f you or a loved one is a competitive dancer or gymnast, then this article is a must read. If you can follow these few tips you will be well on your way to reducing your risk for injuries and performing at an optimal level when it matters most: Competition and Meet season. All too often poor medical advice is doled out in generality, but I’m here to parse through the poor advice to give you dance and gymnastics specific advice. Continue to read below to learn more.

1. Improve your arch height with this simple exercise

We often see dancers and gymnasts, as well as other performing artist athletes, complaining about foot and ankle pain in Physical Therapy. Implementing an injury prevention routine prior to the start of the season is key in avoiding many of the impairments we treat. “Short Foot Exercises” should be a fixture in all performing arts exercise programs.

Short foot exercises strengthen the muscles on the bottom of your foot and help to reinforce the “arch” of the foot. These muscles act in symphony with other foot and ankle muscles to provide strong balance and arch formation throughout your performance. In order to include Short Foot Exercises into your routine do this: Scrunch a towel using your toes underneath one foot at a time for 30 seconds. Repeat this 3 times with each foot and perform 5 days a week. You will notice a difference in foot strength within weeks and your arch will be stronger than ever—and more resilient to injury!

2. Challenge your balance

Lack of balance and in younger dancers, lack of coordination to perform highly technical movements, will lead to dance and gymnastic injuries as well. Coordination requires blocked practice as well as strength of the specific muscles required to perform that technique. 

Many dancers and gymnasts understand how important balance is to programming, however few know how to challenge the body’s 3 systems that contribute to balance. Balance is a product of your visual, somatosensory and vestibular systems. By challenging any aspect of the 3 of these systems either alone or in concert—you can improve your balance. I’ll include examples below.

Visual: Close your eyes and balance for 1 minute on one leg

Visual and Somatosensory: Close your eyes and balance on a pillow for 1 minute on one leg

Visual and Somatosensory and Vestibular: Close your eyes and balance on a pillow while moving your head up and down for 1 minute on one leg.

You’ll notice that the exercises above reflect a pattern of difficult, more difficult, most difficult. Try this at home daily and reap the benefits of improved balance. Start with whichever level you feel most comfortable. If you have a balance disc, foam pad or Bosu ball to balance on at home, even better.

3. Do I need to stretch more?

Stretching is always a controversial topic among dancers, gymnasts and performing artist athletes alike. Dancers typically have increased joint mobility, however lack the muscle length to keep up with their hyper-mobile joints. For instance, a dancer may be able to wrap her knee behind her head, but may still demonstrate a relatively “tight” hamstring with regard to their inherent range of motion. If this sounds complicated, that is because it is! As an experienced PT I like to talk about the difference between muscle length and muscle quality. An athlete may have the appropriate muscle length to accomplish a skill, but still presents with pain because the muscle quality is compromised with trigger points.

The key is to properly assess muscle quality. Are there a lot of “trigger points” in the muscles? Do they need to be worked out with massage or professional tools like the Graston Technique, Dry Needling or Cupping? 

An experienced performing arts physical therapist uniquely understands these challenges and should be sought out to solve muscle aches and pains before they turn into fractures at the growth plate from overuse.

4. Get a functional movement screen

How often do children visit the pediatrician for a check-up? Typically every year right? 

They do a quick “physical” where they make sure that your lymph nodes aren’t swollen, your lungs and heart are clear, and that you are able to participate in school and sport with no restrictions. What pediatricians often miss are potential observable variances that may predispose a child to injury. A proper Functional Movement Screen will quickly and easily pick up risk factors for a dance or gymnastics injury, and should always be done in concert with a thorough physical exam of the young athlete.

In an ideal world the “physical” part of the yearly medical check-up for the competitive dancer or gymnast should happen at a PT’s office.

A doctor of PT’s version of a “physical exam” stems from the functional movement exam. During the functional movement exam the PT will begin by testing the strength of all the key muscle groups related to dance and gymnastics on a 0-5 scale. Then the PT will examine dynamic motions and prescribe manual therapy and specific exercises to prevent a problem before it starts. 

Wouldn’t you like to have the peace of mind that you are doing everything you can to compete during the season when it matters most? What if there were exercises, stretches or therapy you could be doing today to increase your likelihood of success when it comes to competition or meet season. Wouldn’t you be asking yourself, why didn’t I do that?

I propose that every competitive dancer and gymnast who is serious in their sport should establish a relationship with their local PT.  Preferably find a Doctor of PT who specializes in the performing arts athlete category -- think dance, gymnastics, and ice skating. A PT specialized in the performing arts will have a unique understanding of the bodily demands you (or your young athlete) requires for a successful outcome.

Looking back on my career I could have prevented thousands of dance and gymnastics injuries had I screened the patient six months sooner. Don’t become a statistic, get a screen from a local qualified Doctor of PT today.