Upper body weight lifting for women

[ashatNYU]

Hi All

 

Well, I guess my title pretty much explains my question. I went to the guy yesterday for the first time in about two years and had a great upper body training session with a trainer. I am assuming that this would be beneficial to my dancing, seeing as I don't get a huge upper body workout. Am I correct?

 

Also, are there any exercises that I should or should not concentrate on?

 

Thanks for any help/feedback!

 

Ashley

[Guest BalletBrat]

HI, I'll let some of the other knowledgable people here give their opinions and advice on what to do or not for ballet, but I just wanted to say that strength training for women over thirty is very important, as we age we actually lose muscle mass, weight lifting helps to maintain valuable muscle tissue and keep our bodies healthy and strong into old age. Good for you for getting a head start!

[Garyecht]

I’ve written many times about the effects of doing activities other than ballet on ballet, so won’t do that here. Essentially for the adult, activities like weight training will likely neither help nor hurt ballet in the long run.

 

What I find interesting about weight training and women, however, is how strictly from a health perspective, weight training seems to benefit females more so than it does males. Certainly if you walk into almost any gym you will see a lot more males than females, like ballet in reverse. So the initial appeal is definitely masculine. But the trainers and female weight trainees I know tell pretty much the same story. That is weight training tends to burn more fat in females than it does in males. I don’t know that that is true, as I am just taking their word for it.

 

The other thing related to weight training and females concerns fears about getting big muscles. The fact is that it takes two things to get big muscles. The first is like training in a gym for 20 hours a week using heavy weights. The second is having lots and lots of testosterone, which for females usually only comes in tablets or through needles.

 

I’m not saying that all females should weight train either, but if a female enjoys it, I think it is a very healthy activity.

[Guest LisaB]

At one time I lifted regularly at the gym. Now I lift 2-3 times per week with hand weights at home. Interestingly, when I returned to ballet class this year, my arms were sore after the first week. I guess holding them in second is harder than lifting 10 pound weights. I agree with garyecht, I don't think it was hurt or help your ballet. It does build bone mass and helps eliminate that tricep flab we women often get. And it helps with other day to day activities. Enjoy.

[FleetFeet]

I regularly lift weights. I started weight lifting before I started dancing, in fact.

 

I highly recommend it, but not necessarily to improve your ballet. Weight lifting does have several benefits:

 

1. Increases muscle tissue, which decreases with age.

2. Increased muscle mass = higher metabolism = more fat burning. Although, you may not notice that you loss weight. This is becaus muscle tissue weighs more than fat, so if you replace the same amount of fat with muscle, you actually weigh more - but look and feel much better!

3. Creates a nice toned look in the upper body.

4. Increased upper body strength lets you open your own pickle jars, lift groceries more easily, etc.

5. Being strong throughout the upper body and knowing proper lifting techniques makes you less vulnerable to back injuries.

 

I say go for it!