How to Prevent Highland Dance Injuries
What Causes Common Injuries + How to Protect Yourself
Competitive highland dancers are used to pushing their bodies to their limit – that’s where some of the best progress is made.
Staying healthy as we expand our physical capabilities is essential to longterm success – continuing to dance through discomfort can lead to serious injury and time off from dance.
What missteps cause common injuries for highland dancers?
Common Highland Dance Injury Causes
#1: Overuse
Excessive practice in dance can lead to stress on muscles, bones, and tendons.
While it might be tempting to repeat a movement tirelessly until it’s perfected, knowing when to rest recover is essential in making sure you don’t over-do it.
#2: Improper Form
Proper form and alignment of the body when dancing is not only crucial to technique, but also to injury prevention.
One poorly placed foot or twisted knee can result in an injury or chronic pain. that’s why your teacher is always saying to turn out from the hip, instead of the foot!
#3: Non-Progressive Practicing
Going zero-to-one hundred on practicing can be a recipe for disaster.
Gradually increasing the your intensity and time spent on dance will prevent overuse. Don’t go straight from spending 0 hours practicing to 2 hours per day.
#4: Neglecting Cross-Training
Engaging in physical activity outside of dance is very important. Practicing a different activity like yoga or running engages entirely different muscle groups than dance.
This will help you to be a more well-rounded athlete, while ensuring your body gets the variety it needs.
#5: Inadequate Warm Up and Cool Down
Establishing a warm up and cool down routine that you do before and after every single time you dance is essential to wellness.
Preparing the body for dance not only helps you to dance your best, but also to prevent strain on cold muscles.
#6: Inadequate Rest & Recovery
Leaving yourself time to recover, particularly before and after a competition, is crucial in achieving balance.
Giving your body time to bounce back from all you put it through is one of the best things you can do for it!
Dance Injury Prevention: Learn From the Pros
Join our upcoming session with the Wellness Zone on injury prevention! You’ll walk away with things to integrate into your routine to prevent injury, including stretches, exercises, etc., mobility improvement routines, and essentials to include in your warm-up and cool-down.
MAY 26TH, 2024 3-4PM
In-Studio and Virtual Available! (No recording)
Log in/Create your account > Register for classes > Workshops | Pop ups | Intensives > May: Injury Prevention with The Wellness Zone
