Allons Danser!

Get Your Body Dance Ready

The summer music festival and dance camp season is upon us and with it the happy opportunity for hours and hours of dancing. Since most of us are of the, ahem, Boomer Generation we all know that dancing for 8 hours at a time comes with some not so fun side effects. So to prepare my body for non – stop and injury free dancing I have teamed with my personal trainer, a sports injury prevention specialist and my chiropractor to offer some advice and exercises you can start with now so you will be fit as a fiddle and ready to boogie.

During Gator by the Bay I estimate that I danced for 18 hours. Let’s face it, we are asking a lot of our bodies when we dance hard for that long. So here are some tips to help you condition and be in the best shape possible so you can enjoy every minute without misery.

Maintain a healthy weight

Ok, if you are planning on the Blues Festival in two weeks, you don’t have time to drop that pesky 5, 10 or 20 pounds you keep planning on ridding yourself of. But you do have time to lose weight in a healthy way before Dance Camp in September, fall festivals or Mardi Gras. Losing weight is not rocket science; you need to curb your empty calorie intake,

eat the good stuff
increase your exercise

The new rule of thumb for the food pyramid and the way your plate looks should be like this;

½ your plate vegetables and fruit,
¼ lean protein and
¼ whole grains.

If you do this and exercise 30-60 minutes at least 4 times a week and drink a lot of water, the weight will fall off.

You can lose weight on a special ‘diet’ but the only thing that keeps the weight off is changing your habits. Think of dancing with a 10 pound bag of dog food on your back. Now imagine getting rid of that 10 pound bag. There you go; your heart, knees, hips and so on will thank you. Maintaining a healthy weight is the number one disease prevention strategy and it is all up to you. Dancing is a wonderful cardio work out burning up to 300 calories an hour! Combine dancing with core and abdominal exercises, stretching and walking/running and you have a recipe for a healthier you.

Strengthen your legs, back and core muscles

Especially for us follows, having healthy quads, knees, hamstrings and glutes will help us on the dance floor. Bent knees, leaning back into our leads, and turns all make use of the muscles in our thighs, backs, legs and butts. Try these easy conditioning exercises and you don’t even have to have a gym membership to do them.

Bench squats. Stand about a foot away from a chair or bench, feet a little wider than shoulder length apart. Stretch out your arms for balance and sit down, barely touching your butt on the chair, don’t sit, pop back up like it’s hot, concentrating on using the long muscles on the front of your thighs (your quadriceps). Work your way up to 15 a day or even better twice a day.

Quad stretch. If you have been a runner, or watched runners stretch this works well for dancing too. Lean into a wall with your back straight, hands on the wall, stretch one leg out behind you, the other bent at a 45° angle. Feel a gentle stretch on the front of your thigh. Hold for a count of ten and breathe. Repeat with the other leg. Do these before you go dancing and/or at least twice a day leading up to a big dance weekend.

Hamstring stretch. Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent. Your feet are splayed out a little, duck style. Bend one knee and extend the other leg out diagonally, toe flexed up. Your back should be straight. Hold for a count of ten, breathe, and repeat with other leg. Do this before you go dancing and/or at least twice a day leading up to a big dance weekend.

Knee and quad stretch. Sit in a chair and put one leg bent, ankle on top of knee. Gently push down on the bent leg on top until you feel a stretch. Don’t push hard and don’t hurt yourself, this is a gentle stretch. Push for 10 seconds and breathe into the stretch. Repeat with other leg. Do these before you go dancing and/or at least twice a day leading up to a big dance weekend.

Lunges. If you regularly work out, you can do this with light weights. Stand up straight, hands on hips. Step slowly into a forward lunge position, hold repeat with other leg. Hold. Count to five, remember to breathe. 10 steps forward, turn around and repeat. If you are gym rat, you can add an upward pump with a light weight, no more than 10 pounds, and stretch up tall through your rib cage /same arm/with forward leg. Ladies, this is good for those muffin tops you are trying to kill.

Knee stretch. This is my favorite and has lessened knee strain for me significantly. Stand tall, hand against something to balance. Bend one leg up stork style towards your butt and grab the top of your foot, pulling it up against your butt. Hold it for 10 seconds and breathe. Repeat with other leg. This stretches all the muscles and tendons that go over and around your knee cap and will alleviate soreness and strengthen those tissues. I do this several times a day; in elevators, in between dances, when ever I can. This is good stuff.

Toe rises. Stand with the balls of your feet on a small incline about two inches tall (like the stand of a piece of gym equipment or even a rolled up towel or core foam ‘worm’). Rise up on your toes and then rock back on your heels. You should feel a stretch in your calves and shins. Repeat 10 times, easy slow rocking.

Upper arms and upper back.

Both leads and follows can benefit from upper arm toning to help with turns and spins and the upper body moves that come with partner dancing.

Using light weights (if you don’t have weights a large can of soup will do) no heavier than 8 lbs, reach up stretching as high as you can with small, controlled pumps. Do these 5 times each side, breathing with each pump.

Towel or finger stretch. If you are limber you won’t need a towel. Stand tall and reach one arm up and then back touching the back shoulder blade (palm against your back), bend the other arm back and up (with palm facing out), and touch your fingers together with a gentle pull. If you can’t do this with your hands, take a towel and hold one end up and over your head with the end dangling down, reach up with your other hand and grab the towel and pull gently. Do these for a count of 10, switch sides, breathe. This stretches out your shoulders, upper arms, and rotator cuffs and feels terrific.

Print: Word document of exercises.

You are here: how to manage extended hours of dancing

Feed and hydrate your body

I didn’t know I could sweat until I started zydeco dancing. It is easy to become dehydrated with dancing especially if you are out in the warm weather at an outdoor festival and festival food is famously greasy and heavy so here are some easy suggestions to keep your tank filled and your system juiced up for optimum energy and stamina.

Drink, drink and drink. Lucky for us the Portland Waterfront Blues Festival allows you to bring in a cooler, just no glass or outside alcohol. You can bring a gallon of water and you should. Drink every chance you can and supplement your liquids to include power drinks like Gatorade or tomato or V-8 juice which will replenish the salt your body needs to keep your electrolytes balanced. Buy water if you need to, and recycle please.

Eat bananas and almonds. Bananas are full of potassium which helps you retain minerals and avoid muscle cramping and almonds are heart healthy, and full of energy. Other great ideas for healthy snacking are string cheese, apples, pretzels, baby carrots and energy/power bars. Enjoy that festival junk food, but be cautious since spicy and greasy foods can sit heavy in your belly and also be courteous about your breath. Your partners will appreciate that.

Take a break. You don’t have to dance every single dance. Really. It is ok to sit down and watch the other dancers every now and then.

Wear sunscreen and cover your head if you are outside. Find some shade for a break. Pace yourself.

Make sure you will have happy feet. If you are getting new dance shoes, break them in before you try them out on the dance floor. Bring band aids, mole skin, and silk adhesive tape. Ladies and gents, get a pedicure before the big day. If you have never had a pedicure, you are missing out. Put your feet up between dances.

Take it easy on alcohol consumption. Alcohol can dehydrate you and it doesn’t make you the best partner either.

For aches and pains use inflammation reducers like ibuprofen or try a natural approach with homeopathic like arnica montana in pellets under the tongue or in a salve or gel.

Happy Dancing!!

By Chere Weiss

Cascade Zydeco