Dance

Participating in any physical activity comes with many risks of injury, dance being no exception. Professional dancers may seem like angels as they soar through the air and appear to be defying gravity as they leap. They have rhythm, flexibility and coordination, but unfortunately even the very well trained will experience injuries due to the nature of the movement demands.
Up to 80% of dancers report injuries at some stage of their career. As much as a third of these are the result of specific trauma, and 65 percent are overuse injuries. Conditions that affect dancers include muscle weakness, muscular imbalances, muscle ramp, muscle strain, shin splints, plantar fasciitis and stress fracture. Some of the most common being in the leg, foot, knee, hip and pelvis.
Some types of dance such as ballet are more injury-prone than others. Ballet has a very high incidence of injury because of the extreme stresses and demands of places on the body. Though any type of dance that involves repetitive impact on the body, gives dancers a higher risk of injury.
Some tips on how to prevent injury:
1) Stretch gently and always warm up with a few minutes of light exercise before a dance class.
2) Take time to properly warm up the major muscles of the body.
3) Cool down properly- It is extremely important to allow time for a proper cool down and more intensive stretching after class. This will prevent lactic acid build-up and any injuries that might occur if you simply walk out of the class and head on with the rest of your day.
4) Focus on proper technique-proper technique is a key ingredient in the prevention of dance-related injuries.

5) Crosstrain-Doing only one type of workout puts you at risk for injury, instead of only doing dance classes every week, get in a couple days of strength training, a Pilate’s class and another type of cardiovascular workout. Not only will you reduce your risk of injury and you will get more fitter.
6) Wear proper footwear- you can prevent...