Are you preparing for a dance competition and want to know some tips to improve your stamina? You’ve come to the right place! Stamina is extremely important for dancers. Poor stamina leads to fatigue, which is the main cause of injuries in professional dancers. If dancers are not in good cardio shape before a dance competition, they will get exhausted faster and their tendons and joints are more likely to be overworked and damaged.

So, what can you do to prepare for your upcoming dance competition? We provide some helpful tips and exercises that will improve your strength, endurance, balance, flexibility, and confidence. Try these workouts at home and you’ll be in tip-top shape when it’s time to compete.

Incorporate a Variety of Exercises

When preparing for your dance competition, you can improve your stamina by supplementing your dance classes with cardio training. By preparing your body as if you were setting up for a marathon, you can train it to work harder and last longer as you would need to do for your performance. Here are some exercises that you can try at home to help you prepare your body for “the marathon”.

Cardio

Running may not be for everyone, but there are many types of cardio workouts. To promote endurance and strength you can run, jog, or do aerobic exercises. You can also use a stationary bike or elliptical machine. These activities will help you feel lighter and more limber in the dance studio.

Stretches

All dancers need to work on their flexibility to avoid injury. Stretching for about 30 minutes daily is a great way to get started. You should hold each position for about 90 seconds. Stretching helps your muscles expand and will make you a better dancer. It helps make each movement more fluid and graceful, and over time, you will be able to twist and move your body in ways that you never could before. Flexibility also helps prevent injuries.

Push Ups

Push ups can help you dance better by strengthening your chest, arms, back, and improving your posture. It also strengthens your core and helps you balance better.

Squats and Lunges

To strengthen your thighs, legs, and butt, squats and lunges are the ideal exercise. They promote flexibility, strength, and balance, and will help you jump higher and with more power. They also help you dance with ease by increasing mobility and balance.

Sit Ups and Crunches

Sit ups and crunches help increase the strength in your hips, arms, abs, and your entire body, making it easier for you to balance and helping your jumps and landings to look flawless.

Whichever exercise you choose, you can increase your stamina with just 150 minutes a week of high-intensity exercise. However, you should be careful to avoid over training. Although you want your heart to pump faster and work harder, you don’t want to exert yourself to the point that you have no energy for your dance rehearsals. You also want to avoid extreme workouts that could risk injury.

Good Nutrition Is Key

Stamina and energy have a lot to do with what we put in our bodies. Unhealthy eating can make us feel lethargic and contribute to weight gain, which makes it more difficult for us to be active. An important area to keep in mind when looking to improve your stamina is to change your diet and fill it with healthy and nutritious foods. Here are some tips to help you get started.

  • Consume a diet that is rich in protein, healthy fats, and whole grain starchy carbohydrates. Any diet that restricts carbs and favours fat and protein, prevents dancers from their number one source of fuel and energy. However, you should choose your carbohydrates carefully. Consider whole grain options and vegetables, rather than processed foods like pasta or cereal.
  • Although vegetables do not contain much usable energy, they are still extremely important for feeding the body the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients it needs for overall health. Be sure to include green leafy vegetables and cruciferous vegetables in your diet.
  • Make resting a priority. Before a big performance, you should increase your carb intake so that you have adequate fuel.
  • If you cannot eat a whole meal or snack before a performance, consider bringing a liquid snack that has a good balance of carbs and protein. Some great options include a smoothie with milk or yogurt mixed with peanut butter and fruit, or on nibble some dried fruit and drink a lot of water to keep your blood sugar stable.

Stay Hydrated

All dancers should ensure that they drink plenty of water throughout the day because it will help their body cope with fatigue. Water is extremely beneficial to the body, not only to replenish the water lost from sweat, but also to increase stamina and overall health. Dancers should avoid soft drinks, too much caffeine, and alcoholic beverages since these drinks dehydrate the body.

How Performing Dance Arts Can Help You Prepare for Your Dance Competition

If you’re preparing for an upcoming dance competition and want to do your very best, these tips will help you train your body for success. If you’re looking for additional guidance and training from a professional dance instructor, our studio has the coaches you need! At Performing Dance Arts, our instructors have years of industry experience and skill and they care greatly about the progress and happiness of our students. Our outstanding dance studio in Toronto inspire creativity and our instructors will motivate your child to dance with passion, creativity, and skill.

Contact us today to enroll your child in one of our dance classes in Toronto or to learn more about our studios. If you want a firsthand idea of what our dance studios are like, simply pay us a visit!