Conditioning and Cross Training for Dancers Finding a personal trainer
How was I fortunate enough to end up with a qualified, knowledgeable personal trainer? How do you decide if you need one? And how do you choose one when you have decided to take that route?
I had been to two seminars under the auspices of the New York City Ballet Education Department. One was their first annual Dance for Wellness Day - a two day intensive for teachers, dancers and choreographers that focused solely on a dancer's life and health. Forums on diet, injuries, life after dance and handling stress were some of the topics covered by Marika Molnar, Drs Linda and William Hamilton, current and former principal dancers such as husband and wife team Jenifer Ringer and James Fayette and Lourdes Lopez. Jan Griscom, an elite personal trainer at the Chelsea Piers in New York, gave a session on Conditioning and Cross Training for Dancers. The second seminar was the annual summit offered for those certified to teach the New York City Ballet Workout. Jan had a session there, too. In essence, counting those seminars and the interview I did with her for Dancer last year, you could almost say I auditioned her. By the third seminar, I had seen her in action in several locales and had accepted her offer of help for my knee injury. I knew that she knew her job. I had proof.
Jan was a reputable, educated trainer I had met by incredible good fortune. Trading stories and comparing therapies with others, I learned just how lucky I was to find her. More than a few fellow dancers had had trainers and therapists who had not done a decent job. Some had had their injury and rehabilitation prolonged by inefficient exercises.
Dance teachers and trainers share similarities. Organizations exist in both fields that purport to certify members with tests and variable training, but this is no guarantee of quality. And former professionals in either line of work don't always make the best teachers and trainers. So what do you do? Observe - closely. Your career is in their hands. Protect it.
Look at the obvious. Look at the trainer. Does he/she appear to be fit and capable of helping you? Some semblance of fitness needs to be there in their form and movement. Is he/she clean and well-groomed, or slouching about in old sweats? Neatness counts.
Come to the gym or facility early. Watch the trainer in action with a client. And watch the client. Is the trainer actively involved with and focused solely on that client? You wouldn't trust a doctor in any field who was busy on the phone or distracted with someone else during your office visit. Trainers who are sitting and talking with others, or looking around while their client goes through the exercises unsupervised, should be eliminated from your list. Does the client seem to work well with and exercise comfortably under that trainer? Trust counts.
Look around you. Is the facility clean? What are the restrooms and showers like? Do the clients seem glad to be there? Listen to the talk in the dressing rooms about the trainers. Ask questions of the clients.
And ask questions of the trainers. Ask the trainer/therapist about his/her training and experience. Has he worked with dancers before? Does she know the special athletic needs of dancers? Knowledge of the technical dance terms need not be a requirement for your trainer/therapist, but an awareness of the physical demands on a dancer (increased flexibility, external rotation, pointe shoes, etc...) should be in their experience. Knowledge and education count.
One physical therapist impressed me immediately during an initial evaluation. She was thorough and careful, asked many questions about my work and needs, told me what the therapy would cover, then added that the exercises she would be giving, in addition to my teaching load, could be a form of overkill. She said that I might be better off coming a few times to learn the exercises to strengthen my knee, then doing them on my own on my lighter days. Rest can also be a form of therapy, she added. I appreciated her honesty.
When it came to Jan, I knew I needed her extra expertise because I knew that dance created muscular imbalances in the body. RICE would not be enough this time. As I finish this column, the right knee has improved considerably and the impending operation has been put on a long hold. That's the good news. The bad news is that the scoliosis has degenerated considerably. Upper extremity work under Jan has begun strengthening the thoracic muscles and relieving pain, but more aggressive measures need to be taken to halt further deterioration.