On your marks, get set, dance!

Running can really help improve your stamina and strength.

A friend of mine at dance class recently told me how she attends regular kickboxing classes to give her enough stamina to get through her set dance, and it must have worked because the talented young lady placed 18th in her All Ireland & International Championship. This got me thinking about what I could do to improve my fitness levels in order to compete in my championship (hopefully) next year.

Seeing as I only returned to dancing 5 months ago, it's fair to say that my fitness levels are borderline pathetic; although I still have most of my skills I haven't the strength and energy to match them. I heard about Couch 2 5k from my aunt, who posted her weekly runs on facebook, so I decided to try it for myself. The programme is spread out over 9 weeks, building you up from 1 minute to 30 minute runs with warm up time, requiring only 30 minutes of your time 3 times a week.
Not going to lie, when I first started I was reasonably confident, the first run seeming a breeze until about halfway through when my muscles started to ache, lungs burned and I got a stitch in my side. Given that this was after 4 1 minute runs interspersed with a minute and a half of walking, this was disheartening. However, I continued to follow the programme and have found that it really does improve your fitness!
Whilst at first I was skeptical that I would ever be able to run for a half hour (I hate running) the programme, which I have as an app on my iPod, really helps to slowly build your endurance and stamina so that you are able to run at your own pace for a full half hour minimum, burning hundreds of calories as well as increasing your fitness and speeding up your metabolism. When you combine this with eating protein-based snacks afterwards you have a real recipe for success.
For all you dancers who find enduring a full hornpipe difficult, I would recommend this as an easy way to build up your stamina slowly over 9 weeks. This also really helps improve your technique as you gain extra strength in your leg and upper body muscles, allowing you to hold yourself straighter as well as jump higher. Now if only someone could teach me how to stop slipping over when doing kicks we'd be in business...