Skip to main content

Fueling Your Dancer for Their Best Performance


By: Katie Behrens
Health Coach and Sports Nutrition Expert, DDA Instructor
Certified By: The American Council On Exercise

Let’s set the scene. It is the Friday night before competition. All of the costumes are packed and labeled, early morning alarms are set to get up to do hair and makeup. The last thing to do is create the fuel your dancer will need throughout the day so they can stay at their peak performance.

Dancers bodies are like a fine tuned machine. I actually like to compare them to a race car. You cannot show up to the Indy 500 with a Porsche, put 87 grade octane gasoline in the tank and expect to win the race. Dancers must put high-grade fuel into their bodies to be able to perform their best.

Let’s talk about what types of foods fuel an athlete like a dancer. Carbohydrates are what our bodies first look for when they look for energy. Some of my favorite portable carbohydrate snacks for quick energy absorption are:
● Grapes
● Apples
● Carrots
● Bananas
● Strawberries
● Dates, loaded with natural sugar (these are much better than pixie sticks!!!)
● Dried fruit
● Pears
● Oranges

Where’s the bread you ask???? Yes grains like bread, crackers, rice, pasta are all sources of carbohydrates. However we’re talking about fast easily digestible sources of fuel for our athletes. When you add more complex carbohydrates it takes longer for the body to break them down into fuel which can lead to belly aches right before your dancer goes on stage.

Next let’s talk about protein and fats. Pairing protein and fat with a simple carbohydrate is going to slow down the energy (sugar) absorption and help the energy sustain longer in the athletes body. My favorite portable forms of fat and protein are:
● Nuts
● Hard boiled eggs
● Cheese sticks
● Olives
● Avocado (high in fat and fiber, not protein)
● Greek Yogurt (with less than 7 grams of sugar)
● Hummus
● Lean lunch meats like ham and turkey

Here are some examples of what a day of meals could look like at competition to keep your dancer performance ready.

Breakfast (2 hours before stage call)
● 1 hard boiled egg, apple slices with nut butter
● Banana, peanut butter, chia seed, almond milk smoothie
( 1 small banana, 1 tablespoon chia seed, 1 tablespoon nut butter 8oz unsweetened almond
milk ½ cup to a cup of ice blend well)
Snacks on hand for quick fuel in between dances:
● Grapes
● Apples
● Carrots
● Bananas
● Strawberries
● Dates (these are much better than pixie sticks!!!)
● Pears
● Oranges
● Olives
● Trail mix
● Cheese sticks
● Hummus

Lunch/Dinner if dancers have at least 2.5-3 hours before stage again.
● Spinach salad with chicken, strawberries, feta cheese and walnuts.
● Lettuce roll ups (lettuce, deli meat, cheese mayo or mustard)
● Non dairy based soups (too much dairy before a performance can lead to gastric upset).

Next let’s talk about hydration throughout the performance day. Our athletes are perspiring with each performance they do on stage. Keeping up their hydration is just as important as keeping them well fueled by food. Water is best of course. They are also sweating out salt though which affects their electrolyte levels. Adding in a watered down version of an electrolyte replacement such as Gatorade is a healthier choice. I like to do a 50-50 mix, 50% water 50% Gatorade. This cuts down the  immediate sugar shock that can happen if you just drink straight Gatorade. When I think of hydration I say stay away from C.R.AP (carbonated/chemicals, refined sugar, artificial sweeteners, processed).

OK you’ve read this far and I can hear what you’re thinking, “KATIE my kid won’t eat all of those fruits and non-processed foods. My kid wants the burger and the fries and the shake”..

So let’s talk the last meal of the day. This is where the re-load of carbohydrates can come in. If the dancer is done dancing for the day go ahead and have the burger and fries or the pasta and pizza don’t forget the ice cream. The above snack and meal ideas aren’t only good for competition, but also on a day when the dancers are at the studio all day.

Staying away from excessive added sugar and processed foods are going to help fuel your athlete for their best performance. Trying out a few of the meal ideas before you actually get to competition weekend is the best way to make sure the fuel agrees with the athlete.

For more healthy snack and meal ideas check out the link below!
https://choosemyplate-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/misc/tool/2WeekMenusAndFoodGroupContent.pdf

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When the silence is deafening... by Jenny O'Brien

The silence is deafening...when you walk through the doors of a place you've worked your entire life to build. Every little piece of it. But there is nothing but silence. Six weeks of silence. Silence in a building that normally boasts hundreds of dancers and parents, hallways with kids running down them, music blasting from four different rooms, tap shoes clickity clacking, and the front door opening and closing a thousand times a night. Since I was 16 years old, I've worked my tail off. I always loved working. Truly. In high school I loved working so much....that my senior year, I was part of a business program that allowed me to leave school at 10:30am and work the rest of the day. The only things I ever enjoyed about school were the social part and electives (classes like cooking and graphic design). And of course gym because I got to take dance. I hated the rest. I would have to study for hours upon hours to get a B or C in classes like Science and Math. ...
3 comments
Read more

What is the difference between a jazz and ballet pirouette? - by Miss Geneva & Miss Jenny

  What is the difference between a jazz pirouette and a ballet pirouette?    One of the hardest transitions between jazz and ballet are the pirouettes. There are many differences, and teachers often find themselves giving corrections in class....over and over...and over....that are related to this! Read on to learn more:   The prep and "take off" Even the prep to take off has several differences. The little steps leading into the pirouette are different to begin with but we will save that for another time! For the actual position to turn from in jazz, the feet are in a parallel 4th position with the back heel up. In ballet, the feet are in a turned out 4th position with both heels down. In ballet you can also do a pirouette from 5th position. However, all of them you have to use a plié to take off from.    P.S. - Use your plie! How many times do you hear your teacher say that?   The turn Basic pirouettes use a passé position and tur...
1 comment
Read more

Q&A with Miss Geneva - Reflecting on 10 years at DDA

  Miss Geneva with her class at the 2014 DDA Recital   What made you apply for the job at DDA? My husband and I had just moved to Illinois for his job and I was volunteering one day at a cancer center in Geneva teaching dance to kids to bring them some joy through music and movement. The director told me that one of the ladies she worked with had a daughter who had opened up a dance studio in La Fox (the previous location). Well, that was Jenny's mom she was talking about! So, I called right away to see if she was hiring.   Do you remember your first day?   I was actually nervous. I was feeling so out of place moving somewhere that had my first name on buildings (ha!), knowing that my desert blood had no idea how to handle zero degrees, everyone else seemed to have extended family here except me, and driving on roads with one lane was the weirdest thing to me. Those little things made me feel like this was not home. However, I remember walking into DDA being wa...
Post a Comment
Read more