Training Like an Athlete vs. a Bodybuilder: What Dancers Need To Know

When it comes to strength training, many dancers shy away from weights due to the fear of becoming "bulky." A common misconception is that lifting weights will make dancers look like bodybuilders, ruining the aesthetics or flexibility required for dance. But here's the truth: dancers are athletes, and strength training is an essential component to training like one.

Lifting weights is incredibly beneficial for dancers, and it doesn’t have to mean major increases in muscle size. In fact, the kind of hypertrophy (muscle growth) that makes someone look like a bodybuilder requires years of intentional diet and training. It's incredibly hard to achieve and is not something that will happen by accident! In contrast, strength & conditioning for dancers is about training for performance, resilience, and injury prevention - not pure muscle growth.

To help clear up the confusion, let’s break down the key differences between training like an athlete and training like a bodybuilder.

1. Purpose & Goals

Athlete: The primary focus of an athlete's training is improving performance and preventing injury; this means targeting physiological qualities like power, speed, agility, and endurance. Lifting weights and improving force output (strength) is an important component of this type of training, but it goes beyond traditional resistance training to include plyometrics, cardiovascular conditioning, and sport-specific development. For dancers, this type of training translates to better jumps, faster footwork, improved coordination, controlled flexibility, and reduced risk of injury.
Bodybuilder: In contrast, bodybuilders aim to maximise muscle size (hypertrophy) and definition. The majority of their training is built around resistance training, using machines and free weights.

2. Movement Focus & Exercise Selection

Athlete: An athlete’s training program is composed of compound lifts (e.g. squats, Romanian deadlifts) and power-based movements (e.g. jumps, medicine ball throws), which are designed to enhance full-body strength and explosiveness. Accessory work will include multi-planar and unilateral exercises which are specific to dance performance.
Bodybuilder: A bodybuilder's routine involves a lot of isolation exercises, like bicep curls or leg extensions. Multiple exercises may be used for the same muscle group (e.g. 4 bicep exercises using different angles and grips in the same workout). A bodybuilder's workout primarily occurs in the sagittal plane and is focused on maximising muscle growth at all times.

3. Tempo & Rest

Athlete: Athletes use variable tempos depending on the goal of the training phase -- explosive during power training, or slower for controlled endurance training. They typically take longer rest periods between sets to ensure quality output.
Bodybuilder: Bodybuilders favor slower, more controlled reps to increase the time under tension and promote muscle growth. The rest periods are generally shorter to keep the heart rate up and increase metabolic stress, contributing to hypertrophy.

4. Load & Volume

Athlete: Athletes tend to work with moderate to heavy loads to build strength and power, but typically at lower volume (fewer sets and reps). This type of training helps dancers develop the strength needed for explosive movements without causing excessive fatigue or soreness which may interfere with performance. Lower volume is unlikely to lead to significant hypertrophy. Dance athletes will typically have 2-3 full-body strength workouts per week, with rest and recovery prioritised over high volume training.
Bodybuilder: Bodybuilders use a variety of loads with high volume (more sets and reps) to induce hypertrophy. The goal is to exhaust the muscles and promote muscle growth, but this doesn't directly translate into improved performance for dancers. Bodybuilders are likely to be in the gym most (if not every) day of the week and will typically use an upper/lower body split instead of full-body workouts.

5. Transfer to Dance

Athlete: Strength training for athletes has a high transfer to performance. Exercises are designed to improve strength, control, explosiveness, and agility, which are all crucial for dance. The focus is on improving functional movement patterns that dancers rely on daily.
Bodybuilder: For bodybuilders, the transfer to dance is low. While muscle gains can certainly improve strength, they don’t necessarily support the functional movements required in dance. The focus on aesthetics doesn’t build the agility, mobility, or endurance needed for peak dance performance.

6. Mobility & Stability Integration

Athlete: Athletes integrate mobility, stability, and proprioception in their training. This means they include exercises that help maintain or improve flexibility, balance, and core strength to enhance overall movement efficiency and reduce the risk of injury.
Bodybuilder: Bodybuilders are less concerned with mobility, unless it directly impacts lifting technique. They are unlikely to include exercises - like balance or core stability training - which don't directly or significantly contribute to muscle growth.

7. Injury Prevention

Athlete: Injury prevention is a core component of an athlete's program. Dancers need to focus on prehab (preventative exercises), load management, and recovery to optimise performance and reduce the risk of injury.
Bodybuilder: While bodybuilders might take precautions to avoid injuries while lifting, their focus on injury prevention isn’t usually aligned with the functional demands of dance. They can afford a high training volume as bodybuilding is their main focus, whereas a similar program for an athlete would be detrimental to their performance and would increase the risk of overuse injuries.

8. Periodisation

Athlete: Periodisation for athletes is structured around performance cycles, including deloads and tapering to ensure peak performance during key times. For dancers, this can mean adjusting training intensity, frequency, or volume depending on rehearsal and performance schedules.
Bodybuilder: Bodybuilders follow periodisation based on hypertrophy cycles, and often alternate between bulking (gaining muscle mass) and cutting (reducing body fat). The focus is always on physique, rather than athletic performance.

Training Like an Athlete for Dance Performance

As a dancer, your primary focus should be on improving performance -- strength, agility, balance, and injury prevention. Training like an athlete, with a focus on strength and power, will provide much greater benefits than training like a bodybuilder. With the right training program, you can build the kind of muscle and strength that supports your art form without fear of bulking or losing flexibility.

Get Started: If you're ready to start your strength journey, check out my program for dancers or consider applying for 1:1 coaching.

Want to learn more? Check out my Instragram page for more information on strength and conditioning for dancers.