In order to maintain the high energy levels needed to choreograph Dance Central’s heart pumping routines, our choreographers take great care to stay in dancing shape. With the help of consistent fitness routines and healthy eating habits these professional dancers have enough stamina to keep up with intense athletic schedules and deliver the most authentic dance experience on Kinect! Dance Central choreographers Chanel Thompson, Frenchy Hernandez and Torey Nelson share the steps they follow to stay in shape and provide us with Dance Central fitness tips!
Chanel: Every morning when I wake up I usually do a 15-minute workout that consists of full push-ups, five leg lifts on each side to work my thighs and calves, and side reaches to work my obliques.
Torey: I make sure I eat right because diet is everything. Depending on the substances you put in your body – especially if it’s unhealthy, greasy or full of saturated fats – it does mess with your energy levels. If you follow a healthy diet you’ll always feel lighter and have more energy.
Like Chanel, I always do 15 to 20 minutes of dance aerobic workouts with all the necessities – including push-ups. I also go to the gym (I’m a gym guy) and will run to boost stamina. When you’re dancing you need endurance and running can help with that. As for cardio, I spend 15 to 20 minutes on the elliptical followed by the same amount of time on a bike and then on a treadmill.
Frenchy: As for me, believe it or not, I eat a lot of carbs for fuel and then workout at the gym to burn them off. I definitely eat lots of fruits, veggies and healthy snacks. At the gym, I like to run and spend time with light weights. I’ll usually hop around machines for short reps for about 45 minutes. I engage in a lot of aquatic fitness as well!
Chanel, Torey, Frenchy: STRETCH!!!
Chanel: When I performed with the Community Team at Gamescom and PAX, knowing what songs I’d be dancing to ahead of time helped to figure out which body parts to stretch. Try head rolls plus arm, thigh and calve stretches.
Frenchy: When you stretch before routines make sure you always stretch from head to toe. Consider rotating your hips as a stretch because of all of the winding in Dance Central’s choreography. Even try wrist rotations because of hand flicks in the routines.
If you use Dance Central for fitness try going through tracks in peaks: Go from low stress routines to the most strenuous so your heart rate can go through proper intervals. Most importantly, if you stop and take a water break (drink plenty of water!) while a song is loading be sure to keep moving. If you’re coming from a high energy song and then stop moving you may feel lightheaded. You need to make sure to safely bring your heart rate back down during pauses.
Torey: Before any type of workout you usually know what you’re going to get into. I’d suggest watching the songs first if you’ve never played them before. The brain controls everything and if you gear your brain up for what you’re going to do it won’t come as too much of a surprise to your body. If you really want to get something out of a Dance Central workout, find choreography in different songs that play off each other. Try to find choreography that fits the aerobic levels and intensity you can handle and play those one after another.
Chanel: Also, make sure to do a cool down routine after your session to avoid soreness the next day. Stretch those muscles!
Keep your browser locked on DanceCentral.com for more Dance Central Fitness Club blogs leading up to the launch of Dance Central 2! Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter (@Dance_Central) and become a fan on Facebook (facebook.com/dancecentral) for all the latest news and updates!