5 tips to stay fit like a professional ballet dancer

A typical day for a Charlotte Ballet dancer includes 5-6 hours of rehearsals, plus an hour and a half class before that.

What’s happening: Charlotte Ballet dancers Sarah Hayes Harkins  and Josh Hall shared what it takes to stay in top shape and a few tips for those who don’t have hours to dedicate to it.

Backstory: Hall, who grew up in Charlotte, has been a professional for a decade, but he’s found as he’s gotten older he needs to do more outside of the studio.

• “I feel like I have really found this scheduled way of trying to maintain my body so when I’m in the studio I can optimally work so I don’t get injured, and I don’t get tired, and I can keep doing this as long as possible,” the 27-year-old told me.

Before stepping into the ballet studio, he’ll practice yoga or stretch when he wakes up to get his body going. Then he’ll do a bit of ab work.

• Hall will also add cardio and strength training, lifting weights three times a week.
• He also teaches pilates at Pilates Body Shaping.

Harkins is also a Charlotte Ballet veteran. She told me she’s in the “rest and recovery” phase of her career.

• The 32-year-old has been a professional for 15 years, and she welcomed her first child, Frankie, on July 17, 2021.
• She began her gradual return to ballet in September, coming back full time in November and performing in Charlotte Ballet’s “Nutcracker” last December.
• “It’s interesting how [having a baby] is aligning with me slowing down in my career and also my body literally slowing down on me,” she told me with a laugh.

Here are five tips to take care of your body from Hall and Harkins. 

1. Cross-train

Roller skating is Hall’s favorite form of cross-training for an extra cardio boost. He prefers the Rail Trail in South End and the Cross Charlotte Trail near I-485.

• He and Harkins used to roller skate for 12 miles on the McAlpine Greenway, but now he sticks to around six miles.

2. Take it slow and listen to your body

Harkins noticed her body changing before she had Frankie, as she navigated how to manage pain from old injuries.

• For those working their way back after having a baby, she recommends foam rolling, warm Epsom salt baths and lying on the floor with a heating pad on your back.

3. Carve out time to stretch

Hall recommends pulling up a 30-minute YouTube video of stretching.

• “Carving out that time is really beneficial for your body and also your mental health and just having time for yourself,” he said.

4. Ground down

It can feel like everything is moving so fast and you are just trying to keep up. Create time to feel grounded and present in the moment.

• Try meditating.

5. Multi-task

Binge watching is the perfect time to stretch or foam roll, like Hall did with the second season of “Emily in Paris.”

What’s next: Charlotte Ballet’s “Innovative 1970” runs through Feb. 26 at the Center for Dance in Uptown.

• The show centers on 1970, the year Charlotte Ballet was founded as North Carolina Dance Theatre, and features three Black choreographers: Rena Butler, Ja’ Malik and Charlotte Ballet company artist Andrés Trezevant.