How To 'Ice,' Yourself

If you have not a strained/pulled muscle, one of the first things you are probably going to do, is to put an ice pack on it. But did you know that there is a particular way to ice yourself?

Well ...... there is!

You see, if you put the ice pack on yourself for say, 20 minutes straight, then take it off, it will actually probably do more damage to yourself than if you just left it be.
Why?
Because if your leg, let's say, has a strained muscle and is at room temperature, then you go and wack a freezing cold ice pack on it, you leg isn't going to appreciate that sudden change in temperature.

However, if you put the ice pack on for 5 minutes, then take it off for five minutes, then put it one for four minutes, then take it off for four minutes, until you are down to one minute, it would be a much better idea.

Just recently, I really hurt the tendons in my foot. My teacher said that I should ice my foot just like I told you in the paragraph above.
It actually really works, and is way better than just putting ice on it for 20 minutes straight.

Below are instructions on how to properly ice yourself, so you can print them out and keep them out and keep them stuck to your fridge or somewhere like that, so that when you need to ice yourself, you can easily glance at the instructions and know exactly how to do it.


INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Get an ice pack out of your fridge (not freezer. A frozen ice pack won't work as well as just a cold one.

2) Apply the 'ice,' pack to the injured part of your body for 5 minutes.

3) After five minutes, take the ice pack off for another 5 minutes.

4) Apply the ice pack for 4 minutes.

5) Take the ice pack off for 4 minutes.

6) Yep, you guessed it, put the ice pack back on your sore muscle for 3 minutes.

7) Remove the ice pack for another 3 minutes.

8) Re-apply the ice pack for 2 minutes.

9) Keep ice pack off for 2 minutes.

10) For the last time, put the ice pack on your sore muscle for 1 minute.

11) Now you can remove the ice pack for good. Rest your foot for another 7 -8 minutes. Do this at least twice a day for 7 days, or until your muscle is healed.


Thanks everyone for following. You are all awesome!

My Ballet Treasures

Hi Followers!

I would like to share with you today three of my most precious ballet treasures. Here they are, I hope you enjoy .....

My first pair of ballet shoes. I got them when I started ballet when I was only five years old. That was almost ten years ago! I have had them ever since!

This was my first ballet leotard that I also got when I was only five years old. When I got it, it was way pinker than it is now. I wore it for a year at class, then I used it for dress-ups for about four years afterwards!

And last but not least, my very first pair of pointe shoes. As precious as these shoes are to me, they actually weren't very good pointe shoes. The 'pointe,' was too small, so it made it very hard to dance on. These shoes bring memories of great joy ..... but also of great pain!

A Dancer's Diet

Being one of the hardest working athletes on the planet, ballerinas need a good, stable diet.


A rough estimate are that female dancers need at least 45 – 50 calories per kilogram of body weight. Having enough calories is very important. If your body doesn’t have enough, you won’t have the energy to get you through the day.


A dancer’s diet should be made up of at least 55 % carbohydrates. One – two hours before training, ballerinas should have a meal that mainly consists of carbohydrates. Also, during a long stretch of training, dancers should stop every 40 minutes or so to have a drink of something such as Gatorade or Powerade.


The body uses proteins to produce and heel body tissues. A ballerina’s diet should consist of up to 13 % proteins, so that it can strengthen your muscles so you can perform complicated dance moves. To get proteins, eat meats (including chicken) and beans.


Many dancers are scared that if they eat fat, they will put on weight and not be able to dance anymore. However, fats help organs to function properly, and help absorb vitamins. It can also be used as a secondary energy force. Fats should make up to a quarter of a dancer’s diet! ‘Good,’ fats are available in avocados, nuts and seafood. Preferably consume unsaturated fats, rather than saturated fats.


Minerals and vitamins help the body to function properly. Ballerinas should consume up to four servings of fruit a day to provide minerals and vitamins needed. Vitamins A, C and E are particularly useful in helping a dancer recover from a day of hard work.


Now, last but not least: water. Despite the fact that water doesn't contain vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates or calories, it is one of the most important parts of a dancer’s diet. Water help to keep your body temperature down, and keep your circulation consistent. Ballerinas lose a lot of liquid through sweat, so be sure to drink lots of it!

What I Wear To Ballet

Hi All!

Have you ever wondered what a ballerina wears to dance class. Well, those of you who are reading this, probably not, because you are all professional dancers yourselves.
However, I guess all dancers dress ..... just a little different for one another.
Here's what I wear to ballet:

Tights

Black ballet leotard from BLOCH

So that's what I wear to ballet. I haven't included shoes in my list, since there are so many types that I wear (pointe, demi pointes, flats, character etc ...) that I just decided to leave it be.

If you are wondering how often to wash your ballet clothes, it's as simple as this: whenever they start to smell.

ha ha ha, well, you don't actually want to be smelling in your class, so if you know that they are fine for, say three lessons, and then after the fourth they get a bit smelly, then wash them every three lessons. That's what I do!

What's Inside My Dance Bag .....

My Waterbottle (Well, it's actually my brothers, but he doesn't use it, so I do!)

Warm up 'bunheads,' 'strap.' I do exercises with it before class.

'Dance Energetic,' ballet jumper.



Back up Intermediate CD - just incase my teacher forgets hers or if it's faulty.

Spair leotard (purple)

Two pairs of spair stockings. You never know when your pair might rip!

Ballet flats with ribbons

Another 'Dance Energetic,' ballet jumper

Toe protectors for when on pointe.

My saviour - Voltaren. Great for sore muscles, takes away the pain and heels them in no time. I use this stuff a LOT! It's availabe from most pharmacies in Australia.

Garnier Deodorant - another one of my saviours. Available from most Woolworths, Safeways and Coles.

Demi Pointe shoes. Most of my work is done in these.

Pointe Shoes. $100 from BLOCH

And last of all ..... My Ballet Bag! I fit all my stuff into this sweet little (well, not that little when it's filled to the brim) bag. I got it when I was in Paris for only 12 euros.

I've been thinking about writing a post about, 'what's inside my dance bag,' for a while now. So today, when my Mom was asleep and my Dad and little bro were out fishing, I decided to.

As you can tell by all the pictures, there's quite a lot of stuff. Some of it I hardly ever use, such as the spair stockings and leotard.

Other stuff, like my waterbottle, voltaren, deodorant, pointes ect, I use a lot.

So as you can imagine, my ballet bag is pretty heavy. Although I don't really care, because it's full of my favourite brands such as BLOCH, Dance Energetic and Bunheads.

When I get home, I always hang my ballet shoes up on the back of my door. This keeps them fresh and smell free.

Also, if you leave your sweaty shoes just sitting in your bag until your next dance class, then can grow mold.

Thanks for reading/commenting!

Sort Of On Holidays : )

Hi Followers,

I guess that since last Thursday I have sort of been on holidays from ballet. Well, I danced through the holidays, but I've got until Saturday off!
However, I'm going to be very temped to strap my pointe shoes on and do a bit of pointe this afternoon.

I think that I'll also do about an hour of stretching today. You know how you sometimes just get that feeling that you really need to stretch? Well that's how I feel right now!

You know how last time I posted, I said that there was a girl who was dancing with me, just for the holidays? Well, it turns out that she now lives in Alice Springs and is dancing with a company up there!
I felt really privileged to be in a class with somebody dancing at that higher standard, even if it was only for four lessons.

My ballet teacher is really great, too. I know that I have already said this, but she really is. She danced with the Australian Ballet for a few years, then came here and started teaching.

One thing that my teacher said that I really had to work on was, strangely enough, my arms. It's true that when you are doing a hard exercises that your arms/fingers will show it.
My teacher said that when I am working really hard, my thumbs stick up! Then after thirty seconds or so, my arms start to droop, especially in second position.

So, you may thing, well, just change it and do it properly. That's when I've been trying to do, but it's SOOOO hard. You will not believe how hard it is. Like ..... seriously!
I have been working on them in the last four lessons I have had with her, but still, my arms droop all the time!

My teacher said that it's just practice, practice, practice. She game me some pieces of paper to hold between my thumb and palm. That helped, but I'm still working on it. My goal is that by the end of the year to have perfect hands!

Thanks for reading/commenting, everyone! I will be back to post again, soon - I promise!

Yes - It HAS Been A While!

SORRY, I HAVE NO IDEA WHY IT IS POSTING IN THIS ALL SQUISHED UP FORMAT. JUST KEEP WITH ME FOR NOW, I WILL TRY TO GET IT TO WORK PROPERLY FOR NEXT TIME. SORRY ...... I AM REALLY IRRITATED WITH THIS COMPUTER RIGHT NOW! Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Everyone! I'm really sorry that I have taken SOOOOO long to post. You see, because of the move, we havne't had our internet up, so I haven't been able to blog. But, FINALLY, today it got set up. I admit, I was the first person to rush to the computer and jump on the internet .... aah, my life's back! We arrived in this awesome place on the 17th of March, today is the 17th of April, so it's been a month. Long story cut short, I LOVE it! It's way bigger to the town we were living near before we moved, so it's a big strange, but it's also TOTALLY awesome! I started at a really good school a few weeks ago. It's great, and I have made a whole lot of lovely friends there and I am loving every minute of it (well, almost :) ha ha Just last week I started ballet. My teacher danced with the Australian Ballet for a couple of years, and is the most amazing ballet dancer. She's also a really good teacher, and tell you exactly what you have to work on, but I am really missing my previous ballet teacher - a lot. During the holidays I am dancing for an hour in the morning, twice a week, but during school term, I will dance on Saturday mornings, and have a pointe class some other time, too. Fun, Fun! Sorry this post has to be a short one, but I think my family is off to the beach, and want me to come with them. Chat Soon! P.S: Thank You SOOOOOO much for all the comments everyone kept posting, even though I never replied due to having no internet. Don't worry, if you go and have a look now, I have replied to all of them, well, most of them! Thanks again, it always makes me feel fantastic whenever I see a comment waiting for me! xxx