Injury Prevention Series Part 3: Rest and Recovery

    As dancers, we tend to be terrible at acknowledging when our body needs a break. Not only do we dance through injuries, we also don’t take enough days off, or even sleep. One of the most crucial parts of injury prevention is rest and recovery. If we don’t take any action in aiding our bodies to recover after a long, tedious dance day then we become a lot more prone to injuries. If you add the lack of rest on top of that, then you create a recipe for disaster.

    Dancers should aim for 7-9 hours of sleep. This can be hard, especially if you are still in school, because rehearsals can go until night, and then you still have to go home to do homework. During sleep, your body is repairing/rebuilding your muscles and tissues. Rest isn’t just about sleep, though. You can still engage in low intensity activities on your off-days, and be recovering from dancing. Just make sure to have at least one full day per week where you don’t dance or engage in dance related activities. 

    Another huge aspect of recovery is mental rest. Hearing, seeing, and doing the same thing every day can get stressful. Taking a break from thinking about the same steps, choreography, and performances can refresh and refocus your mind. Meditation is a great way to help dancers (or anybody) get rid of stress, anxiety, sadness, and more. I highly recommend finding at least 5 minutes everyday to sit and meditate.

    Overall, rest and recovery play a huge part in a dancer's life. You can implement technology that helps expedite recovery time, such as compression boots, electroshock machines, and more; still the most important (and free) thing you can do for your body is sleeping and meditating. Try implementing some of these techniques and you will see how much better you feel!