Need to be stronger!!!!!

[LilBalletDancer1993]

Help!!! I'm quite flexible (i can do the splits and my back is flexible and my achilles tendons are VERY loose...) but I'm not very strong at all! It's annoying because when we do adage in the centre my extensions are only 90 dgerees whereas they are about 120-130 at the barre. also when i do basic sautés and changements and entrechats (basically the jumps that dont travel anywhere but up!) my teacher has said some strain is beginning to show in my shoulders, probably because my abdominals are quite weak. does anyone know any good excercises to build up a toned kind of strength in legs and abs rather than heavy muscle strength??? any advice would be really well appreciated!! thank yooooouuuuu!!!!!!

[Victoria Leigh]

LilBalletDancer, generally people who are very loose and flexible take quite a bit longer to gain strength. Sometimes the strength doesn't come until after you have finished growing. In the meantime, if you can take some Pilates classes, that could be very helpful.

[LilBalletDancer1993]

Thanks for replying!! I have hopefully stopped growing (I haven't grown for about 4 or 5 months), so i will try and take pilates. I have heard it was good for me, a while ago, but wanted to check it out and forgot! So thanks soooo much for reminding me and confirming it all in one! Hehe I'll go book some classes at my gym now!

[eschmitt98]

Just perusing through the topics when I found this

 

Similarly, I'm 16 and I dance 6 days a week, for at least 3.5 hours each day of ballet, pointe, modern, pas de deux, or rehearsal. On top of that, I take a weekly Pilates private lesson and exercise with the help of various exercise DVD programs (i.e. Jillian Michaels, Gilad). Yet, I am not gaining muscle tone in my legs! I've danced since I was 5, and started in my current dance schedule last year as a freshman. I am slightly baffled as to why I can't seem to gain muscle tone in my legs! I do have muscle, but it doesn't show and I personally think my legs (especially my quads) are a little too jiggly for my liking. I've asked my doctor and Pilates trainer about weight training, like in the gym, but they both say it would build bulky muscle which I'd rather avoid. Thoughts??

 

Feel free to move this if there's a more current thread about this!

[Clara 76]

There are many reasons for our muscles not behaving in the way we'd prefer, and without being able to work with you, it's hard to say exactly what is happening. Have you asked your teacher what he or she thinks?