May 27, 20232 min read

5 Best Practices for Your Ballet Warmup

A proper ballet warmup should get elevate your body temperature to keep your muscles loose and moving. Warming up is a great way to ensure that your body is ready for ballet class, but there are many misconceptions about what a proper warm-up should look like. Check out our tips below for the Do's and a few Don'ts of getting a proper warm-up before class.

#1 Ballet Warmup Tip: Light Jog Around the Room

A woman jogging outside in a park. Photo by Jozsef Hocza

The goal of a good warmup is to get your body temperature slightly elevated and your body ready for movement. Nothing beats getting this quite like a quick, light jog around the ballet room. A few laps is all you really need to get your heart rate going, and if you don't quite have the opportunity to jog around the room, you can instead to jumping jacks or jog in place.

#2 Ballet Warmup Tip: Get Joints Moving

Test out all of your major joints slowly with gentle circles and swings to get them waking up. You'll want to avoid anything too extreme like through your legs into high extension, but instead give your hips a couple of circles in each direction. This is a great way to connect with your body and discover where the aches and pains are for the day.

#3 Ballet Warmup Tip: Core Exercises are a Must!

A woman doing a plank on a pink yoga mat. Photo by Olivia Bauso

There are many ways to wake up your core muscle before class, but our favorite is the plank position. The plank is one of the best full body exercises you can do to tone and strengthen your muscles. Planks do not have to be held too long to be effective. Check out this Youtube video for the proper way to do a good plank.

#4 Ballet Warmup Tip: Engage Major Muscle Groups

Once you've got your heart rate elevated, it's a good time to engage your major muscle groups. This can be a good time to include exercises like squats and lunges as well as pushups. It can also be a good time to get out the TheraBand and practice some resistance training exercises. Remember that the goal is to warmup the body and not overdue the exercises.

#5 Ballet Warmup Tip: Don't Sit in Static Stretches

A static stretch is stretch that you push a body position to its maximum range and then hold it for 15-20 seconds. Dancers should not sit in static stretches as a form of warmup. I know it can be tempting to follow all of the other dancers who are pushing their splits to the extreme before class, but this is not an effective way to get your body ready.

A ballerina in a white tutu sitting on the floor with her legs in a side straddle. Photo by David Hoffman

Stretching correctly can be a great benefit to your dance training. Educate yourself on the right types of stretches to do to set yourself up for success!