What is core strength?

So, here's another technique blog that will probably piss some teachers off.

You have to use your glute muscles. Yes, that means your butt. 

The glute/hamstring complex is the most powerful muscle group in the body. It's designed to bring your torso, 3/5ths of your body weight, to an upright position. It is also designed, like most of the muscle groups in your body, to be used in concert, not in isolation.

Many teachers will tell you to use your hamstrings at one time or another. It is very difficult to use your hamstrings (3 muscles), without using your glutes. Even if you are concentrating on using your hamstrings to lift your foot to retire, you'll still be using your glutes to turn out (more on that later).

Once, when I was injured, I was watching class like a good student. I decided to focus on the big jumpers to see what I could learn from them. Up till that point, I thought that the last step before a big jump in grand allegro was your deepest plié, since that was your takeoff. It seemed logical. Imagine my surprise when I saw that the actual knee bend on that last step, was minimal. Where did the power for the jump come from?

Now, in petit allegro, you use a lot more plié than in grand; it's a different kind of jumping. The force from grand allegro comes from the calf- the angle of the foot to the lower leg is greater than 90 degrees (or less, depending on which way you measure it, but the bend is substantial, either way)- the extension of the leg upon the hip, and the ballistic throwing of the leg and arms. The most powerful of those three components is the extension of the leg, or, the glute/ham complex. Look at the glutes of any good jumper; they're well-defined and powerful. Some dancers are blessed with that, naturally, others have to work for it, all can improve it. You have to use your glutes, properly, in ballet, or not only will you not have the power in your jump that you could have, you won't be turning your leg out. I think I went through this in another blog, but it bears repeating.

You can not turn your leg out using your inner thigh muscles.

There. I have just alienated about 90% of ballet teachers.

I don't care. I'm right.

Go learn anatomy. The muscles on the inside of the thigh can not turn your leg out. Sure the sartorius has some lateral rotational ability- very little, actually- but you can't isolate it and you wouldn't want to; it's not strong enough to work by itself. All the other inner thigh muscles, the pectineus, the adductor brevis, the adductor magnus, the gracilis, and two of the hamstring muscles medially rotate the leg, turn it in. In fact the adductor muscles, by their very name, tell you what they do; they adduct, they draw inward toward the median axis of the body. They turn you in.

The deep lateral femoral rotators turn you out. Their name says it. They are deep in your butt. Your gluteus maximus, the large surface muscle, also turns you out. Yes, the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus have some medial rotational ability, but they are over shadowed by the maximus and the rotators. They also are lateral hip stabilizers when you're standing. Your glutes also lift your leg to arabesque. Don't believe me? Lift your leg to arabesque. Now, have someone hold your leg while you relax your glutes. All relaxed back there? Good. Now, don't use them and have that person let go of your leg.

Yeah...

What has all this to do with core strength? Most people think core strength means your abs. I mentioned core strength in class and several of my students smiled and started mimicking crunches  or twisting exercises. When I told them that core strength means EVERYTHING AROUND YOUR 
CORE, they actually were surprised, then got that I've been doing it wrong look on their faces. They 
realized that they hadn't thought that their glutes were part of their core! If you only have strong abs, but your butt is flabby and weak, you do not have core strength.

You must train your glutes, you must use your butt. No, it won't get bigger- you're not using heavy weights or doing barbell squats- it will get stronger and more defined, and you'll get that "pocket" right where the line of your leotard is that says, I know how to use my hip muscles properly. You'll be able to turn out safely, and your jump will improve.

And you'll have real core strength.

See you in class.