Belly dance performances, classes, and workshops online and in Delft and Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Voorstellingen, lessen en workshops buikdans online en in Delft en Rotterdam, Nederland.
I’m back to bust some more movement myths! So – is it dangerous to let your knees move over your toes?
TL;DR: NO! Knees passing forward over the toes is a normal everyday movement
If you walk down stairs, crouch down to get something out of a cupboard, or kneel on the ground – your knees pass over your toes.
It’s a normal, functional movement pattern. And the knees – like all other joints – are capable of adapting to all kinds of movements, so long as we progress them gradually!
A hinge is a hinge, and a squat is a squat
Sometimes this fear of knees-over-toes (a very natural movement) causes us to change our movement patterns.
I sometimes see dancers teaching strength exercises like a squat with a huge hip hinge. But in the world of strength training: a hinge is a hinge, and a squat is a squat.
Deep level changes with an upright torso:
More similar to a squat pattern
Big hip exterior hip circles where the hips travel back and the knees stay relatively still:
More similar to a hinge pattern
So… What is a hinge and a what is a squat?
In a hinge movement, the hips go backward. By shifting the weight backward, we load the hamstrings and glutes more.
In a squat movement, we sit straight down, allowing the knees to travel forward, and maintaining a relatively upright torso. This allows us to load the quads a bit more, AND to get deeper in a squat (further loading the quads!).
Restricting the knees from tracking forward just redistributes force elsewhere
A study examining the back squat movement found that not letting the knees come forward “may minimize stress on the knees,” but forces are then “inappropriately transferred to the hips and low-back region. Thus, appropriate joint loading during this exercise [the squat] may require the knees to move slightly past the toes.” (Fry et al., 2003).
Knees coming forward over toes may even be a good thing!
This 2023 paper (Illmeier & Rechberger) stated: “…it may be favorable or even necessary to allow a certain degree of anterior knee displacement in order to achieve optimal training outcomes and minimize the biomechanical stress imparted on the lumbar spine and hip. Overall, restricting this natural movement is likely not an effective strategy for healthy trained individuals.”
If you have an injury, of course you should adjust!
When people have knee pain, I often suggest making their bodyweight squats more hingey!
But this doesn’t mean that knees travelling forward over toes is dangerous.
It’s a bit like when you get a sunburn. You don’t want to go out in the sun again right away. You want to cover up and use aloe vera until it’s healed.
Injuries are the same – we avoid certain movements in acute phases, then work our way back towards them as part of the rehabilitation process.
What does any of this have to do with Raqs Sharqi?!
I still see well-meaning dance teachers telling their students to avoid level changes and “save them for the stage” because of a fear of the knees going over toes too often.
You will not tolerate more by doing less.
We would be much be prepared for the demands of our dance if we… prepared for the demands of our dance!
That means slowly building up towards movements we want to carry out on stage, through practising them, and through strengthening the movement patterns (like squats!) similar to the dance movements we want to achieve.
Did you learn something new about movement?
My name is Siobhan Camille.
I’m an exercise scientist and a professional dancer.
I love helping dancers get better, stronger, and more resilient.
There is a common idea that is pervasive in raqs sharqi and fusion “bellydance.” So:
Are “muscular” movements safer than “skeletal” movements?
There is no such thing as a “skeletal” movement!
This fear of what is sometimes called “skeletal” movement demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding of human functional anatomy.
Muscles cannot push, they can only pull. All movement is created by muscles pulling on bones at the joint they cross. ALL movement involves muscular action.
Muscles also can’t “fall asleep.”
Unless there is a major neurological injury.
A lot of the confusion in the world of raqs sharqi and fusion dance is probably an issue of terminology.
We are a particular kind of movement form in that we sometimes choose to actively contract or flex some muscle groups more than others.
But just because we’re not actively trying to contract a muscle, doesn’t mean it’s not working!
So your “knee” shimmy?
…is also using your glutes, quads, and hamstrings, just like your “glute” shimmy.
We’re just choosing to actively add a little extra contraction on top to change the movement quality. Which is totally valid – but it’s incorrect to say that the other shimmy is unsafe because “the muscles aren’t activated” – they are activated!
If they weren’t, you’d simply fall down!
You don’t need to squeeze everything tight all the time.
You can choose to, of course! And as previously mentioned, we sometimes choose to for certain aesthetic purposes (like creating a belly roll!).
But you’re not making yourself safer with the extra “squeezes.” You’re just changing how the movement looks and feels.
Sometimes if we have a specific pain or injury, it can be helpful to avoid certain movements for a while. But it doesn’t mean that movement or way of moving is inherently dangerous. Human bodies are great at adapting to stressors.
Did you learn something new about muscles? I’m glad!
My name is Siobhan Camille.
I’m an exercise scientist and a professional dancer.
I love helping dancers get better, stronger, and more resilient.
The RICE (or RICED; rest, ice, compression, elevation, diagnosis) method for injury management has been advised against in the research & academic settings since at least 2010. In early 2019 I wrote an article about a more up to date method, “do no H.A.R.M” (no heat, no alcohol, no reinjury, no massage). But there’s been even newer suggestions on how to remember to manage injuries!
What’s wrong with RICE?
RICE ignores that there are different phases of healing, and implies that passive modalities (rest, ice, compression, and elevation) are of utmost importance to healing. While we need rest in the very early phases of any injury, we know from decades of research that getting back to movement as early as possible is key to better recovery. And re-loading an injured area is what ultimately makes it stronger and restores it capacity – not resting it!
There has also been some research suggesting that icing could delay tissue repair because it could decrease inflammation.Inflammation is CRUCIAL in the early stages of tissue healing – this is what brings in all the white blood cells to clean things up! It is especially important to avoid taking anti-inflammatories in the first 48-72 hours after injury.Professional performers may also consider avoiding ice. Even if this blunts inflammation only slightly in comparison to anti-inflammatory drugs, professional dancers often need to return to work quickly. Anything that could speed recovery could therefore be worth considering.
In the first 1-3 days, minimise movement that could further cause injury, BUT rest should be minimised
E is for Elevate
Elevate the limb higher than the heart. There is weak evidence that this helps, but it won’t cause harm
A is for Avoid Anti-inflammatory Modalities
Definitely avoid anti-inflammatory drugs in the first few days. The use of ice is questioned and cautioned because it could also disrupt inflammation – which is crucial to healing!
C is for Compress
There is conflicting evidence, but taping or bandaging does seem to offer some benefits to our ability to function
E is for Educate
Health care providers should let you know that an active approach (actual rehab, not just things that feel good) is what you need to recover, and help you have realistic expectations for recovery
L is for Load
Putting weight on the injured part or doing strength exercises should be introduced early, as soon as symptoms allow. This promotes repair & remodeling of damaged tissue, and builds capacity – so you can do the things you used to!
O is for Optimism
Patients who are optimistic have better outcomes. From pain science we know that distress and negative feelings (or anything that makes us feel in danger) can increase pain. I know it can be hard, but trust that your body is adaptable!
V is for Vascularisation
Aerobic exercise (“cardio”) should be started a few days after injury to increase blood flow to injured areas. Early mobilisation and aerobic exercise improve function and reduces the need for painkillers.
E is for Exercise
Exercise is strongly supported for reducing the prevalence of recurrent injuries, and can help restore mobility, strength and proprioception after injury.
Did you learn something new about injury management?
My name is Siobhan Camille. I’m an exercise scientist and a professional dancer. I love helping dancers get better, stronger, and more resilient. If this was helpful for you, please feel free to share this article, or sign up to my newsletter to get posts like this in your inbox!
One of the biggest mistakes I see dancers make when it comes to training is ignoring the concept of progressive overload.
What the heck is progressive overload!?
Progressive overload refers to gradually (the key word here!) increasing the amount and/or difficulty of your training over time. In both the rehabilitation and athletic performance spheres, we use progressive overload to safely and effectively improve strength, mobility/flexibility, and conditioning status (cardiovascular fitness).
Learn more about progressive overload, and how to tell if you’re increasing your (dance) training load too quickly!
I see dancers make two big mistakes when it comes to progressive overload:
Not acknowledging (or perhaps understanding) where they currently are NOW.
I see so many dancers injure themselves (or just make themselves so sore that they NEVER want to train again!) because they set a goal that is too lofty for their current fitness levels. Lofty goals are fun, but you need to progress towards that goal over time. Just because someone else can run 5km right now, doesn’t mean you can right away, especially if you’ve never run before!
The next most common problem I see is:
Building up to a certain level…. And then never changing anything!
You don’t need to always aspire to stronger, faster, more flexible (although, I truly believe that stronger is better in lots of ways for our bodies – but that’s a discussion for another time). But our bodies are REALLY good at adapting to stressors. Exercise is a stressor. We need a certain amount of consistency for our body to adapt, but once the body is used to something, we need to change it up to keep ourselves seeing the same benefits of training. This can be as simple as changing the type of exercises you do every 4-6 weeks, or adding weight or resistance to the exercises you’re doing.
Progressive overload is not just important for our strength, conditioning and mobility work. It’s also important to consider when planning our dance practices.
Consider this common scenario:
You’re going to a belly dance festival for the first time in a long time (especially after the last 2.5 years of most things being online!). You’re usually dancing for 45 minutes, three times a week. But you’re so excited to dance again, and all the workshops look SO good (sound familiar?). So you’ve signed up for 8 hours of workshops this weekend!
Jumping from 2.25 hours of dance in a regular week to 8 hours (or 10.25 if you also did those standard regular classes) is a big jump in load for our bodies. This can be one of the reasons you might be more likely to sustain an injury at a dance festival – it’s a huge jump in loading that your body is not used to.
But don’t just take my word for it – let’s use a simple method to assess this jump in dance volume:
The acute-to-chronic training/workload ratio (ACWR)
Sounds complicated already, I know! But I promise it’s not, and for this simple method, you can even find a calculator online. I use a slightly more involved version of this method, but this basic method is a great way to get a snapshot of whether you’re increasing your dance and/or training volume too much.
The acute-to-chronic training/workload ratio (ACWR) compares your mileage (for activities like running, cycling, and swimming) or duration (for activities like dance) from the last week to your average weekly mileage/duration for the last four weeks. Week 4 is last week, Week 3 is the week before it, and so on.
When you do an ACWR calculation, you’ll end up with a number at the end. Here’s what the numbers signify:
<0.8 = danger zone; undertraining which can lead to injury risk (yes, we also don’t want to DROP our training amounts too much from week to week if we want to avoid injury!)
Week 1 = 135 mins (3 weeks before the festival: your standard 3 x 45 minute dance sessions)
Week 2 = 135 mins
Week 3 = 135 mins
Week 4 = 615 mins (The week of the festival: Your standard 3 x 45 minute dance sessions, plus your 8 hours of workshops at the festival!)
To calculate your ACWR, add up the minutes from each week:
(615 + 135 + 135 + 135) = 1020 mins
Then, divide that number by the number of weeks (this is standardly measured in 4 week blocks):
1020 / 4 = 255
Then, take the amount of load (in our example, in minutes) from the most recent week, and divide it by the average of the last four weeks (the number we just calculated above):
ACWR = 615 / 255 = 2.4
In this example, your ACWR would be 2.4 → You’re currently in the “danger zone,” the highest risk category for injury because of how fast, and how unevenly, the load has been ramped up.
This is just one of the reasons why we want to progressively overload all of our training – dance, strength, conditioning, mobility or otherwise. We want to progressively build up overtime to reduce our chances of injury.
Have you got any questions about progressive overload for me? Leave me a comment below!
Want to create the strength, mobility, and metabolic conditioning you need to be the dancer you dream of? Siobhan Camille writes personalised strength and conditioning programs for dancers, and regularly hosts online and in-person dance-specific workshops. Find out more about what Siobhan has to offer here, and sign up for semi-regular newsletter here to get all the knowledge delivered right to your inbox!
In addition to being the founder and director of Greenstone Belly Dance, Siobhan Camille is a Rehabilitative Exercise Specialist and Strength & Conditioning Coach. Siobhan Camille has an extensive background in exercise science with postgraduate level degrees in Exercise Prescription and Rehabilitation Science. She takes a particular interest in the safety, strength, and performance of dancers, and has conducted formal research on injury incidence in belly dancers. She draws on this background to emphasise safe dance technique and teaches her students how to find and activate muscles to create clear movement.
I think by now, most of us are thoroughly convinced of the benefits of warming up for dance – or at least, we like doing it! When we surveyed 109 belly dancers in New Zealand, we found that 84% of them warm up prior to their dance practice[1] (bravo!).
When I first started out in the world of exercise science, the evidence for warming up was a bit patchy and contentious. Nowadays, there’s a lot more evidence out there that a good warm up can improve your performance[2][3], and can decrease your risk of injury.[4][5]
However, it’s important to know that not all warm ups are created equal!
How to structure your warm ups for belly dance: The RAMP protocol.
To be fair, I have not seen too many awful warm ups in my time. The one that stands out was when a dancer started with extreme (and I mean: extreme) backbends and hair tosses within 30 seconds of the warm up song commencing. This was one of the few times I was generally worried about injuries (but to be honest, I was stifling laughter because it was so unbelievable). Aside from that, I do see a few warm ups that don’t really fulfil the goal of getting warm, and could have some potential for injury.
One of the common mistakes I see includes beginning with stretching. Dynamic stretching (moving joints through the range of motion you’ll use in your session, but doing so by actively using muscles) is a common part of a warm up routine, but it’s not usually the first thing we do, and it isn’t a passive, held (or static) stretch.
We don’t generally recommend static stretching before exercise sessions (an exception is made at times for hypertonic muscles), as it’s been found to be linked with an increased injury risk due to decreasing the muscles’ ability to produce power (and therefore meet the demands of our dance). Most of this research is on long, static stretches of 60 seconds or more, which a lot of exercise professionals brush off, saying “no one does this in their warm ups anyway!” However, a specific sub-group sometimes does engage in this practice of long, static stretching: dancers!
So how do we warm up properly?
One common method that is supported by science is the RAMP protocol. This consists of three phases:
Raise
Activate and Mobilise
Potentiate
Let’s take a quick look at how we can use each of these phases to build effective warm ups!
Raise
The first aspect of the RAMP protocol relates to raising the heart rate, breathing rate, blood flow, and core body and muscle temperature, but also the level of skill of the dancer or athlete.
Raising a lot of these physiological aspects like heart rate and blood flow is particularly important for some dancers with pre-existing conditions like exercise-induced asthma, but it also helps all of us by increasing muscle temperature and getting our body ready for the challenges our practice or performance will present us.
Raising the level of skill is also not to be ignored. Here, you can think of including key movement and skill capacities for dancers. If you’re teaching a beginners class, it could involve introducing some basic foot patterns as part of this phase. For all levels, it could be including certain movements that use the same muscles you’ll be using in the rest of the class or session.
The general rule for this phase is that movements are bigger and less isolated, they make dancers feel warmer and breathe a bit heavier, and there is no kind of stretching present yet.
Activate and Mobilise
The “Activate and Mobilise” phase of the RAMP warm up protocol involves moving from more general movement in the “Raise” phase, to key movement patterns required for belly dance performance.
This is where things start to become a little more isolated and more closely resemble belly dance technique. This is also the phase where we start to focus on stability and flexibility, and use active range of motion exercises, such as lunges, big hip circles; things that start to move the joints through their required range of motion for the upcoming practice session. This will likely look different for a drills class compared to when preparing for an advanced choreography run-through!
This phase also has benefits for learning, as if you introduce similar movement patterns to those you’ll be using later in the class, it gives students a chance to repeat them and learn them better.
Potentiate
This is where the warm up starts to bleed into the class or practice session itself! The “potentiation” phase is all about increasing the intensity of the warm up until it is truly “sport-specific” (or dance-specific, in our case!). This phase is where you start moving and performing movements at the same intensity as you will for the rest of the class. The more intense you intend your practice session or performance to be, the more important this phase is. So if you’re about to get on stage and do a drum solo, you certainly want to be moving quickly, feeling really warm, and have worked up to fast, strong isolations by the end of your backstage warm up!
Warm ups should be individualised to what is coming in the class or performance ahead. The literature suggests that this full warm up (phases 1-3) should last about 10-20 minutes, which can sound scary when we only teach 50 or 60 minute classes!
However, as mentioned, the third phase (“Potentiate”) really starts to become inseparable from the class itself. I tend to spend around 8 minutes on the first two phases, and then I move in to specific drills that increase in intensity. That way, we’re all warm and ready to go, but we’re also learning and improving during this time!
As long as you make your warm up specific, that 5-10 minutes at the beginning won’t feel like a waste. Consider what dance concepts you can remind students of as you get them warming up so they’re not only prepared physically, but also mentally for the class ahead.
Want to create the strength, mobility, and metabolic conditioning you need to be the dancer you dream of? Siobhan Camille writes personalised strength and conditioning programs for dancers, and regularly hosts online and in-person dance-specific workshops. Find out more about what Siobhan has to offer here, and sign up for semi-regular newsletter here to get all the knowledge delivered right to your inbox!
In addition to being the founder and director of Greenstone Belly Dance, Siobhan Camille is a Rehabilitative Exercise Specialist and Strength & Conditioning Coach. This blog post was originally written by Siobhan for her Safe Dance Column in the Middle Eastern Dance Association of New Zealand (MEDANZ) December 2020 Newsletter. You can join MEDANZ to access their newsletters and find out more about MEDANZ here. Photo by Veronika Hegedus-Gaspar.
[1] Milner et al., 2019. A Retrospective Study Investigating Injury Incidence and Factors Associated with Injury Among Belly Dancers.
[2] Jeffreys, 2007. Warm-up revisited: The ramp method of optimizing warm-ups.
[3] DeRenne, 2010. Effects of Postactivation Potentiation Warm-up in Male and Female Sport Performances: A Brief Review
[4] Malliou et al., 2007., Reducing risk of injury due to warm up and cool down in dance aerobic instructors.
[5] Barengo et al., (2014). The Impact of the FIFA 11+ Training Program on Injury Prevention in Football Players: A Systematic Review.
