Hi ive recetly gone back to ballet after a break of 8 years. Ive done alot of running and have found that my inner thighs and hamstrings are very weak, and my quadriceps are very strong. this is drastically effecting the height i can develope to. Help! Any suggestions?

Lizzie

Deadlifts! There's lots of variations depending on how you want to do them and what equipment you have.

SLDL (Stiff-legged deadlifts) are usually preferred for direct hamstring work. You can do them holding dumbbells, a barbell, or really any other heavy object. I wouldn't do more than 5-8 reps if you're looking strength. Make sure you get a weight that you can't do for more than that.

Try some of these exercises www.videojug.com . . .

Shoulder bridge is very good for strengthening the hamstrings

This one is from the side leg lift series, any one of them will help with inner thigh muscles.

www.youtube.com . . .

You have many options depending on what equipment you have available. I prefer single leg work for dancers because it tends to work the stabilizers a little better, not that it's the only option. Ideally you would have a variety of exercises both single and double legged.

Single leg hip thrusts, all you need is a chair or two, it's great for hamstrings and glutes, nice ROM too. www.youtube.com . . .

Single leg deadlift, all you need is some dumbbells, a milk jug with water in it, I've even used a bucket. www.youtube.com . . .

If you have access to a gym, I'd give serious thought to the low bar squat, unlike the high bar (or olympic style) squat, it's mainly a posterior chain exercise, targeting the hamstrings and glutes mostly, it also gets the inner thigh quite well.

Glute-ham raises are easy to do at home, and are an AWESOME hamstring exercise, I do them with my feet under my bed frame, you can figure out a way. www.youtube.com . . .

And lastly, the exercise I think every dancer and every athlete should do: sprinting. It's not jogging, it wont ruin your turnout but it will:
make you move faster
strengthen your hamstrings, calves, obliques (one of the best ab exercises ever)
make you jump higher

There's really no downside to sprinting, and it even doesn't take long to do.

The best thing will be to get outside of your comfort zone, I've seen so many dancers trying to get stronger turn to pilates because it seems safe, or easy, and it ends up not addressing adequately their issues. Pilates is great for core work, that's what it was originally designed for, but for limb strengthening (not ROM, it does that fine) it fails pretty badly.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.

thank you that is really helpful! will try them out and keep you posted.

Most dancers get into Pilates not because it's safe and easy, you can't have tried a real Pilates lesson if you think this is the case.

Your final clip is a prime example of why dancers turn to Pilates. If you do that exercise the way he's doing it in the clip the only thing you will work effectively are your quads. Look at the clip and you'll see how his butt is lifted and the hips are flexed, there by shortening the quads and making them the true agonist, not the hamstrings.

Dancers take Pilates lessons because they know that they are going to be made to think about how their body works in the same way they are in a dance lesson, analytically.

It's essentially a leg curl, yes the quads are engaged to stabilize the body but they are hardly the muscle that moves the body up from the floor. Try them, they're a great exercise. Just because a muscle is engaged doesn't mean you're actively making it greatly stronger. Supporting the body isn't too hard on the quads if they're already very strong, which is the case with the person who asked the question. Glute ham raises are one of the most popular exercises for athletes who have a quad/ham imbalance, which the poster has. They're also one of the best posterior chain exercises to do without a gym.

I have taken Pilates, and I like taking Pilates. It has a place for athletes as does weight training, sprinting, and body weight exercise. It works great for stability but to strengthen large muscle groups there are more efficient exercises. If someone needs to hold their turnout better, is having trouble balancing, has posture issues, placement in jumps, etc, Pilates is a great resource. I completely agree with you about how Pilates is a great way to analyze muscle use.

Please note that I never said that Pilates is easy. Speaking of others assumptions does not make them your own. I have taken Pilates and do not think that "Pilates is easy" is the case nor did I claim it is.

P.S. www.exrx.net . . .

Backwards walking lunges!!!! They kill!!! Make sure you don't let your front knee go past your toes, and keep your front foot pretty straight. You can also walk backwards up stairs, walk on your toes, walk backwards on your toes, etc. You can also put a pillow in between your thighs and squeeze as hard as you can (while sitting down).