Strength and Conditioning for Dancers

Strength and Conditioning for Dancers is an accessible guide to how to design and incorporate supplemental fitness training into a dancer's schedule. It links current evidence on the relationship between physical fitness, dance performance and injury incidence, breaking it down into clear and convenient sections, starting with the fundamentals of muscle physiology and training principles and moving on to specific training components. Key topics covered in the book include: self-screening; programme design; specific exercises for the core, upper and lower body; basic Pilates; nutritional support for training and finally, programmes to get you started. Featuring practical training programmes to get you started, this user-friendly book will be of great value to dancers, teachers and trainers looking to enhance both fitness and performance.

Professor Matthew Wyon is a leading exercise physiologist at the University of Wolverhampton. As a strength and conditioning coach, he has trained professional and pre-professional dancers for the last twenty-five years. As a researcher, his focus is on performance enhancement for dancers by examining and testing the link between physical fitness interventions and dance performance. Matthew is a founding partner of the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science, UK.