Strength Training of Dancers during the Adolescent Growth Spurt

Abstract

Although muscular strength training is important to dancers there are many factors that must be considered when working with children during their growing years. Increasing muscle power by maximal loading is inappropriate during those years and submaximal muscle strength or “control” is a safer and more suitable option. Combining “controlled strength” training with a focus on the trunk may also provide a welcome answer to the question of how to work with flexibility, balance, and coordination, issues that are most common during the growth spurt and which may underlie the development of injuries.