Have you ever heard the saying, “Even a Ferrari can’t drive on flat tires?”
So what exactly are the metaphorical “tires” for a dancer? Your feet, of course! So if you’re cross-training your body but you aren’t crossing training your feet, what’s the point(e)?
Often amongst dancers, there’s a belief that simply because we use a muscle or muscle group, that area is strong. This misconception is what can bring about overuse injuries and contribute to the general wear and tear on a dancer’s body.
Much like a classical musician spends time fine-tuning their instrument, so also should dancers invest time in strengthening their main instrument, their feet.
In particular, I find my professional performer clients neglect the strengthening of their feet.
They cry, “But I do my barre work! I’m articulating through my tendus!” as they massage their inflamed plantar fasciitis. And while I have no doubt they are working your feet, the simple fact remains, in order for any muscle to get stronger- yes, even feet muscles - the muscle must work against resistance.
In the case of strengthening your feet, each foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints, and over 100 muscles, so if you too are finding that tendus and releves alone are not enough to strengthen your precious feet, and maybe even notice some foot pain, you’re in luck!
Here are 5 unique foot strengthening exercises and resources for you to incorporate into your regimen to help strengthen those tootsies!
The Short Foot
It’s like a crunch for your feet! If you suffer from sore, achy feet or plantar fasciitis, you’re going to want to save this one to memory. Too often I hear clients and fellow performers complain of collapsing arches, plantar fasciitis, and generally achy soles of their feet.
To avoid these pitfalls, the arch of your foot needs to be strengthened, just like your abs. Sure rolling your feet, ice, and getting massages help temporarily, but your feet might ache because their “core” is weak!
If you’re new to it, start seated in a chair, then with your foot flat on the floor, press all your toes down and in (without having them leave the ground). Contract the arch muscles for 3 seconds and then release. During this time you should see a small space appear between the floor and the sole of your foot.
Having stronger feet as a dancer is imperative. Just like learning to engage your core when you’re jumping, turning, and balancing, imagine engaging the “Core” of your foot in all those elements too.
The Towel Scrunch
This simple exercise is so effective in improving strength, balance, and even flexibility of your foot. If the aforementioned “short foot” is like crunches for the arch of your foot, this exercise is like bicep curls, contracting and lengthening your foot as you scrunch the towel with your toes. You can use a towel, Thera-band, or if you’re really looking to train those toes, add a small, sturdy weighted object to the end of your towel and pull it toward you. The trick with this exercise is keeping the heel in contact with the floor so your ankles don’t contribute.
Ankle Internal and External Rotations (IR/ ER)
For many dancers, foot pain is often just a symptom of weakness elsewhere, like their ankles. And while performers are confident in pointing and flexing their feet, some revolt when asked to “sickle” and “wing” at the ankle. In technical terms, “sickling” is called ankle internal rotation (IR) and “winging” one’s foot is referred to as ankle external rotation (ER). When it comes to having strong, stable ankles and ultimately pain-free feet, working IR and ER is imperative.
The set up is pretty simple. Prop your feet up or let them dangle, then practice turning your toes towards and away from each other. For an added challenge, loop a Thera-band around the ball of your foot and add gentle resistance in the opposing direction. For example, if you were to pull your left foot inward, turn your toes right, you’d hold your Thera-band to the left side of your leg.
Eccentrics
Every dance movement has two stages, concentric – where all the "action" happens, e.g., extension part of a tendu, and eccentric - where the muscles used to act must relax to return the body to its resting state (the closing portion of tendu).
Make sure muscles are working in both stages. Because the energy and power it takes to lower the leg with control and replace it in the position takes a lot of work, practicing eccentric control allows you to land without a thud or a jerk while you are jumping. When you focus on working the muscles of the foot through the eccentric stage of each exercise, you have greater control and manipulation over your feet. For this I recommend starting with eccentric releves.
Rise up with two feet, shift your weight to one foot, then take a full 8 count to lower the single heel to the floor. For greater impact, try these on a stair and let your heel drop below the stair’s edge so your calf and Achilles reaches a fully lengthened position.
External Support
If your feet start aching in the middle of class, rarely will you be able to come to a halt and whip out these exercises.
Remember, a class is the time for growing as an artist, what you do outside of class helps you as an athlete.
But when you’re in class be aware that wearing the Apolla Compression shocks can be an excellent resource for support, pain relief, and expedited recovery. My personal preference in an instance of plantar fasciitis would be the Joule.
As your feet are considered the foundation of your body and are the primary instrument of your dancing, the benefits to having strong feet are innumerable. Improved balance, reduced injuries, and even increased range of motion (i.e. croissants instead of biscuits).
The simplest way to harness these benefits is to practice the above exercises daily, once you get into a routine of doing regular exercise, you may notice a difference in your feet and how strong they may become. As you continue your dance training, keep exercising your feet regularly and with the proper footwear so you prevent injuries and build strength. If you have any concerns about your feet or strength training for dancers, contact Amber at @DancersWhoLift.
Comments
Please note: comments must be approved before they are published.
Promotions, new products and sales. Directly to your inbox.
Apolla socks provide the benefit of a shoe and comfort of a sock. That is why dancer's call them Shocks! They provide all the sport-science features you need in ONE sock.
Patented targeted zones provide arch and ankle support:
The 20-30 mmHg compression zones lift in key points of the feet to lift and stabilize but do NOT prevent range of motion like an orthotic...so you can still build foot strength
The high quality compression assists circulation & recovery by reducing inflammation which energizes your muscles.
This is very similar to the support you will get from taping…except it allows for better movement and comfort.
The stability they provide is raved about from customers with joint hypermobility and are looking for comfort and stability.
Knit-in Energy Absorption:
A 2019 independent study at Ohio University showed Apolla socks reduced force.
Our padding on the ball of the foot AND the heel provides comfort for your metatarsals but is not too thick in shoes.
Additional Features:
Antimicrobial
Moisture-wicking
Durable
Recycleable
Apolla socks are anatomically correct. Click here to see how to wear them properly
ALL OF OUR APOLLA SOCKS HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE AMERICAN PODIATRIC MEDICAL ASSOCIATION SEAL OF ACCEPTANCE.
WHY DO YOU WANT ALL OF THESE FEATURES IN YOUR SOCKS?
Our high-quality, patented compression, and energy absorption combined stabilizes the 26 bones in the foot and the ankle’s tendons and ligaments. This minimizes the amount of inflammation that takes place during your daily life or exercise that occurs due to overuse in your joints and muscles. We encourage you to have a pair for your exercise and a pair for recovery or everyday wear.
Inflammation is a natural occurence in the body, but if it is not removed or given enough time to decrease it can build up to cause chronic pain and issues like plantar fasciitis and tendonitis. Apolla socks help to not only decrease this painful inflammation that exercise and long days on your feet produces, but it also helps remove it. You will notice less fatigue, muscle pain, and they don't prevent range of motion so your muscles can still build strength. When you remove inflammation, you ache less and feel better…and you can do MORE of what you love, longer & stronger!
TRACTION OR NON-TRACTION?
Traction = grip so you don't slip!
There is an Apolla Shock for everyone and we recommend having one of each in your bag to keep you protected on any dance floor, in and out of the studio, from cross-training, to travel, from stage to recovery and everything in between! All Shocks are available WITH or NON traction.
Here are some guidelines to help you choose which option is best for YOU:
Choose WITH traction:
For any dance floor or slippery surface
We recommend if you are going to be using primarily on a dance floor that you always get WITH traction on all styles of Shocks, then wear it down to your preferred grip.
Choose NON traction:
For carpet at conventions
I will be wearing my Shocks in shoes (i.e. tap shoes, sneakers, etc.)
IMPORTANT: YOUR TRACTION WILL START VERY STICKY THEN WEAR DOWN TO THE GRIP YOU WANT TO KEEP IT AT.
This break in period can be 1-3 classes on average
IF you do not feel strong resistance on the first step? Please always contact Apolla customer service so we can help.
Once broken in, start refreshing the grip every class to KEEP the level of "stick" you want.
You must start refreshing your grip with either E6000 Spray Adhesive (this is what we recommend) or other refreshers can be Bloch rosin spray or a regular rock rosin.
If you do NOT start refreshing or you wear your WITH traction Shocks on carpet or in shoes, it may wear down your grip to almost nothing and make it not as effective.
Refresh your traction so you can keep "re-sticking" your grip over and over for the life of the Shock.
Please note:Due to the antimicrobial/moisture wicking properties in every pair, we recommend to treat your Shocks more as you would a shoe. They do not need to be washed daily or even weekly, as water will naturally break down the traction faster. Wash your Shocks only as necessary to possibly preserve the life of the traction. OR wash your Shocks if you want to wear the traction in faster. You will find they continue to bounce back to fit like a glove to your foot the more you wear and wash them. For the Joule, we recommend washing to bounce them back to shape when needed.
Care:All of our Shocks can be washed and dried according to our recommended care instructions and always use your Apolla Mesh Bag when laundering. We also recommend washing the WITH traction Shocks inside out to help preserve the traction.
Why I need E6000 for my Traction Shocks?
The beloved E6000 company has created a non-toxic spray adhesive that is the favorite refresher of traction for all of our Apolla Shocks. Apolla Shocks unique traction has eliminated the bulk and seams underfoot. It starts out sticky then you wear it down to your preferred level of grip. Then you keep it there by using a traction refresher. Some will refresh right away, some may never refresh...it is completely personalized to your need and floors. This is our recommendation. It is a pump spray and when you apply 5-10 pumps to your traction, it dries instantly, and does not damage floors. It helps to "re-stick" the grip over and over for the life of the Shocks. Some dancers start refreshing in the first class, some never refresh, some refresh when needed. It is important you have a bottle in your dance bag or at your studio to use as needed...one bottle last a long time! Your traction will wear down to nothing if you don't use a refresher, so make sure to order a bottle with your traction Shocks today!
Comments
Please note: comments must be approved before they are published.