IADMS Miami 2000   [back to the Category]

The Effects of Physical Fitness Levels on Dancers’ Health and Incidence of Injury   [read the french version]

Author :   Yiannis Koutedakis, Ph.D.

Author: Yiannis Koutedakis, Ph.D., Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Thessaly University, Trilaka, Greece, and School of Health Sciences, Wolverhampton University, England

Dancers are athletes trained to elite standards of performance in an activity that requires a wide range of fitness attributes. After defining “physical fitness” for dancers, the various aspects associated with injuries and illness in male and female dancers will be discussed. A special emphasis will be placed on the fact that recent studies have clearly identified fitness as one of the main factors contributing to dancers’ health and to early retirements. Muscle imbalances, reduced levels of muscular strength and cardiorespiratory efficiency (i.e., stamina) are indeed related to injuries in dancers. During this session, special mention will be made concerning the importance of muscle elasticity in dance, while possible gender differences regarding selected fitness components will be underlined. The main conclusion will be that well-designed programs for physical fitness enhancement can drastically reduce dance injuries and contribute to better stage performance.

This is the abstract of a paper presented at the Tenth Annual Meeting of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science, held 27-29 October 2000 in Miami, Florida, USA. All rights are reserved by the individual author(s).