Turn Out

Turn Out

So one thing you need to remember is that it's not going to happen straight away. It will take time and regular practice for your turn out to improve. If only we could wave a magic wand and have amazing hip rotation like Svetlana Zakharova. ➝

Here are a few exercises you can do at home to help improve your turnout.

Warm up:

Warming up your hip/bottom/thigh muscle first is a must! Gently swing your legs forwards, backwards and sideways to increase blood flood to these areas.
Hug your knee to your chest and hold for 8 counts, repeat opening up your turnout by pulling your knee towards your shoulder.

Butterfly Stretch: 
Sit with your legs bent and so the soles of your feet should be facing each other. Make sure you keep your back straight and your head up too. 

Prone Butterfly Stretch:
Lie flat on your tummy and draw your knee up, keeping your feet together and attempting to get your feet to touch the ground. The shape made should be similar to the exercise above.

Back Straddle Split:
Lay on your back with your legs up in the air at 90 degrees, feet turned out and toes pointed. With resistance, lower your legs out to the side,  into a straddle split and then draw your legs back up into a closed position 90 degree position. Repeat.

Cool down:
Stretching out those hip muscles is again very important. You've just worked and stretched them and they need to recover. Repeat the 'Warm Up' exercises.

How to relax over Christmas

Relaxing over Christmas, without losing form.

Keeping up with your fitness over summer is very important but so is RELAXING! You've worked hard all year, busting your gut over eisteddfods and exams and concerts; you deserve a little break!
It can be very hard changing your mindset as we come into Christmas where chocolate, cake and biscuits seems to be the only food in the house. All year you've maintained a healthy balanced diet and now it

seems to be going to shreds, BUT this is okay. Christmas happens once a year, take the opportunity to reward yourself for all your hard work and know that one (or two) days of eating like Queens and Kings will NOT have any long term repercussions. Remember that Christmas cake is essentially dried fruit with a tiny bit of egg and flour to stick it together. A roast dinner is a good source of protein with a lot of vegetables available.

The flip side is exercise. Flexibility and strength work are important to keep up with over summer, but there is no need to be excessive. Do exercise to your hearts content, Do what makes you happy but Don't let it become the focus.
Pick up a summer hobby that is fitness but a lot of fun, maybe something you wouldn't normally have time to do in the rest of year due to dancing. Take some skating lessons, or ice skating lessons if your area offers it. On the Sunshine Coast, we have a trampoline facility (a very large room with floors and walls entirely covered with trampolines. Or maybe pick up a fun dance class over summer - if you've never done Hip hop, consider that class, etc. or even a gymnastics class, a silks acro class or a Pilates class. Keeping up your fitness is important, but not at the expense of enjoying your summer. Another idea is to do this fun exercise with friends/family who aren't from dancing, for a change.

It all comes down to your attitude, are you avoiding Christmas cookies because you genuinely don't like them? Are you hammering yourself everyday because the energy makes you feel alive? Or are you looking over the next few weeks with dread?

Excising: Stretching and Warming Up

Eisteddfods

http://dance.about.com/od/stepsandmoves/ss/Splits_5.htm

Now that eisteddfods are just around the corner, it is so important that you are warming up and stretching properly before you dance so that you don’t hurt yourself. Warming up and stretching are two different things. Warming up is about increasing the blood flow around your body and increasing the temperature in your muscles. Stretching is pushing your muscles to their limits so you can stretch them even further. It is so important that you warm your muscles up BEFORE you start stretching them.

We all know how difficult it is to warm up and stretch in eisteddfods where the walls and floors are covered in bags and even the chairs are covered in bags. So how do you properly warm up in the tiny spaces? Easy, clear enough floor space to be able to stand in first position and tendu – then do your plies and ‘bar exercises’ in the ‘Centre’. After that, jump up and down, star jumps if, there is room, to get your blood flowing! When you’re all warmed up, start your stretching using your friends as a temporary wall.

Because we can’t access the wall for all the bags, balancing on your friend is the next best thing. Link arms and do leg mounts, hold each other’s shoulders to do your grande battlements. If floor space permits, lie on your back and have your friends pull your leg up towards your head in a split. There are many things you can do in the limited space, just make sure you are warming up FIRST then stretching! Good Luck with the eisteddfods.

Dancers Feet.

Sore Feet??...

Soak your feet in Epsom salt for 10-15 minutes when you come home from dancing, the sooner after dancing, the better. Don't put them in hot water that will increase the risk of swelling, instead use room temperature water or ice cold water. After soaking your feet, get mum or dad to give for feet a little massage to help relax your muscles. Then get a good night sleep!!!