Physically Returning to Dance: Tips on Handling Load Tolerance and DOMS
It’s an exciting time of the year: the leaves are just starting to change colors, there is a crispness to the morning air, and most importantly, we are returning to the studio to dance!
While dancers usually stay very active in the summer, it’s not usually the same intensity or type of training as during the school year. You might have been swimming, hiking, biking, playing beach volleyball, etc. You might have been dancing but the daily dance classes and training were probably less intense or more intermittent. And the classes might have been virtual.
By Colleen Bickel, Local Physical Therapist and Dancer
It’s an exciting time of the year: the leaves are just starting to change colors, there is a crispness to the morning air, and most importantly, we are returning to the studio to dance!
While dancers usually stay very active in the summer, it’s not usually the same intensity or type of training as during the school year. You might have been swimming, hiking, biking, playing beach volleyball, etc. You might have been dancing but the daily dance classes and training were probably less intense or more intermittent. And the classes might have been virtual.
So, picture this. Imagine that you are a marathon runner. And in the training season, you run up to 50 miles a week. In the off-season, you run maybe 6 miles per week just to “stay in shape.” Do you think the first week back in your training season you should go directly to 50 miles?
It’s easy to say in that scenario, “absolutely not.” But, as dancers, we usually go from not dancing to a full schedule, giving 100% to every class. We do it because we are excited to return to the studio and we love to dance. We do it because we don’t want to appear lazy or disappoint our teachers. But this mentality does sometimes lead to injury.
In the world of Physical Therapy, we talk about “load tolerance of tissue” (tissue, in this case, includes muscle, bone, and connective tissue like tendons and ligaments). Basically, what kind of “loads” can your body handle and how quickly can you progress those loads. If you load too fast and don’t allow your body adequate time to rest and repair, then we end up with things like tendonitis, stress fractures, shin splints, or other “over-use” injuries. “Over-use” is pretty much “over-loaded” without adequate chance to rest and repair.
A less worrisome (but often not enjoyable) bodily experience after returning to dance is DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness). DOMS is intense muscle soreness that occurs 12-72 hours after an activity. If you are dancing every day, sometimes it’s hard to know what you are feeling sore from; is it today’s ballet class or hip hop 2 days ago?
So, what things should dancers do to mitigate DOMS and possible over-use injuries when returning to dance?
The two big categories for injuries and over-use are jumps and relevés. These are movements that our bodies need to slowly build up a tolerance for and we are likely not performing the same amount of them in our off-season. Ultimately, be thoughtful about the amount of repetitive loading that is occurring each day. How many relevés and how many jumps are you performing each day? You might need to limit this amount and then slowly increase it while also allowing enough time for recovery in between sessions.
When returning from a break, recommendations include:
Make sure you are adequately warmed up.
Be careful about overstretching before class. Focus on improving flexibility after class and perform a dynamic warm-up before class.
Don’t try to perform challenging movements when you are fatigued.
Limit the amount of relevés you are performing daily. Maybe you perform some relevés at barre during ballet but not every combination in the center. Maybe you perform relevés during pointe class but limit them in your ballet class prior. Remember it’s about the total number per day and your body’s ability to have time to recover before performing that activity again.
Limit the number of jumps you are performing daily. Possibly limit the height of your jumps as you slowly return to dance. Focus on building up your tolerance for jumping with smaller jumps and working on good alignment and mechanics.
“Be careful about overstretching before class. Focus on improving flexibility after class and perform a dynamic warm-up before class.”
The two big categories for DOMS are pliés/grandpliés and planks/push-ups. These movements utilize large muscles that will get sore! With DOMS, you should feel the soreness with movement or stretching but not with rest. The soreness should be in the muscle belly and not in a tendon, ligament, or joint.
If dealing with DOMS, recommendations include:
Perform light gentle movement. This could be walking, a light elliptical or bike cardio workout, or going through a dynamic warm-up. This maintains blood flow which nourishes the muscle to heal quickly and does not allow lactic acid to build up.
Research has shown that stretching and releases (ball rolling, foam roller, massage gun, massage session, etc) won’t affect it either way. Won’t make it better, won’t make it worse.
Avoid NSAIDs like ibuprofen. These interfere in the natural process of soreness, recovery, and adaptation.
Overall, make sure you are getting enough sleep and good nutrition. The body recovers while you are sleeping, so if you are not getting enough sleep, you are not recovering to the best of your abilities. If you are not getting adequate nutrition, your body does not have the basic building blocks it needs to recover.
DOMS should resolve with time. If the pain persists for weeks, if you are markedly worse AFTER class, or if the pain is sharp/burning/tingling/searing then you may be dealing with an injury and these factors should be respected. At this point, seeing a physical therapist may be a good idea.
Ultimately, you know your body better than anyone else! Let your teacher know if you need to limit movements and self-advocate for what you need! And just know that after a few weeks of slowly increasing your tolerance, you will be back in great shape and able to go 110%.
Staying Active During Dance Breaks or Off-Seasons
It is easy to spend dance breaks curled up on the couch or binging Netflix shows; these activities are definitely needed when you have a little more free time but it is also important to keep your training going. Flexibility, strength and endurance decline quickly when you have time off from a rigorous dance routine, so here are a few tips for “staying in shape” during dance breaks or off-seasons!
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By Emily Borders, DWC Ambassador
It is easy to spend dance breaks curled up on the couch or binging Netflix shows; these activities are definitely needed when you have a little more free time but it is also important to keep your training going. Flexibility, strength and endurance decline quickly when you have time off from a rigorous dance routine, so here are a few tips for “staying in shape” during dance breaks or off-seasons!
Training during break will allow you to maintain your current level of strength, endurance and flexibility. It is also a great opportunity to focus on areas of your training that you don’t have time for when rehearsing for a recital or getting ready for competition. Strength training is a great thing to focus on during the off seasons. Since dance is mostly an endurance sport;, it is important to strength train when you can to build up your muscle fibers that provide strength and power as well. Strength training increases your power, meaning that you will be able to do things like jump higher. It also helps increase bone and connective tissue density, meaning that your ligaments, muscles, tendons and bones will be stronger and more resistant to injury. So grab some dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells or anything you can find and start working those muscles!
For dancers, it is really important to have strong calves, glutes and core muscles. Off-seasons and breaks can be the time where you focus on exercises specific to these muscles, other than typical dance drills. While also spending time strengthening muscles that are not worked as much with dance, like back, arms, hamstrings, etc. Ultimately, take advantage of this extra time to focus on the parts of your body that are weaker and build those areas up to develop yourself into a more well-rounded artist.
Strength training should be done at least 2-3x/week with a rest day between each day. You want to strive for 8-10 repetitions of an exercise before muscular fatigue in order to build strength. If you can do more than 8-10 repetitions then the weight is too light. In that case, you are working endurance muscle fibers. Another thing to note is that strengthening your muscles without stretching them will decrease your flexibility, so make sure you are stretching after strength training and on rest days.
I personally enjoy group fitness classes or workout videos. I feel like I am more motivated to get a good workout when I have someone guiding me and workout buddies to encourage me. I know group fitness isn’t for everyone so it’s important to try a few different exercise strategies and find what works for you. Furthermore, many people find that lack of equipment can be a barrier to strength training for them. Remember that you can use any sort of heavy object around your house to use as weights. You do not need a gym membership or all the “proper” equipment to build up strength. I hear gallon jugs work great.
I do want to emphasize the importance of rest as well during breaks or off-season. It is important to stay active but it is also important to incorporate rest when you can. Rest does not mean lying on the couch all day; resting should involve low impact/intensity activities. You want to do what I like to call “active rest.” Some examples include going on a nice walk, doing gentle yoga, doing some nice, easy “feel-good” improv in your living room; anything that moves your body in a way that doesn’t feel strenuous.
All in all, use your breaks effectively! You do not have to do as much physical activity as you do during the dance season. But staying active during breaks will lead you to be more prepared, reduce your risk of injury and you will probably realize that you don’t have to work as hard to get back into shape when the season starts. Our muscles were designed to do many different functions. Since you already spend plenty of time training your muscular endurance, take the time while you have it to train your muscular strength. You will likely see the results of your strength training in your dancing! Don’t lose everything you worked so hard for during your training. You got this!
Emily Borders
Emily currently attends the University of Washington as a Doctor of Physical Therapy student. She began dancing at a young age and trained in all sorts of styles. She attended Western Washington University majoring in Kinesiology and Minoring in Dance.
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