PT Pro Tips: Exercises for Dancers: Training & Injury Prevention

Dancers are some of the most elite athletes out there. The unique demands of the sport include memorizing and performing challenging moves that require balance, strength, coordination, flexibility and stamina, all while making it look graceful! 

Training for all these unique demands is vital in helping dancers improve their skills and prevent injury, however, a dancer wouldn’t train in the same way as a powerlifter for strength, nor would they use the same approach as a baseball player for coordination and conditioning. Cross-training is important for dancers because it’s an approach that effectively combines training for the myriad requirements of dance, while focusing on exercises that target weak areas and help them to perform the leaps, sustained poses, and other movements that are needed to succeed. 

PTSMC is lucky to have Melissa Boutagy, PT, DPT, OCS, CMT, CMTPT, a Physical Therapist at PTSMC Guilford who specializes in training and physical therapy for dance. She has fused her passion for performing arts and physical therapy by working as a backstage PT for traveling musicals such as Kinky Boots, Annie and Motown: the Musical, as well as through her regular work with local dance facilities to treat and prevent injuries for performers. 

As an expert on dancers’ training and injury prevention, Melissa put together six exercises that dancers can do to strengthen the hips and back and improve core stabilization. You can download those exercises for free below, and learn more about Melissa here.

Learn more about which clinics offer dance medicine physical therapy here.