ballet..... turnout...help!!?

Question

does anyone know any exercizes for good turnout? mine could be improved ALOT!!

also for strengthening your back; i lean back when i do jumps and its prolly cuz i have a weak back.

Answer 1

everyone else has already given soooo much input, but I'd just like to add mine. For the turnout, you might try this, but don't do it to much, because if you over turn out it can be really bad for your legs.
-stand in front of a wall, with the front of your body facing it. Turn out (as much as you can, being careful to rotate from the hips) and press yourself agains the wall as much as possible. Your feet should be pressed up against the bottom of the wall, and keep pressing, because this will naturally cause you to turn out more. Also, do butterfly stretches, frog stretches, and go to ballet class regularily. All those plies and tendus really add up even though you might not think. For your back, when you walk around, anywhere, try to keep the pearls lined up
-these are the pearls. You've got to imagine that ther is a long string of pearls running through your body. There is a pearl in your hips, a pearl in your waist, a pearl in your chest, a pearl in your neck, and a pearl in your head. You've got to imagine someone is pulling the top of that pearl necklace that comes out of your head so that all the pearls line up in an exact line. Tuck in your fanny, bring your shoulders and chest back, bring your neck and head back. Tip: do this in front of a mirror. Try to walk around like this all day. It will hurt because you're actually using muscles to keep your back straight. Also, as everyone else has said, weak back= weak abs. Do crunches, as many as possible, especially ones that work your lower abs and side abs. Ask your ballet teacher if you can to crunches in ballet class. Also, if you do crunches in the morning, as many as possible until the pain wakes you up, then you get toned faster for some reason. After that, drink 2 glasses of water and eat breakfast. Excercise early in the morning releases endorphins, which stimulate your body to feel more awake and refreshed. The water helps wash out your system and speed up your metabolism.
hope this helps!

Answer 2

Both muscle and flexibility stretching is needed here. For muscle, LOTS of plies, jumps, well, pretty much anything you can practice turning out. It all involves tucking in your butt, and you should be doing that 24-7 anyways. Doing that will help you improve faster. Flexibility wise, doing the butterfly stretch on the ground, the frog, and basic splits stretches will help as well.
Improving the back: I find that the stronger your abs are, the stronger your back. If you don't have a strong stomach, then nothing is helping it support up in front to hold yourself up. If you develop that, everything should improve. Hope that helps!!!

Answer 3

Sounds like you also need to strengthen your abs, particularly lower. Core work is particularly important.

Turn out will come with more practice. You have to strengthen your rotator muscles in your hips. Until you reach that point, don't try to force it because it will put the strain on your knees instead of turning from hip.

Answer 4

Plies are a good exercise -- make sure you turn out at the hip, not at the knees. Practice your plies in all five positions. Best of luck to you.