Nutrition
Always drink enough, not only for your performance but mainly to stay healthy. And eat a balanced diet, so that your body doesn't run short of anything.
These are general tips for active dancers, not medical advice. If you think you have a deficiency, ask a doctor; a simple blood test can tell.
Drink
The human body consists of about 60% water, so it's clear that water plays an important role. When you sweat, your body loses a lot of water and minerals, and your water and mineral balance gets out of balance.
Drink before you are thirsty!
By the time you feel thirsty, your body is already signaling a lack. Without enough fluid your metabolism doesn't work efficiently anymore, and your performance drops: losing just 2% of your body weight in water already reduces it noticeably.
If you don't drink enough over a longer time, you can even get ill. What happens as the body loses more and more of its water:
| Water lost | What happens |
|---|---|
| 2% | Clearly reduced performance |
| 3% | Less saliva and urine |
| 5% | Rising body temperature, strain on the heart |
| 10% | Confusion, among other things |
| 20% | Death |
Because less urine is produced, waste products aren't flushed out anymore, which can lead to kidney and urinary stones.
Food
Wait at least about one hour after a big meal before you practice. And pay attention to a balanced diet!
Deficiencies happen when your diet isn't balanced enough, or when your body needs more of a mineral (because of the extreme strain of training) than you take in. These are the most common ones:
Lack of calcium
- Signs: uncontrollable muscle twitching, cramps.
- Consequences: problems with the skeleton and bone structure, with muscle contraction, with your capacity and with blood clotting. It can also disturb the hormone and enzyme balance.
- What helps: more milk and dairy products, vegetables, fruit and cereals.
Lack of magnesium
- Signs: cramps, also during sleep.
- Consequences: muscle weakness, trembling, disturbances of the enzyme balance and the body's energy cycle.
- What helps: whole grains, nuts, legumes, green vegetables and dairy products.
Lack of potassium
- Signs: muscle weakness (in extreme cases almost paralysis), apathy and sleepiness after heavy sweating.
- Consequences: disturbed enzyme activation, electrical function of the cells and pressure balance inside the cells.
- What helps: bananas, potatoes, vegetables, legumes and dried fruit.
Lack of iron
- Signs: exhaustion, weakness.
- Consequences: bad recovery, getting sick often.
- What helps: meat, legumes, whole grains and green leafy vegetables, ideally together with vitamin C (like a glass of orange juice) to help the body absorb the iron.