribed sets and reps both confirms that the previous workout was a success at improving the novice’s strength, and causes his body to adapt and become stronger for the next workout. For the vast majority of lifters, this novice phase, when properly managed, will see the most rapid and productive

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gains in strength of an entire career under the bar.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

• The Novice Phase of training and linear progression typically lasts 3-9 months

Intermediate and Advanced Trainees • The definition of an Intermediate trainee is an individual who recovers from a stress in about a week

• Intermediate trainees have experience sufficient to determine strength goals that support their sport • Dancers who complete the Novice Phase of training become Intermediate trainees and require

more complex programming • Dancers remain Intermediate trainees indefinitely

• “The end of the intermediate phase of training is marked by a performance plateau following a series of progressively more difficult weekly training organizations. This can occur in as little as two years or in as many as four or more, depending on individual tolerances and adherence to year-round progressive training. It is likely that 75% or more of all trainees will not require programming complexity beyond the intermediate level – remember, the amount of weight lifted or years of training do not classify a trainee. Virtually all strength training for athletes not competing in the barbell sports can be accomplished with this model. These athletes will not exclusively train in the weight room; they will focus much of their training on their primary competitive sport. This effectively extends the duration of this stage in the trainee’s development to the extent that even very accomplished athletes will probably never exhaust the benefits of intermediate-level strength programming.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

• Advanced trainees are by definition competitive weightlifters; not applicable to dance

The Five Lifts • Squat

• The Squat—specifically the “low bar” or “back squat” is the most important exercise for building overall strength

• “Done correctly, the squat is the only exercise in the weight room that trains the recruitment of the entire posterior chain in a way that is progressively improvable. These are the things that make the squat the best exercise you can do with barbells and, by extension, the best strength exercise there is. The squat trains the posterior chain muscles more effectively than any other movement

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that uses them because none of the other movements involve enough range of motion to use them all at the same time.” (Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training)

• “There is simply no other exercise, and certainly no machine, that produces the level of central nervous system activity, improved balance and coordination, skeletal loading and bone density enhancement, muscular stimulation and growth, connective tissue stress and strength, psychological demand and toughness, and overall systemic conditioning than the correctly performed full squat. In the absence of an injury that prevents its being performed, everyone who lifts weights should learn to squat, correctly.” (Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training)

• Press • The Press is the most important upper body strength exercise • “The press is the most useful upper-body exercise for sports conditioning, primarily because it is

not just an upper-body exercise. Except for powerlifting and swimming, all sports that require the use of upper-body strength transmit that force along a kinetic chain that starts at the ground. . . . In a press, the kinetic chain – the components of the musculoskeletal system involved in the production and transmission of force between the base of support and the load being moved – starts at the ground and ends at the bar in the hands.” (Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training)

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• “The press involves the entire body, down to the feet against the floor, using all of the trunk musculature (the abs and back muscles) and the hips, legs, ankles, wrists, and feet to stabilize the body while the shoulders, upper chest, and arms press the bar overhead. This kinetic chain, from overhead at full arms’ length down to the floor, is the longest possible one for the human body. And this makes the press an excellent tool for training your stability under a load.” (Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training)

• Deadlift • The Deadlift is designed to strengthen the lower back

• “The basic function of the lumbar muscles is to hold the low back in position so that power can be transferred through the trunk. They are aided in this task by all the muscles of the trunk: the abs, the obliques, the intercostals, and all of the many posterior muscles of the upper and lower back. . . . Lower-back strength is an important component of sports conditioning. The ability to maintain a rigid lumbar spine under a load is critical for both power transfer and safety. The deadlift builds back strength better than any other exercise, bar none.” (Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training)

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• “For the vast majority of lifters, the deadlift should be an essential part of training. It is the primary back strength exercise, and it is an important assistance exercise for the squat and especially for the clean (for which it is an important introductory lesson in position and pulling mechanics). The deadlift also serves as a way to train the mind to do things that are hard.” (Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training)

• Bench Press • The Bench Press strengthens the

arms and shoulders in the anterior direction, where the Press strengthens the superior

• Power Clean • The Power Clean and/or the Power Snatch are used to train power, or the ability to display strength

quickly, as in a leap • “The power clean is used in sports conditioning because it trains explosion, and done correctly it is

the best exercise for converting the strength obtained in the other exercises to power. . . . The clean and the snatch are unique in their ability to be incrementally loaded with an increasingly

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heavier weight, making it possible to develop a more powerful explosion in a simple programmed way. Since the nature of the vast majority of sports is explosive, involving the athlete’s ability to accelerate his body or an object, the ability to accelerate is pivotal in sports performance. The power clean is our most important tool in this war against inertia.” (Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training)

• “Here is one of the most important facts about training for strength, or power, or sports, or anything else: it is always true that a man with a 500-pound deadlift will clean more than a man with a 200-pound deadlift. At its very core, power is dependent upon strength: force production capacity that does not exist cannot be displayed, quickly or otherwise. However, between two men who both deadlift 500 pounds, the one moving it faster is producing more acceleration – more force over a shorter timeframe – and thus more power. This capacity is the ultimate difference between a strong man and a strong athlete. The power clean is an incrementally increasable way to develop this power.” (Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training)

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Practical Programming for Dancers The Novice Program • The Starting Strength program for Novices is all that’s needed at this point

• Novices recover within 48-72 hours • Three workouts per week is standard; MWF or TThS • Linear progression; weight is increased by 1-10 lbs every workout • Warm up sets should prepare the body for work sets • Work sets should never be more than 5 reps

• Alternate every other workout between Workout A & B • Workout A - Squat, Press, Deadlift • Workout B - Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift or Power Clean

• Continue linear progression until recovery no longer completes within 48-72 hours; typically 3-9 months

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• Example four week schedule and linear progression for 18 year old advanced technique ballerina: • Week 1

• Monday; Squat 45x5x3, Press 25x5x3, Deadlift 65x5x3 and two hour rehearsal • Tuesday; one hour technique class • Wednesday; Squat 55x5x3, Bench Press 45x5x3, Deadlift 75x5x3 and two hour rehearsal • Thursday; one hour technique class • Friday; Squat 65x5x3, Press 30x5x3, Deadlift 85x5x3 and two hour rehearsal • Saturday and Sunday; off

• Week 2 • Monday; Squat 75x5x3, Bench Press 55x5x3, Deadlift 95x5x3 and two hour rehearsal • Tuesday; one hour technique class • Wednesday; Squat 85x5x3, Press 35x5x3, Deadlift 105x5x3 and two hour rehearsal • Thursday; one hour technique class • Friday; Squat 95x5x3, Bench Press 65x5x3, Deadlift 115x5x3 and two hour rehearsal • Saturday and Sunday; off

• Week 3 • Monday; Squat 100x5x3, Press 40x5x3, Deadlift 125x5x3 and two hour rehearsal • Tuesday; one hour technique class • Wednesday; Squat 105x5x3, Bench Press 70x5x3, Power Clean 55x3x5 and two hour rehearsal

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• Thursday; off • Friday; Squat 110x5x3, Press 45x5x3, Deadlift 135x5x3 • Saturday and Sunday; off

• Week 4 • Monday; Squat 115x5x3, Bench Press 75x5x3, Power Clean 60x3x5 and two hour rehearsal • Tuesday; three hour tech rehearsal • Wednesday; Squat 120x5x3, Press 50x5x3, Deadlift 145x5x3 and two hour rehearsal • Thursday; three hour dress rehearsal • Friday; Squat 125x5x3, Bench Press 55x5x3, Power Clean 65x3x5 and evening performance • Saturday and Sunday; matinee and evening performances

• Strength is the primary goal • Dance program and schedule should allow for workouts and support recovery

• Overtraining should always be a concern • Strength is quickly achieved if training is adequately programmed and followed

• Proper nutrition and caloric intake are critical • Dancers must eat high quality foods in sufficient quantities to support recovery • Dance educators must allow time in the schedule and emphasize strength and health over lean

physique • “Considering the fact that calculating baseline expenditure is almost impossible, the way to

accomplish this is to eat as much as possible from a diet based on high-quality protein, quality carbohydrates, and fat from both plant and animal sources, and adjust the quantities based on the results of this intake.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

The Intermediate Program • Programming for Intermediate trainees is more complicated and should follow recommendations

outlined in Practical Programming for Strength Training, as well as support the dancer’s goals

Additional Considerations • Effects of strength training on female dancers

• Dancers will gain mass and body weight, but will not “bulk up”; strength training is NOT bodybuilding • Muscles get stronger by increasing the number of fibers that help with the contraction

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• Motor unit recruitment—more efficient use of the existing fibers • Create more fibers (hypertrophy)—inevitable increase in size of the muscle

• Balance of motor unit recruit and hypertrophy governed by genetics • Focus should be on getting stronger and being healthy, not on body image • “It is very important to understand the following exceptionally true thing: women are not a special

population. They are half of the population. With a few exceptions regarding sets and reps, they are trained in the same way as men of the same age and level of training advancement. By virtue of a different hormonal profile, the rate and the magnitude of change in strength and mass will differ, but the biological processes that bring about those changes are otherwise the same as those in men. Since the processes are the same, the methods used to affect progress are also the same.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

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• “Women are more likely to believe that weight training is unimportant to health and sports performance than men. There is also a social and media-driven misconception that all weight training produces big, masculine, muscle-bound physiques. This generally does not occur in women without anabolic steroids. The strongest women in the United States perform at their best and look healthy and athletic through the use of correctly designed weight training programs.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

• Strength training for children • The same stress, recovery, and adaptation processes in adults are in use in children

• “Dr. Avery Faigenbaum showed that properly supervised maximal lifting in 6- to 12-year-olds resulted in no injuries, providing further evidence that even high-intensity training, properly supervised, can be a safe and healthy undertaking for children. Properly conducted weight training programs are safe for children for the same reason they are safe for everyone else: they are normal human movements that are scalable. The loads used can be precisely adjusted to the ability of the child to use them with correct technique. Correct technical execution prevents injury, since by definition “correct” means controlled, even for explosive movements. The load on a 5-kg bar can be increased one kilogram at a time, allowing very fine control over the stress that a child experiences in the weight room.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

• “Properly supervised skill-based weightlifting programs (and gymnastics, dance, soccer, martial arts, and all other physical programs) are appropriate for children and can commence as early as 6 years of age.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

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• “The use of novice programming with kids must be based upon the maturity of the kid, and the ability to recover from progressively heavier loads will depend largely upon maturity and hormonal status. It is recommended that no attempt be made to apply the full novice linear progression until Tanner Stage 4 has been reached.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

• “Training should be fun. Kids are motivated by fun. When training is no longer fun, kids will no longer want to train, and should not be forced to.” (Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming for Strength Training)

• All of this will require a major paradigm and cultural shift • What if dance educators assessed preparation for advancement based on strength, rather than

age or time? • For example, girls don’t typically start pointe until they are at least 12, but the main reason for

this is to make sure their feet are strong enough • Assign a strength requirement for beginning pointe class of 45 lbs in the squat and 55 lbs in

the deadlift • Such strength requirements are objective and ensure that the child is more than strong enough

to handle their own bodyweight • If a 10 year old girl can meet those requirements, she’ll have two years extra training and

proficiency on pointe that will give her a great advantage later • Another example, the assumption is that Ukrainian trick steps like the prisyadka and split leaps

take a long time and intense training to learn • Perhaps the long time and intense training is actually an extremely inefficient method for

building strength • Perhaps the trick steps have minimum strength requirement before the body is sufficiently

strong to do them • Strength training builds strength quickly and could make it easier and faster to learn trick steps

• Dancers (and their parents, where applicable) and dance educators will have to debate and decide whether strength training is worth more than [insert conflicting technique class, rehearsal, performance, competition, aesthetic ideal, comfort with the status quo].

• “The only problem with barbell training is the fact that the vast, overwhelming majority of people don’t know how to do it correctly. This is sufficiently serious and legitimate a concern as to justifiably discourage many people from training with barbells in the absence of a way to learn how.” (Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training)

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PART 3—ASSOCIATED COSTS

Equipment Strength Training Equipment is Cheap and Compact • “At home, a good free-weight gym can be built

in the garage with brand new equipment for the price of three years’ gym dues.” (Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training) • About $1000-1500

• Less than 120 sq ft (12 ft x 10 ft) required for all equipment and exercise space • 7.5-8 ft tall power rack; welded and secured

to the platform • 8 ft x 8 ft platform; heavy plywood and/or

rubber matting • Barbell(s); 7 ft Olympic standard, 35 and 45 lbs • Weights

• 4x 45, 2x 35, 2x 25, 4x 10 lbs rubber plates • 2x 5, 2x 2.5, 2x 1.5, 2x 1, 2x .5 lbs iron plates or washers

• Weight stand • Bench

Strength Coach Starting Strength Coach • The Starting Strength Coach (SSC) is a certified strength coach based on their knowledge and

coaching ability of the Starting Strength method • Coaches are evaluated at Starting Strength Seminars held throughout the year in various locations

around the United States • Less than 10% of applicants pass the evaluation and written exam

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• SSCs must renew their certification every two years

• Most SSCs are located on the East and West coasts; there are no SSCs in Utah • SSC rates are commensurate with experience and similar to personal trainers; national average for

personal trainers is $50 per hour • I am not a SSC or a personal trainer, but will coach for a reduced rate

• I would like to become an SSC and focus primarily on dancers • I need opportunities to practice coaching • I need funding to attend Starting Strength Seminars

• Each seminar is three days in length • Registration Fee: $945 • Travel: less than $500, depending on location • Food, Lodging, and Rental Car: less than $150 per day

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RESOURCES

Sources Cited Ahonen, Jarmo. 2008. “Biomechanics of the Foot in Dance: A Literature Review”. Journal of Dance

Medicine and Science.

Conti, Stephen and Yue Shuen Wong. 2001. “Foot and Ankle Injuries in the Dancer”. Journal of Dance Medicine and Science.

Doyle-Lucas, Ashley, and Brenda M. Davy. 2011. “Development and Evaluation of an Educational Intervention Program for Pre-professional Adolescent Ballet Dancers Nutrition for Optimal Performance”. Journal of Dance Medicine and Science.

Jenkinson, David and Delmas J. Bolin. 2001. “Knee Overuse Injuries in Dance”. Journal of Dance Medicine and Science.

Kealiinohomoku, J. W. 1976. “A comparative study of dance as a constellation of motor behaviors among African and United States negroes". Reflections and Perspectives on Two Anthropological Studies of Dance.

Logan, Gene. 1964. Adaptations of Muscular Activity. Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Myszkewycz, Lynne and Yiannis Koutedakis. 2011. “Injuries, Amenorrhea and Osteoporosis in Active Females”. Journal of Dance Medicine and Science.

Rippetoe, Mark. 2011. Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training. The Aasgaard Company. — — —. 2013. Practical Programming for Strength Training. The Aasgaard Company.

Smith, Jo. 2009. “Moving Beyond the Neutral Spine: Stabilizing the Dancer with Lumbar Extension Dysfunction”. Journal of Dance Medicine and Science.

Stone, David. 2001. “Hip Problems in Dancers”. Journal of Dance Medicine and Science.

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Strength Training for Dancers

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