Ballet Exercises - Inside Thighs and Abs

Ballet Exercises - Inside Thighs and Abs

Dear Odette,

At home I have been attempting to do my own exercises in order to improve my technique and flexibility in the studio. However I am having some difficulty in knowing what to do.

My weak areas include inner thigh muscles and abs, whereas muscles such as my metatarsals and hamstrings are better.

I was wondering if you could give me some exercises which are beneficial to do regularly in addition to others which would improve my weak areas?

Thank-you!
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Reply by Odette
To:- Ballet Exercises - Inside Thighs and Abs

Hello,
Thank you for your message, it is great to hear from you. When I think about improving ballet technique, there is nothing more beneficial than practice. No wonder you are not sure what to do, because when you actually break the technique of ballet down, you have to think about your posture, co ordination, muscle strength and placing... so many things to think of at once!

The repetition and constant practice in your ballet class should naturally improve your technique with a lot of hard work, but of course there are ballet exercises you can do to further improve certain areas.

My weaker areas also included my inner thighs too. For this to improve, it took me about a year to visually see and feel an improvement. It made my ankles feel less wobbly and generally more secure in center work.

I mainly focused on improving my inner thighs during ballet class. It was the way I worked my muscles and approached each exercise which made the difference. I visualised my inner thighs spiralling round to the front, with my glutes also working together to create my turn out. You don't want to squeeze or tense, but feel like an elastic band where your muscles are always pliable.

The weaker area of your abs, which probably be down to core strength which you can improve outside of ballet class too with pilates exercises. Pilates, or yoga, focuses on a strong core so mostly every exercise is ideal for ballet dancers wanting to strengthen their abs. You can see some more exercises on my abs workout page, or find out a great pilates DVD by a ballerina on my ballet video page.

Best wishes,
Odette