If you follow me on social media, you probably know I’m a longtime Strictly fan. As someone who resolutely dislikes autumn, the glitterball’s return is very much welcome, as it guides me through to Christmas. Yes, you will struggle to get me away from the TV on a Saturday evening now and no, I’m not ashamed.
I’ve been a fan from the beginning – and have been to a live broadcast! I was there (at TV Centre, no less, in the presence of Brucie, Len, Arlene and Bruno) the night that Penny Lancaster and Gabby Logan controversially had to dance off (we could feel the steam coming off the judges from where we were sat), and I think all fans should get the chance to be there once.
I was 17 when Strictly first aired in 2004, so I have literally grown up with the show. And what I’ve gleaned from it has shifted a few times, as my life has. Currently, I predictably watch it partly with my personal training brain switched on, and whilst the current series is only one live show old, I thought there was a lot of interest within the 160-minute marathon we witnessed on Saturday night. Let’s dive in…
Core strength is critical
I bang on about core strength all the time for a reason. I make sure every client trains appropriate core exercises with me for a reason. I train my own core for a reason.
Our core supports our posture, our digestive health, our sexual health, and our ability to perform all movements. It’s crucial for dancing. To be able to hold yourself up and make it look effortless, you have to have these muscles trained.
There were a couple of female celebrities who shocked me by seemingly having incredibly weak cores on Saturday night. Staying in the competition will help them a little. Some extra training will help them a lot, both in the competition and in life way beyond it. The beauty of core training is that you don’t need any equipment for it, and it can also be done easily at home. Once you know good technique and look beyond sit ups or planks, the positive impact will be enormous. Extra bonus when you’re at the start of your journey is that you’ll have to carve out very little time each day to do it.
Long legs aren’t necessarily strong legs
This issue can be particularly obvious in women when dancing, due to outfits making their leg musculature easy to see. It’s evident in the men too, though. When the judges talk about moving through the floor, this is what they mean. It’s that similar effortlessness I referred to with the core above, but this is about how easily they move around the floor.
Lacking strength in leg muscles means that travelling during the dance, or performing plyometric or ballistic movements – such as kicks and flicks – will be incredibly difficult. It’s what often makes a dance look slow or clunky, and in the Latin dances you can see it when someone gets tired part way through (though this can also be due to cardiovascular fitness being lacking).
Lower body strength typically takes longer to build than core, but there’s only one way to do it…
Pay attention when the pros are out of breath
I don’t just watch the celebrities. The professionals are fascinating to me, and from the very first series it’s been interesting to see who is willing or able to “dance down” to the level of their celebrity, particularly in the early stages of the competition.
Tactics are an interesting thing – you’ve got to impress the judges, but doing a complex dance isn’t the only way to do so; the panel will often say that they’d rather see a basic dance done to a high level, than one which is too difficult performed poorly. So as a professional, you have a choice – try and haul your celebrity up to your standard, or lower your expectations and difficulty rating to help them look better.
Due to their own fitness levels being high, professionals sometimes finish the routine and look like they’ve maybe got themselves into third gear. It’s a lot like watching a top level sportsperson in the early rounds of an elite competition – they do the bare minimum as they know they need to save energy for later. As Strictly progresses, you more commonly see the professionals breathing heavily at the end of a routine, and I always see that as a good indicator that it’s been challenging.
Cross-training improves gain
When I first started my own fitness journey, one of my running coaches mentioned cross-training, and he didn’t mean the piece of gym equipment necessarily. He was referring to the concept of participating in a different activity to your primary one, in order to improve your all-around ability to perform.
For example, runners (and swimmers, plus many other athletes) will spend time strength training, because their body needs to have strong muscles AND an efficient cardiorespiratory system in order to run well. Dance is a brilliant way of keeping your heart and lungs healthy, and is very good for your brain in terms of co-ordination, balance and proprioception too. But the way to get stronger is to overload your muscles by putting them through resistance training.
The problem for the celebrities is that they have a lot to do in a short space of time, with learning and perfecting a dance, plus living their lives and honouring all other commitments. Strictly is a full-time job. However, I’d love to see what would happen if they cut back on training by even one hour in favour of a gym session, or yoga or Pilates class. My money says that there would be a significant benefit.
As for the Class of 2023? Only time will tell…