There's no doubt cross-training has become super popular in the dance world these days. When I first started my Bulletproof Ballerina business, it was rare and shocking. Now, everyone it seems has jumped on board. And that's great. But here's the problem - with that popularity comes a watering down of what's really important. All the "experts" and social media posts about fitness and cross-training out there have a way of oversimplifying things. They can make you think things like:
- All exercise counts as cross-training.
- All weight lifting is good.
- Working out will only make you better/skinnier/stronger/healthier.
But the truth no one is telling you is:
- Just because you are exercising and doing something different than dancing doesn't mean you are cross-training.
In order for exercise to be cross-training, it has to improve your main sport (dancing). Choosing any random exercise you want doesn't count. You can certainly do it for the enjoyment factor....but it ain't cross-training. And it's probably NOT going to help your dancing. In fact, it could make it worse.
- Just because you are lifting weights doesn't mean it will help your dancing.
Lifting weights the wrong way with the wrong formulas can hurt your dancing and put your body at a greater risk of injury.
- Just because you are working out doesn't mean you are becoming a better version of yourself.
Working out the wrong way can tear you down (physically & mentally) and detract from your health & vibrancy instead of making you better.
Social media can be great for short little inspirational blurbs and rah-rah rants to snap you out of the mundane & make you think outside the box.
But if you are trying to get any sort of real information off Instagram (or TikTok/YouTube/etc.) -- especially when it comes to cross-training, fitness, & health -- you're cheating yourself out of something that has the potential to really help you & your dancing (not to mention your life!).
With everyone's attention span being so tiny these days, these social apps aren't designed to inform. They're designed to get eyeballs on them. Which means...what you see on these apps is NOT for YOUR benefit...it's for theirs -- the people making money off the app. Even the most well-meaning, educated coach can't give you the whole story in a 30-second blurb or workout video. And I'm not innocent here either. I totally own that my stuff can be taken out of context and misinterpreted. Even if posts have truth to them, without proper context & depth they can still be misleading.
And that right there is the problem. It's not as simple as it looks on the surface. There are so many factors that go into cross-training, fitness, & health. It's much more complicated than do-this, copy-that, follow-along-here, cross this off your to-do list. Anyone can throw a workout routine or advice up on the internet. But if you want that work to lead to specific results, you need to understand a lot of other factors underneath the surface. Nothing is black or white, right or wrong, good or bad...it all needs context. And you can't get that in these short little sound bites or descriptions.
If you can't work with a (knowledgeable) coach one-on-one to get that depth, you could be wasting your time and energy working really hard to get the wrong results.
I don't want that for you. So, I'm going to be breaking these things down further, along with other fitness & diet myths, and giving you my cross-training secrets in an upcoming Real Talk Summer Soiree workshop...so stay tuned! More information coming soon! Hit the button below to let me know you're interested and get on my list for VIP access!
PC: Rachel Neville Photography