Guest aeangel008 Posted December 12, 2001 Report Share Posted December 12, 2001 Hey everyone...well I started ballet late I started at 13, and before I was a cheerleader for my school for 2 Years(4 seasons)..we practiced everyday for 3 and 1/2 hours and that made my quads really big and muscular my friend who had danced before said it would be hard for me to get the long lean "ballet muscles", for the perfect "ballet body" I was wondering if that was true and if these muscles are bad to have for ballet...please respond.. ~Joelle~ Link to comment
Administrators Victoria Leigh Posted December 12, 2001 Administrators Report Share Posted December 12, 2001 aeangel, overdeveloped quads are definitely less than ideal for a ballet dancer, however, now that you have stopped cheerleading that will help. Ballet itself, if properly taught, lengthens the muscles, and you should add some quad stretches every day. The best one is the simple runners stretch, the one where you stand parallel facing the barre, bend one leg at the knee with the foot going towards the derrière, hold the top of the foot, keep the knee straight down and beside the knee of the standing leg. Be sure you are aligned correctly and not letting your pelvis tilt forward and your derrière go back. Hold for a slow count of 8, then do the other leg, and repeat. You can do this a lot, like several times a day, as it is totally harmless. Also, in class be sure that you are trying to lift your leg by thinking of the energy going underneath it, causing you to use the hamstrings to do as much of the work as possible instead of the quads. The quads will be contracted at the top of the stretch, but they don't have to do all the work of getting the leg up there! Link to comment
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