Ballet To The People

Starts with a plié

Why cyclists should dance ballet

If Alberto Contador had only come to ballet class more regularly, he might be wearing the Maillot Jaune.

8 reasons why ballet is the perfect cross-training for cyclists:

  1. Ballet strengthens the core without having to do those boring crunches.
  2. It stretches the hip flexors, which tend to get tight in the forward-leaning position.
  3. It improves posture, correcting that rounded lumbar spine that cyclists often develop.
  4. It strengthens the hip rotators, giving you better control over your knee position. This can help to prevent splayed knees.
  5. It strengthens the VMO (vastus medialis oblique), one of the primary quad muscles needed for smooth pedaling. A weak VMO leads to poor knee tracking in the joint, which in turn can lead to chronic degeneration of the knee. Ballet, with its frequent use of relevé, and bending and straightening the legs in a limited range of motion at fast speeds with varying loads is possibly the most efficient way to strengthen the VMO.
  6. Ballet dancers spend most of their time on one leg or the other, which greatly strengthens the gluteus medius. These muscles help to keep the hips and pelvis stable on a bike, and sustain power and force while riding.
  7. Ballet both stretches and strengthens the QL (quadratus lumborum), the muscle in your back that assists with side flexion, extension and hip elevation. Cyclists often develop tight QL’s under the stress of big gears and low aerodynamic positions.
  8. You don’t have to buy a different outfit!

11 responses to “Why cyclists should dance ballet”

  1. Blondie Avatar
    Blondie

    So do you think that ballet dancers ought also cross-train with some cycling? 🙂

    Reply
  2. ballettothepeople Avatar
    ballettothepeople

    Actually, I don’t. Sports like cycling involve over-use of certain muscles, which is counter-productive for ballet. You end up spending a lot of time stretching out the tightened muscles. If you’re taking ballet class at least twice a week you are getting the stretching, strengthening AND cardio you need. Most ballet teachers would probably agree that the only sports that offer acceptable cross-training for ballet would be swimming, yoga or Pilates. That said, if you are a dancer recovering from certain injuries, particularly to the knee or ankle, doctors may prescribe regular sessions on a stationary bike at high speeds and low resistance – this helps encourage circulation to the inflamed joint. (Biking on a regular bike would be fine too, as long as you weren’t biking uphill, which increases resistance.) So while ballet provides excellent cross-training for many sports, the reverse is not true.

    Reply
  3. Blondie Avatar
    Blondie

    That’s really interesting!! I’m fascinated by all this stuff you know. I’m glad I started doing some at-home pilates videos now in between classes. I also got a theraband as well– I hear they’re great tools for helping strengthen dancers’ feet and ankles, as well as helping in stretching and things.

    Reply
  4. eve bernstein dc Avatar
    eve bernstein dc

    Thanks ballet to the people. Cycling and ballet are a difficult combination. It certainly would help the cyclist, but can really slow down the dancer. Cycling is very repetitive on the hip flexors and the Tibialis Anterior, making it very difficult to extend both the hip and the ankle. This hinders both that beautiful arabesque and pointed foot. Although the cardio work out is unbeatable on a bike, because you can both sprint and ride in hi sustained gear similar to climbing, there are better ways for a dancer to cross train.
    However, although I love to take my ballet class, I will never get off my bike. There is nothing quite like that fast speed downhill moving in space in space

    Reply
  5. dan Avatar
    dan

    I’m curious if you know of any bikers currently employing ballet in there training regiment? It sounds wonderful in theory, but is there a pro with claims to faster more controlled riding due to this form of exercise.

    Reply
    1. ballettothepeople Avatar
      ballettothepeople

      Great question. I don’t know any pro bikers but in my newly adopted city of San Francisco (and nearby Marin, where I am told mountain biking was invented) cycling is a way of life, and for many of our dance students, biking is their main mode of transport as well as a serious recreational commitment. In the old days, no one would consider ballet an appropriate form of cross-training for any sport because ballet was thought to put the body in such extreme positions that it would be harmful to any athlete, except those who had a certain body type. Today, there are modern ballet training methods based on the science of kinesiology that are gentler on the body, healthy for a wide range of body types, and just as effective as the older methods. So now the benefits of ballet are accessible to athletes, and it has become a question of educating coaches and trainers. Watch any high school football, soccer or volleyball team work on plyometric drills, then go into a ballet studio and watch those students doing their allegro work – they’re building the same set of skills, while enhancing flexibility, and the music makes it not only more fun but also serves an important function: controlling speed and dynamics.

      Reply
  6. The Cycling Pianist Avatar
    The Cycling Pianist

    Only a part time balletomane, but the benefits of ballet for a cyclist are brilliant. Check out my blog from back in June for some observations about it 🙂 http://www.thecyclingpianist.com/?p=485

    Reply
    1. ballettothepeople Avatar
      ballettothepeople

      Cycling through your blog – what a delight, including the music you spotlight. You could attract quite a following here in the San Francisco Bay area, where people are equally mad about bikes and music.

      Reply
      1. The Cycling Pianist Avatar
        The Cycling Pianist

        {quote by “ballettothepeople”}Cycling through your blog – what a delight, including the music you spotlight. You could attract quite a following here in the San Francisco Bay area, where people are equally mad about bikes and music.{/quote}

        Well I hoped to be able to play for SF Ballet when they came to perform at Sadlers Wells in London at the end of last year, but sadly they were bringing their own pianists with them. Shucks! Perhaps I’ll just have to come to the Bay area anyway – I bet its warmer for riding than it is here in London right now!

        Reply
  7. Alan Avatar
    Alan

    There is one other advantage of dance for cycling. I’m not sure if this applies to ballet, since I don’t know much about it, but in other dance styles I’ve seen the explosive nature of the movements (e.g. twisting, jumping, sudden changes in direction etc.) all require incredible refinement of the fast twitch muscle fibres. A big part of bike racing is sprinting, which requires not only an incredible amount of speed but to be effective requires also a sudden burst of speed (called a ‘jump’ in cycling). Thus training the fast twitch muscles fibres to have that incredible burst power is essential to cycling. Plyometric exercises are often the choice for this but I would suspect that dancing would be more interesting than jump squats.

    Reply
  8. ballettothepeople Avatar
    ballettothepeople

    Absolutely, Alan. Ballet is very effective at building that kind of power, because dancers are constantly pushing off the ground in quick bursts – and often pushing off just one leg, which requires even more power. As an all-around strengthening/stretching program, I say ballet is pretty much unbeatable. Far more than other fitness routines, it works the mind as hard as the body, and gives you great music to work out to.

    Reply

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