Young dancers, or adult ballet beginners alike need to know how to take care of general aches and pains associated with working their ballet muscles. The prevention of dance injuries is part of your training, so correct classical ballet technique always has its reason for being the way it is.

General aches and pains can be addressed immediately after ballet class or later the same day. After class, it is a good idea to stretch while your muscles are still warm. Sometimes you have to leave the studio in order for the next class to start, and I am used to seeing dancers on the hall floors or any other available space, doing their ballet stretches.

How To Decrease Aches And Pains From Normal Exertion

• stretch after class, specifically the
• hamstring muscles at the back of your thighs
• quadriceps muscles at the front of your thighs
• calf muscles
• top of the foot/ankle muscles
• large back muscles and side muscles
• front of chest muscles

Here is a typical stretch that will increase the flexibility, and reduce muscle tension in:

• your hamstrings
• your adductor or inner thigh muscles
• your back muscles

Sit on the floor in your widest second position, or sideways split. Flex your foot on your right leg (or left, start on whichever side you like). Reaching up with your opposite side arm, do a side bend over the leg. Press down into the floor with your thigh. This will decrease your range of stretch, but increase the stretch in the hamstring muscle.

Don't bounce, but hold the stretch for thirty seconds. Return to an upright position and repeat on the other side. For an extra stretch to the adductor muscles, keep your back straight, and lean forward slowly, keeping both legs straight and pressing into the floor. You have stretched three muscles!

Top Of The Foot And Ankle Muscles

Men in ballet, those who have less flexible ankle joints, and those who especially aspire to dance in ballet toe shoes, will want to keep their ankle joints a s flexible as possible. (If you are hyper-mobile in the ankles and feet, you do not need this exercise).

Sit on the floor, knees bent, relaxed on your feet. Place a hand under one knee, and gently pull it up off the floor. You will feel a stretch over your ankle joint and the top of your foot. When the stretch is sufficient, stop and hold for about twenty seconds. Don't pull till it hurts, that is too much.

Repeat on the other side, then repeat both sides again.

Later in the day or evening after a ballet class, if you have muscles that throb and ache, they need a little extra attention. A soak in a tub with Epsom Salts or Magnesium Chloride Flakes is very soothing to your muscles, and is a nutritional boost. Magnesium prevents or helps release muscles spasms.

If your feet ache a lot, do a foot soak with Epsom Salts, Magnesium Chloride Flakes, or Apple Cider Vinegar. These products re-mineralize your muscles.

Decreasing muscle tension improves muscle tone and helps prevent dance injuries. I hope this information helps you enjoy ballet, especially if you have your sights set on ballet toe shoes.