Train hard. Eat well. Feel good.

While dancing in itself is an intense workout, keeping the body in peak physical form with regular gym sessions is integral to a dancer’s training and career. At Queensland Ballet Academy, we’re fortunate to work with former Principal Dancer turned Personal Trainer of 17 years, Tony Lewis. Every week, Tony works with our male students in the Academy’s purpose-built gym.

“There’s been a big shift with strength training over the years, especially when I look back to when I was training. One of my friends found a bench and barbell on the side of the road, and we would find whatever was available to make it heavier. That was how we did weight training,” he laughs. “Through strength training, we reduce injury rates and build resilience, which is what I focus on primarily.”

Getting body conditioning advice and planning tailored for dancing is highly advantageous. Tony explains that since dancers are already so in tune with their bodies, they’ll know when something doesn’t feel right quickly.

“With dancers I need to be very aware why I’m giving them a particular exercise to do because they’re more likely to want to know why they should be doing it,” he explains. “There’s little things we try and look at to get just a bit extra out of them to fine-tune things – there’s both science and creativity behind it all.”

Also, if something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t! Having a close relationship with a physiotherapist is so important in this field, which is why it’s important to have in-house physios working as part of our Academy and Company Performance Health Team.

What’s unique about professional dancing is the high energy cost required. Lauren James, Sports Dietitian of 17 years and Queensland Ballet’s Dietitian of 5 years, says that boys in particular need to watch what they eat for optimal performance.

“Many athletes only have key certain periods where they need to perform in a year, for example, marathon runners or triathletes. However, dancers don’t get much time off and are therefore required to maintain peak form throughout the year,” she explains. “For our male dancers, we want them to get stronger and put on lean muscle mass while still growing, and it’s often really challenging to get enough food in to cover all those needs!”

So how do we ensure our boys eat enough to keep up with these bodily demands?

1.      Eat well

Consume a balanced diet containing good quality carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables, protein, good fats, and water. Limit your intake of sugars, caffeine, alcohol and junk foods. On average, boys require 15% - 20% more than girls to meet their higher energy requirements.

2.      Eat enough

Research has recently shown that on training days, a high number of male dancers were undereating for the energy load required of them. Ideally, boys should be eating enough to keep up with their body’s requirements, plus their dance load, plus growing. Undereating can stunt their bone and muscle growth, causing them to feel sore, stressed or moody, and struggle to complete their dance sessions.

3.      Eat regularly and strategically

Comfort is key when you’re at the barre, so find nutrient-rich, compact, easily digestible foods to snack on throughout the day. The last thing a male dancer should be is bulky! It changes their lines, the dynamics of their dance, and makes them less agile. Getting individual nutritional advice can help to ensure he’s eating for lean (not bigger) muscles.

4.      Eat with discipline

Discipline is in a dancer’s DNA. However, it goes without saying that you should try to keep up their diet and exercise over holiday periods. Often, we find male dancers in particular going through significant growth spurts over these periods when dance is lessened, so eating to keep up with this process is key.