Negotiated Project -Reflective & Research log by

Workshop 1 09/04/2024 (reflective response)

charlotteisabeltaylor — 2024-04-10 11:07:37 UTC

Today was the first workshop, the main focus was testing the current level of fitness of the participants. I found this session went well in terms of the structure of the class by pairing up participants and going round each exercises in a circuit format. I found this helpful when leading the group to go around and observe the technique and offer teaching points. However as two of the exercises were technically more complex; the barbell squat and deadlift. This station needed more of my focus to ensure participants were doing the exercise safely and correctly. In retrospect, if i were to expand the scale of the project i would have an additional fitness instructor/teacher to ensure all participants are given more support with all exercises. The majority of today's exercises are strength based with some isometric holds to failure. I found this worked well as within this programme i aim to focus more on building strength and improving mobility as this is often lacking in dancers training. If i were to improve on the lesson plan, i would also add in mobility testing using a goniometer to asses the range of movement of joints. I have found it both challenging but also comforting to work with participants in my year group, as i know the participants well it is an advantage when assessing their ability but also challenging to keep their engagement in class. In the future, i would prefer to have a mixed group of dancers and ability to allow me as a teacher to asses different areas of focus for each individual participant. I really enjoyed leading the group and feel within the next sessions i should work on my tone of voice and motivational language to keep the room engaged throughout.

Workshop 1 09/04/2024 (research Log)

charlotteisabeltaylor — 2024-05-02 10:53:42 UTC

Workshop 2 16/04/2024 (reflective response)

charlotteisabeltaylor — 2024-05-02 10:55:59 UTC

Today's session was focused on lower body exercises and on mobilizing the hip joint, the lumbar spine with some glute and hamstring activation. we started with a hip mobility drill which participants said they found really useful for unlocking the hips and gaining more range of motion. i got the participants to do a squat before and after the mobilizing and they mentioned how they felt a huge difference in the release of the hip which meant they had more access to a stronger squat position with a fluid drive of the pelvis. I found this worked well to link into our glute activation with resistance bands by isolating the glute muscle after mobilizing the hip this meant the exercises could be more efficient and other dominant muscle groups are less likely to take over to compensate for restriction in the joint. I also planned to do a leg focused circuit with a mixture of bilateral and unilateral exercises as dancers require both power and strength with both legs and single-leg movements. I feel this went well as some participants had never tried a Bulgarian split squat or barbell hip thrust before which are both effective for generating power through the pelvis and lower limbs. I found it challenging to time keep the session as i wanted to make sure we spent ample time on mobilizing and glute activation but also allow enough time for the lower body circuit with a minimum of 1 minute rest between sets to allow the muscles to recover before doing another set. I found participants were rushing their sets as typically with dance training they are used to endurance style training which has a shorter rest period. I feel in the future if i were to repeat this session i would make it clear before the circuit that strength training requires more rest to ensure optimal performance as this wasn't clear to everyone. Overall, participants enjoyed working on their leg strength and mentioned how it is useful for aspects of their dance training like power in their jumps and control in plies or adage.

Workshop 3 23/04/2024 (reflective response)

charlotteisabeltaylor — 2024-05-02 10:57:54 UTC

This session focused on the upper-body, predominantly the mobilization of the thoracic spine, the strength of the back, chest, shoulders, biceps and triceps. I knew going into this session that some participants would be skeptical about upper-body strength training as a pose to the favoured leg session. This is definitely part of the misconception that training the upper body will give a female dancer a masculine figure and i made it clear within the beginning of the workshop, due to progressive overload it would take a long time for drastic growth within the muscle to occur. i also mentioned to participants the benefits of upper body strength for contact work, lifts and tricks. One participant mentioned how they found the mobilizing of the thoracic and shoulder girdle beneficial to help with lengthening and extension of the arms. I found the structure of the lesson plan worked well by mobilizing the joints, then activating the mid/lower traps, rhomboids and rotator cuff muscles which then assisted in correct technique for the strength circuit. Looking back if i were to develop this session, i would add in partner stretches and massage to highlight the areas of tightness within the upper-body anatomy. I also would apply the upper-body strength to a choreographic phrase, so dancers could connect the use of strength within a routine.

Workshop 3 23/04/2024 (research log)

charlotteisabeltaylor — 2024-05-02 10:58:49 UTC

Workshop 4 30/04/2024 (reflective response)

charlotteisabeltaylor — 2024-05-02 11:00:15 UTC

Today's focus was on ankle stability/strength and core strength. From the participants comments, a few mentioned how they found this session very useful and didn't know several of the stability and resistance band exercises which can help prevent the most common site of injury. Within this session i gave them bosu ball balancing exercises to activate the fixator muscles within the foot and then got the participants to test out the exercises on the floor afterwards. They felt they had more control when going from an uneven surface to an even one. If i were to develop this session i would add a foot articulation exercise and adage to apply what the participants have learnt when ankle stability is needed in a dance class setting. I found i had little time to focus on the abdominal and lower back exercises as the foot stability and strength took up a large section of the session. If i were to improve the session, i would allow time for more explanation on the broad term "core strength" to give myself time to breakdown the sections of the abdominal and lower back (extrinsic and intrinsic muscles) which would then explain the variety of exercises used.

Workshop 4 30/04/2024 (research log)

charlotteisabeltaylor — 2024-05-02 11:00:58 UTC

Workshop 5 07/05/2024 (reflective response)

charlotteisabeltaylor — 2024-05-02 11:01:56 UTC

Today's session was focused on the fitness test to determine the progress made in participants over the course of the 5 weeks. I saw a significant improvement in many of the participants technique especially the squat and deadlift as they had practiced them in previous sessions. I saw more confidence and them working independently with less prompts needed for technique. I realised during the session i should have highlighted the importance of breathing in when going with the direction of force and breathing out going against the force of weight, as this was a reoccurring pointer i needed to mention on the squat station. The implementation of the vertical jump test worked well and in the future if i had more resources i would invest in a power output tracker such as force plates to get precise results of the dancers when doing plyometrics. This session was useful to asses the dancers weight progression on the fitness circuit, if i were to scale up the project i would have to instructors for this session to ensure all participants are given more consistent technique pointers.

Workshop 5 07/05/2024 (research log)

charlotteisabeltaylor — 2024-05-02 11:02:28 UTC

Workshop 1 09/04/2024 (research log)

charlotteisabeltaylor — 2024-05-08 13:13:20 UTC

when creating the fitness test lesson plan, i chose to include compound movements such as barbell squat, deadlift and shoulder press. Compound movements use several muscle groups in one exercise,this is relevant for dancers in training as the majority of exercises/movements in dance class involve several muscle groups in synergy. The deadlift focusing on back, glute, hamstring, quadricep and core strengthening, which is a transferable skill for dancers, especially in ballet for scapula placement in arm sequences and the strength/power needed within the lower-body for allegro and adage. https://wasatchcontemporary.com/?p=2437#:~:text=Dance%20techniques%20require%20multiple%20muscle,muscles%20to%20complete%20the%20exercise. I also thought it was key to add in isometric exercises such as the plank and wall-sit as within dance training this will assist with control in phrases and challenge the dancers ability to hold static movements to increase stamina. This will also help improve any plie exercises in the centre. Finally i also implemented the vertical jump test to asses the dancers explosiveness for jumping and develop their fast twitch fibers as the other exercises are predominantly slow twitch fiber exercises. By training the fast twitch fibers this will assist dancers in fast foot work and quick changes of dynamics. https://www.healthline.com/health/fast-twitch-muscles

Workshop 2 16/04/2024 (research log)

charlotteisabeltaylor — 2024-05-09 10:30:25 UTC

When planning for the lower body focused session, i thought it was important to have a variety of unilateral and bilateral exercises, especially as within dance movement vocabulary the body moves in multiple planes of motion. Particularly unilateral endurance/strength training is important for a dancer as often they are required to balance on one leg or one side of the body. By including lunges, Bulgarian split squat and singular glute activation exercises. This prepares the dancer for strength and control within movements whilst practicing engaging fixator muscles which work in synergy to sustain the movement such as the bracing of the abdominal, shoulder girdle and lower back muscles.

https://dancer-fitness.com/strengthen-glutes-to-advance-your-favorite-dance-skills/#:~:text=Strong%20glutes%20improve%20countless%20skills,extension%2C%20abduction%2C%20and%20rotation.

I thought it was important to include glute activation exercises as majority of power output when doing explosive movements comes from the pelvis (glute, external rotator muscles).The glute strength of a dancer can also impact the turnout of the pelvis and the stability and control in unilateral exercises which is why it is important to continue to strengthen the external and internal rotators. As mentioned within the article above, the combination of strength and balanced alignment within the muscles surrounding a joint, the less likely they will become injured. As the gluteal muscles are big in mass, if they are under developed this causes more strain on the neighboring muscles such as the lower back and hamstrings.

Workshop 3 24/04/2024 (research log)

charlotteisabeltaylor — 2024-05-26 14:57:44 UTC

When creating the upper-body sessions, i looked into the four main archetypes for the shoulders; 1.overhead press 2. press 3. hang 4.a front rack 1 4.b front rack 2. This information enabled me to create a upper body circuit with a variety of archetypes to ensure dancers were getting full range potential of the shoulder. Within this session and the previous leg session i mentioned the importance of torque which "is a turning force . It's the amount of energy that you need to turn a wrench or open a jar. When it comes to the human body, I use the word torque to describe the turning force generated by the hips and shoulders, which causes the limbs to rotate"(Starret, K. Becoming a supple leopard. 2015. p. 63-64). The understanding of torque for a dancer can have a massive impact on their physical health by utilizing the activation of muscles surrounding the joint the individual will see improvements in exercises involving turn out and shoulder stability. This is very key in the squat position and press-up position. Within this session i also included the foam roller for fascia release and mobility of the thoracic spine. https://www.healthline.com/health/lat-stretches#foam-rolling

I mentioned about the latisimass dorsi; how it can restrict over head movement and how to release it on a lacrosse ball and foam roller by moving the body side to side against the direction of muscle fibers whilst lying on your side. This is also mentioned in becoming a supple leopard called "latissimass dorsi smash" and has various releases for every muscle group within the body.

Workshop 4 30/04/2024 (research log)

charlotteisabeltaylor — 2024-05-26 15:53:22 UTC

"balance is an essential skill in dance, yet it eludes so many dancers...When you are in centered alignment with the bones well organised and the muscles coordinated, you actually need less overall muscle activity to maintain your position than when you are misaligned." (Franklin, E. Conditioning for dance. 2019). This is why i thought it was important to include within the training programme, not only because it's the main site of injury but also because it is a skill which can be overlooked in dancer's everyday training. By training the fast twitch muscle fibres in the foot and ankle on uneven surfaces and using resistance bands to strengthen the muscles around the ankle joint, this significantly reduces the risk of injury and helps support the impact and stress put on the feet during class. Training the proprioception of the foot is key for dancers, as we need to constantly be aware of our body within the space and relation to others.

When selecting the core exercises, i wanted to make sure i had some isometric, rotational, flexion/extension and body opposition to ensure the dancers were working on several abdominal muscles. It is very common for dancers and non-dancers to do flexion heavy abdominal crunches without working the deep lower back and transverse abdominal muscles. I mentioned the importance of lower back extensions for improved arabesque. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8158512/

The article above mention the reduced lower back problems seen in athletes who incorporate core stability and core strengthening exercises into their training.

Workshop 5 07/05/2024 (research log)

charlotteisabeltaylor — 2024-05-26 17:12:52 UTC

The reason i chose to have a fitness test at the start and end of the programme, was to bring attention to the use of tracking your progression for several reasons. one being the boost of motivation you receive when you see results and advancements in strength. This is a common way personal trainers track client progression; alongside taking measurements of the circumference of muscle groups or the hip and waist. This can be a great way to keep clients focused on their goal, providing they are being encouraged with healthy mental and physical habits. I chose to not include measurements within my programme as when working with dancer's they do not necessarily have a similar goal to a person from the general public with a personal trainer. https://www.menshealth.com/uk/building-muscle/a44760238/progressive-overload/. Over the course of the programme i have encouraged dancer's to gradually increase the weight to ensure they are getting progressive overload. It is common in dancers and non-dancers to underestimate their potential for lifting weights. I tried to regularly mention within each session, "if you are not struggling by the last two repetitions, the weight is too light for you". I also took into consideration the participants injuries and technique before suggesting to increase the load.