I’m excited to start a new series discussing cross training as a dancer! I’ll be discussing a lot of different workouts and how they have or haven’t benefited me as a dancer. I’ve been through quite a few phases of working out. You name it I’ve done it. Growing up as a dancer my entire life I have always been active and pretty fit. It’s kinda of in my nature to move around so I enjoy working out!
To be totally honest, some of the workouts phases I went through have hindered my dancing quite a bit so let’s start with crossfit. I know some dancers who are crossfitters and absolutely love it, so this is all just my personal opinion. I don’t intended to offend anyone!
I got heavily into crossfit when we were living in utah and I loved it! A community full of active people who are all pushing each other to get better. I’m the competitive type so I loved competing for better time or heavier weight. I did the on ramp program and the gym I was at was really great at keeping an eye on form. I got really strong. Squatting huge weight and it was super gratifying but it was also hindering me as a dancer. The muscle I was building was beginning to make me look thick and my flexibility was diminishing the stronger I got. I was training large muscle groups and neglecting the ones I needed to be focusing on as a dancer. Dancers need to be long, lean, and flexible and I wasn’t achieving that. I was short, stalky and no longer able to wear my jeans or sweaters! Unfortunately being short (which I don’t mind being) muscle and fat don’t have a ton of places to go. I need all the lengthening I can get!
Overall crossfit was a fun (super hard) and I really enjoyed it, just not a smart choice for me as a dancer. I had to give up working out for awhile due to my health right after my crossfit stint and I think it was a blessing for my body to recover a bit and to step out of the box.
I’ve found other ways to stay in shape since and i’ll discuss those in a later post. Overall its simply about knowing your body best and listening to signs your body sends. Our bodies are pretty amazing and if we take care of them they’ll last a good while:)
xoxo
Jessie Ann
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