I think I've been doing it wrong WRT leg trainig

Discussion in 'Health and Fitness' started by matveimediaarts, Jul 23, 2016.

  1. matveimediaarts

    matveimediaarts Underappreciated genius

    Those who follow my blog know that I do lots of leg work to supplement ballet/MA practice. I've found though that my progress is very slow when it comes to things like balancing en pointe, echappe releve, etc. It makes my calves scream for mercy. (obviously not nearly as bad as when I started, though :) ) :eek: How should I adjust my training? :confused: Thanks in advance!:hat:
     
  2. flaming

    flaming Valued Member

    Like I have said on your blog you do, do an awful lot of exercise. I think you need to train a bit less. I'm sure Fish of Doom can give a better reply. Honestly I would say take a break. Go on a holiday. There isn't much point risking an injury.

    Best of luck with your training. Whatever you decide to do. :)

    ps

    Is that asian Hat emoji racist?
     
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2016
  3. matveimediaarts

    matveimediaarts Underappreciated genius

    Not sure if it's racist, but if so, it's MAP's fault for institutionalizing it! ;) :D
     
  4. Fish Of Doom

    Fish Of Doom Will : Mind : Motion Supporter

    Well, if the discomfort is less than when you started training, then the training is working well, no? :p

    Also, if your calves need work, work your calves more! HOW to do it is the tricky part, of course :p. Note that I know almost nothing about ballet, but as far as I can gather, your issue is when the heels are off the ground, no? It sounds like it's overwhelmingly an endurance issue, so essentially you need to do a lot of progressively-increasing volume in exercises that involve the heels raising off the ground. Not knowing if there's any reliable data on which exercises have best transfer for ballet, I would suggest some sort of mechanically difficult walking (such as walking uphill for long distances, with or without added weight), partial (top half), full ROM (stretch at bottom), and isometric (hold at top) standing calf raises both with and without weight, and simply holding the ballet positions for time. If the ballet positions are technically demanding, it may be worth doing them either separately from the strength training, or right at the start of a session where fatigue is going to be minimal and unlikely to create technical errors. If they are simple to hold, they could be treated as just another exercise. WRT the strength training itself, I would err on the side of leaving for last those exercises where the potential load is greater, as they will be least affected by high fatigue from the other exercises (as you can just lower the weight and go at it anyway), As for programming, strength protocols are unlikely to help that much, so it has to at least look like hypertrophy work, ideally lighter and with more volume. Think sets of 12+ at the very minimum, drop sets, rest-pause, etc, as the objective is to develop the physiological characteristics of the muscle that make it fatigue resistant, to increase its endurance, rather than making it adapt structurally or activate better.

    Also, WRT things like raising your legs and such, aside from the obvious leg raise variants, lunges in particular may be of some use for strengthening the hip flexors, if you focus on staying upright all throughout and actively use the rear leg to "pull" yourself back up on each rep. Worth remembering however that partial ROM and isometric training produce very angle-specific strength adaptations, so lunges probably can't be depended upon as the sole hip flexor strengthener, and it'd likely be very wise to use things like leg raises, or decline situps with full hip ROM and the hips off the bench, to present a more all-round stimulus (always with the caveat that this is all hypothetical as I am not specialized in strength training for ballet).
     

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