Cross Training for Dancers | Part 1 - Turnout

Thanks to what we now know from science, the sports medicine field, and the experts in healthy dance training, cross training is important for dancers.

If you're not familiar with the term, "cross training" refers to when an athlete uses strength training, conditioning, flexibility or other systems outside of their primary discipline to supplement and round out their training. For a football player, cross training could mean taking a ballet class to achieve added flexibility and coordination! For ballet dancers, cross training can include any number of complementary exercises and systems ranging from Pilates to Progressing Ballet Technique to Gyrotonics and more. Some types of cross training are universal in their benefit for most dancers; other types can help dancers overcome specific areas of challenge in dance that they experience based on their unique body type.

Cross training helps with injury prevention, strengthening weaknesses, an overall healthier body, and as a result, a longer career in dance. But how does cross training help?

Dancers and other athletes engage in a lot of repetitive motion that uses certain muscle groups doesn't use others. One benefit of cross training is strengthening those other muscles that aren't used as regularly, achieving better overall muscle balance. Muscle balance in terms leads to better stability and reduces the chance of developing an injury. Another benefit of cross training is that it allows dancers to isolate and specifically strengthen muscles that are crucial for dance, but that can be harder to properly engage while the dancer is in motion, performing dance steps. Cross training is also educational! It can help dancers better understand how their body and muscles function, particularly which muscles they're strengthening for dance and which muscles they're strengthening for balance.

Now that you know about the benefits of cross training, here is an exercise that can help your turnout!

One key muscle group for turnout is the six deep outward rotators of the hip. When properly strengthened and utilized, dancers can find their maximum external rotation using this muscle group. The video in this blog post with certified Pilates instructor Beth Patterson targets the six deep outward rotators as well as the gluteus medius. This exercise is just one of many that can increase your range of turnout by strengthening your turnout muscles.