Excitement is building again with the announcement of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing contestants. As celebrities prepare to swap everyday life for sequins and the ballroom, they’ll also be putting their bodies through one of the most physically demanding experiences on television.
Last year’s series offered a reminder of those demands when Dani Dyer had to withdraw due to an injury. Research on professional dancers shows just how common injuries are, and suggests that recovering from one isn’t just a physical challenge. Fear of getting hurt again can make dancers less willing to fully commit to movements – something that could be even more pronounced in contestants who are new to dancing.
Those with a dance background have an obvious advantage. Their hips, knees and spine are already used to the forces involved in dancing, whereas newcomers have to adapt quickly to movements their bodies may never have performed before.
The hip is one of the body’s most stable joints, thanks to the way the bones fit together, along with the surrounding muscles and ligaments. The knee, by contrast, is one of the body’s most complex joints, making it particularly prone to injury.
A study of Dutch DanceSport competitors found that more than 80% of dancers had experienced an injury. The ankle, knee and lower leg were the most common sites, accounting for almost half of injuries in men and more than half in women. Head and neck injuries were reported more often by women, probably because they are more likely to be lifted and spun.
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Another study found that injury patterns differed according to age and sex, suggesting that training programmes should be tailored accordingly.
The feet are especially vulnerable because they have to absorb the impact of every landing, while also providing the power to push off into the next step. Each foot contains 28 bones, 33 joints and more than 100 ligaments, all controlled by dozens of muscles. Weakness in these muscles raises the risk of injury.
And these problems aren’t unique to ballroom dancing. Studies of modern, hip-hop and breakdancing, Irish dancing and ballet all report high injury rates, with the legs taking the greatest punishment.
Some injuries are so common that they’ve earned their own names. One is “dancer’s fracture”, a break in the fifth metatarsal on the outside of the foot. It usually happens when the foot twists awkwardly during a landing or spin, placing torsional forces on the bone. Bones cope well with compression, but are much less resistant to twisting forces, making this type of injury difficult to prevent through training alone.
Not all injuries happen suddenly. Repeating the same movements day after day can gradually overload muscles, tendons and joints. One study found that these overuse injuries are especially common in younger dancers who are training professionally, and that carrying more body weight further increases the risk.
Another well-known condition is dancer’s hip, or snapping hip syndrome, in which thickened hip tendons snap over nearby bone, sometimes with an audible click. Dancer’s toe is a similar overuse injury affecting the tendon that bends the big toe. Both conditions can be anything from a harmless annoyance to intensely painful.
Footwear also plays an important role, either contributing directly to injury or subtly altering movement in ways that put extra strain elsewhere.
The spine also comes under repeated stress. Over time, dancers can develop everything from muscle pain and spasms to stress fractures in the vertebrae and exaggerated curvature of the lower back, known as hyperlordosis.
The heart feels the strain too
Several Strictly contestants over the years have withdrawn because of heart-related problems. Dancing is an excellent cardiovascular workout, but partner dancing adds another layer of physical effort through lifting, supporting and moving another person around the floor. Together, these demands can push heart rate above 85% of a person’s estimated maximum.
A study from Australia found that professional dancers routinely reached heart rates of around 170 beats per minute during modern and Latin dance, comparable to a high-intensity interval training session. For celebrities learning to dance from scratch, it can be an even bigger physiological challenge.
So while you settle in to enjoy this year’s Strictly, it’s worth remembering that behind the glamour lies an extraordinary athletic performance. Every routine places huge demands on muscles, joints, bones and the cardiovascular system, all in pursuit of the glitter ball trophy.
Adam Taylor does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
