If you’re a dancer who gets involved in cheerleading, taking the time to do some dance exercises at the gym will be a great way to improve your performance and help you be the best you can be.
Many dancers shy away from all weightlifting activities because they think it will make them grow bigger and bulkier, when in fact that is not the case.
Instead, dance workouts can help you become much stronger, while also increasing leanness and muscle tone, allowing you to burn fat quickly and maintain a firmer overall physique, which will only come in handy when it comes to cheerleading. .
Let’s look at some of the best exercises to do in your dance workouts.
Single leg split squats
The single-leg split squat is a good exercise to perform throughout your lower body and will add strength to your glutes that will help you propel yourself up when doing any type of jump.
When you do this exercise, think about propelling yourself up through your glute muscle, as that’s where you want your main power generation to come from. Lean back slightly as you perform the exercise and think about pressing up through your heel.
That will ensure you target the correct area.
steps
Next, step-ups are also a great lower-body exercise. They will also work on the glutes, but will also target the quads to a greater extent, making sure to build comprehensive lower body strength.
When performing step ups, hold a barbell across your back to add extra resistance to the movement. This will improve the overall amount of strength gains you get while also improving your balance.
mountain climbers
Mountain climbers are the next exercise you should add to your list to complete in your dance workouts. These are great for improving anaerobic capacity and for improving full body strength since so many muscles are used when doing them.
As you do this, try to jump your legs toward your body as high as possible to really engage your core as you go. Then kick your legs back behind you to full extension so that you place maximum tension on your upper body as you do the movement.
Aim for sets of 20, doing 3 sets per dance workout.
Lizards
Finally, push-ups are the last exercise you should complete. These will target just about every muscle in your upper body nicely, helping you build strength without having to use external weight.
Try and perform full push-ups if you can, keeping your body in proper alignment at all times.
Add these exercises to your dance workouts and you’ll definitely be happy with the strength gains you receive.