Expert: Jennifer - 1/14/2007

Question
Hi,
I am an amateur boxer and I enjoy watching ballet. I have noticed over the years that male ballet dancers have spectacularly muscular and sculpted bodies. What do kind of training in ballet makes that possible? Do they weight train along with their strict ballet instrution? Also, I have always wanted to try ballet myself so could that help my fighting career? I am very disciplined and a hard worker.

Answer
Male dancers, as well as female dancers, must maintain spectacular control over most of the muscle groups in their body. What make them such great athletes isn't just that they've built their muscles... they've built them in a very functional way. The whole body is used in just about every movement done in dance.

Male dancers must develop a lot of strength and agility to do the dance moves required of them. They need to have the ability to change direction quicky, jump very high in the air, lift their female partners over ther heads, and make extremely quick movements. They must be extremely flexible, and flexibility is also part of what makes their bodies possible... they build extremely strong yet long & lean muscles.

Male dancers do typically weight train outside ballet class (while female dancers typically do not). They need to build extra arm strength that ballet class does not give them in order to be able to lift their partners above their heads and hold them in sometimes awkward positions. If you look at advanced pre-professional ballet programs, weight training is often part of their men's curriculum.

I think that ballet would definitly help your fighting career. It will increase your range of motion, increase your agility, and help you keep from injuring yourself. If you watch male dancers, you'll know how many "moves" they have that your opponents may not! I've found that ballet is a good base training for many types of sports simply because it is so full-body oriented and forces you to use all of your muscle groups to work together. You're right that improving your performance in ballet class does take discipline and hard work, but it has always payed off for me!

If you're interested but don't want to jump off right away, you might check out the New York City Ballet's Ballet Workout DVDs. The DVD isn't fantastic from an instructional standpoint, but a lot of the exercises are a good start. Pilates classes are also very beneficial and fit well into the ballet world... its all about building deep core muscle,  and muscle control (lots of isometrics, etc). If you're ready to jump into classes now, look out for adult beginning classes at local community colleges, universities, or some of the larger dance studios in your area. Those are your best bet for finding classes that are designed for beginning adults.

Thanks!