Some of the most important aspects of exercising are not what occurs while performing the exercise, but what is done before and after. Warming up and cooling down after workouts is essential to athletes and gymgoers alike.
This is even more so the case with ballet dancers, whose workout regiments are just as much about the mind as they are about the body. Marblehead School of Ballet’s founder and Director Paula K. Shiff and one of her students, Marsha BonDarenko, spoke about and demonstrated the various ways that ballet dancers at the school warm up.
Though ballet students’ warm-up routines are tailored toward dancing, their basic principles can be applied to anybody looking to improve their workouts and overall health.
Shiff said that she has cross-trained many athletes in her classes, from ice skaters to football and basketball players.
BonDarenko said that ballet is all about keeping your muscles in perfect sync with each other in order to execute moves, which is all done through properly warming the body up.
“In order to start that, at the beginning of every class, you need to warm up properly to prevent injury, but also to have your muscles work much more efficiently,” BonDarenko said.
Shiff said that it’s also important for the mind to be in tune with the rest of the body.
“You want to really have your mind connected to your body and be very in tune and heighten your kinesthetic awareness and proprioception in your body and really feel whether you’re centered and feel how you’re moving through space,” Shiff said.
When you do not warm up properly, she added, there is a risk of injury through what she called muscle compensation, which is when the muscles in the body move “roughly” or are uncoordinated with other muscle groups.
BonDarenko demonstrated a number of warm-up exercises that she performs before starting her class. Shiff also said that she teaches a stretch and strength class at the school and many of the exercises BonDarenko performed are done in those classes.
BonDarenko began by laying flat on the ground, to connect her mind and body, according to Shiff.
“You want to start using your breath, connecting your mind and body,” Shiff said. She added that you want to try to take your mind away from daily stressors like driving in traffic or work.
While focusing, Shiff said to make sure your head is aligned with your shoulders, ribs, pelvis, knees, and ankles.
Then, bend your legs at the knee with your feet still touching the ground, continuing to breathe and release tension in the body. This helps to protect the back, Shiff said.
BonDarenko then began to focus on her core by lifting one leg up without the rest of her body moving, and putting her right hand to her ankle. From there, she then moved the other leg outward, which would be her “standing leg” if she was performing.
Another exercise in the warm-up routine was a bridge, which works the glutes and adductors.
Shiff said bridges are something that she recommends to people who are relatively new to her classes, but if one desires a more advanced version, BonDarenko demonstrated one in which she extended her leg outward while holding herself up in the bridge position.
Shiff said, however, that those looking for more challenging exercises should still start with easier ones first in order to prevent injury.
“You never just go to z,” Shiff said. “Your basics are so important and the better your foundation, and the slower you build that foundation, and the stronger you build that foundation — the faster you soar.”