Core strength is usually the one thing that lets most dancers down, because you need more than you think to maintain your ideal dance posture and not least execute those dance moves to perfection at the same time. But dropping down to do 50 stomach crunches is rarely the answer – nor necessarily what you really feel like doing…
Now there’s nothing wrong with doing stomach crunches, but if you already have a weak core, your back and neck muscles may kick in to compensate, which in turn will leave you with soar or stiff muscles, or in my case a headache afterwards, and not much added strength to those abs. I’m speaking from own experience here, so I love any exercises where my body ‘can’t cheat’ and I recently discovered what I like to think of as the ultimate core strengthening exercise, because it involves all your stomach muscles.
As always, please double check with your health professional if you’re not sure whether this exercise is right for you. It is quite strenuous if you apply all your muscles, but you can of course also build it up in intensity over time. You will also need to engage your pelvic floor (thinking up and in as you’re holding this) and of course breath all the way through out (something I forget to mention in the video!).
Watch the video on how to do it here.
The main thing is to keep your back in ‘neutral’ and of course do the exercise on a regular basis to actually feel the effect.
This is by the way a great supplement to the squad drill I’ve previously recommend. Read more here.
Feel free to share and comment below if you have anything to add. What exercises do you use to keep your core strong, or to rebuild it after injury/holiday? Let’s keep the knowledge sharing going to promote safe and beautiful dancing.
Happy strong and safe dancing – always 😉
Dorte
Did you miss my last post? Read it here: How to find and benefit from your dance network
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