Training Programme

Conditioning Programme (training within the activity) To improve my weakness I took three technique classes per week, which focused on my overall needs as a dancer and also my specific hip mobility weakness. I trained three times per week for 1hour. I trained on a Monday, Wednesday and a Friday as this allowed rest days in between sessions for my muscles to recover. In turn this helped prevent any injuries from occurring.

My conditioning training programme was split into six areas as described below: 2) Overall Work out (10 mins): This involved developing and maintaining my overall fitness, e.g. core strength and upperbody strength, so I did not lose anything I already worked hard to achieve. Here I did exercises like sit ups, crunches, push ups, the plank, squats etc. 1) Warm up (10mins): This involved a cardio work out to increase my heart rate and prepare my body for exercise. An example of things I did was aerobics, star jumps, light jogging, grapevines etc.

3) Stretching(15mins): Head to Toe (5 mins). At this stage I stretched my muscles from my neck right down to my ankles so I did not pull anything during my training session. After I completed this I spent 10 minutes working on stretches/exercises specific to improving my hip mobility e.g. Straddle side stretch, Pike stretch, Criss crosses, frog stretch, splits etc.

5) Dance Development (15mins): I learned, practiced and refined a performance piece for my schools dance show. During this stage I was working on developing my personal skills (partner/group work) and my special skills (charisma and delivering the choreographers vision). 4) Technique Work (10mins): I practiced different skills from the corner that would help improve my hip mobility e.g. front and side kicks, kicking sequence, split leaps. Plus I also did exercises and sequences that addressed all the demands of a dancer e.g. stepball and springball changes, Pas de bourees, Pirouettes etc.

6) Cool Down (5mins): This allowed my body to return to its resting state after finishing my training session. Here we did stretches and deep breathing exercises.