Better Breakdancing: How can I decrease my downtime from strenous practice sessions?

May 2, 2009 10:38 AM

Better Breakdancing: How can I decrease my downtime from strenous practice sessions? I'd like to double the amount I train without risking injury or constant soreness.

I've been breakdancing for almost 3 years, and my problem is that I've never been able to practice more than 2 times a week without leaving my body feeling wrecked. I'd like to be able to train 4 times a week and be able to practice with my body feeling as close to 100% as it can.

I stretch for 20 minutes before I start practicing, and I also cool down with about 10-15 minutes of stretching. I've also taken up yoga to help with my flexibility. I still feel like I need to rest 2-3 days between breakdance practices.

Training puts a lot of stress on my shoulders, knees, wrists and calves. I would consider weight training, but doing that before practice leaves me with no strength to dance, and doing it after I leaves me sore for 2-3 days anyways. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. So what are the best ways I can keep my body from feeling sore, pulling muscles or getting injured, and maintain peak performance?

posted by ManyNinjas to health & fitness (9 comments total)

I know some dancers who take Glucosamine+MSM supplements to keep their joints supple.
posted by hermitosis at 10:42 AM on May 2

Take up a martial art or gymnastics.
posted by reflecked at 11:27 AM on May 2

Try dancing for half the time per session, three times a week. THen four. Then start increasing the time back up to your original time (at two sessions per week).
posted by notsnot at 11:55 AM on May 2

Use a post workout shake to "kickstart" your recovery after your workouts, and supplement your diet with nutrients that are known to enhance healing (omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin A/B/D/K, zinc, magnesium).

Quality of sleep is closely associated with a favorable hormonal response and enhanced recovery from athletics. The goal really is not to wake up after you fall asleep; blacking out all lights, unplugging all electronics in your room and placing your cellphone across the room are all effective ways to go about this.

Soft tissue work on your extremities, along with increasing the maximal strength of the muscles that stabilize your knees/ankles and elbows/wrists through a full range of motion should help the most with injury prevention and maintaining peak performance.
posted by zentrification at 12:27 PM on May 2

You're not recovering because of insufficient nutrition or insufficient sleep. Alternatively, you might need to learn to train through soreness.
posted by ludwig_van at 1:27 PM on May 2

Start taking protein powder after your sessions. Taking protein after a strenuous work out decreases your heal time significantly. If you want to bulk up you can also hit the carbs after working out.
posted by Black_Umbrella at 3:23 PM on May 2

I can tell you from experience that glucosamine and chondroitin makes a noticeable difference. As far as soreness goes, you just have to get used to that as long as you're pushing your body.
posted by cmoj at 5:56 PM on May 2

Make sure you're eating enough. I had the same problem and mentioned it to my dance teacher who pointed out that I probably wasn't taking in enough calories. If you do a little research to figure out how many calories you're burning in one session, you'll probably be amazed (I was). I have yet to discover a sports nutrition resource that doesn't come across as outdated, not applicable, or openly crazy, but you may have better luck.
posted by corey flood at 9:00 PM on May 2

Just a heads up, IANAD, but from what i undestand you need to take glucosamine for something like 30 days before you start to feel the effects and then need to keep taking it daily.

Dont know if that is your thing or not.
posted by Black_Umbrella at 12:21 AM on May 3