-Edward Demby
Weight lifting is one of many ways a dance team keeps up
with yearlong season training. Weightlifting challenges the body’s strength in
several positions and tasks. It builds muscle and power to the body which is useful
to every sport, including dance.
My high school dance team is required to take a weightlifting
course, called Performance P.E. as a class period for at least half of the
school year. We also have to do weight lifting over the whole summer, this
lasts twice a week and is in the morning right before practice. The final part
of our weight lifting commitment is during our “off season” we are required as
a team to go in after school twice a week to get stronger and max out on all of
our skills.
Although there is some complaining that goes into weight
lifting, the results are showing and our dancing bodies are becoming better
accustomed to it. Other sports are beginning to accept the fact that dance team
also has a reason to do weight lifting, as pom requires a great amount of arm
strength, also dance itself requires its need because it helps to make it
easier to get our dancing legs off the ground on leaps, jumps and kicks.
Unlike other sports we are not trying to “get big” or set
school weight lifting records. Dance team uses weight lifting as a way to train
our bodies for what we have to do in practice. It’s conditioning our bodies to
engage and use the strength of our muscles that we have gained from
weightlifting, and use them while dancing. It’s about setting personal bests
for a dancer’s body, not maxing out the school record, that’s not what dance
team is training for, nor what their goals need to be.
I think dance team has every right to use the same training
as other sports, it challenges the body to become stronger and more toned.
Weightlifting builds muscles that dancer’s need to grow stronger in order for
them to execute skills with ease. Although dancers are not usually looking to
max out school records or “get big” the results are still obvious, as jumps become
higher and arms get stronger.
~Julia Brewer
No comments:
Post a Comment