Can You Increase Your Ballet Turnout – It Doesn’t Matter If You Know How To Use It

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Increase Ballet Turnout. Get it now!

Ballet turnout is important. But not in the way you think. First of all, many people have turnout from their hip joint, and some do not.

This depends on the way your hip joint is shaped. (One of a few factors). Some people have hips that hold the top of the thigh bone in a socket that slants toward the front of their body. This individual would have their toes pointing forward, mostly, or maybe a bit inward, towards the other toes.

Another type of hip joint slants a little sideways, or a lot sideways from the center of their body. These people have a natural ability to turn their thigh bones out, or rotate them from the hip joint. And, if they are studying classical ballet, they have hit the ballet turnout lottery!

But then there is YOU. You didn’t win that same lottery and you think need to stretch your butt muscles, your gluteus maximus muscles. You want that easy turnout, that beautiful arabesque, all those perfect ballet positions.

The most important thing, is, if you study ballet or take contemporary dance classes, is to know how to determine exactly what degree of turnout you do have, and then to understand which turnout muscles hold that rotation properly.

Most ballet and dance students think that their Gluteus Maximus muscles, or biggest butt muscles hold their turnout in place. But that is not so. The muscles that hold the rotation of the thigh bones, are the:

piriformis

obturator internus

obturator externus

quadratus femoris

gemellus superior

gemellus inferior

As fancy as that sounds, picture a band of elastics close together, that contract and pull your thighbone outwards. That’s it.

Whereas, your Gluteus Maxmus – big butt muscle – contributes toward drawing or lifting your leg BACKWARDS, as in a tendu en arriere or an arabesque. You can rotate your thighs while keeping your Gluteus Maximus muscles completely relaxed. Want to prove it?

Sit on the floor in a wide second position. Rotate your thighs. But keep your butt muscles completely relaxed. It is easy to feel, because you are sitting on the floor. You can rotate your thighs so that your knees face up to the ceiling, or backwards. You can grip your butt muscles, or not, but doing so will not increase your turnout.

How Do You Test For Turnout Potential?

You lie on your stomach. Draw one leg up, and let it relax, turning out, over the other leg. That angle is your degree of turnout. That is what you have.

What is important is that you strengthen the turnout muscles, so that you can hold the maximum turnout that you have! Don’t get mopey over the turnout that you don’t have and never will have.

If you are not convinced, or simply like the details, get a copy of Tune Up Your Turnout by dance medicine specialist Deborah Vogel.