3 low-effort exercises for the muscles you dance with

Do glute bridges

Two hours of standing is enough to bring on back pain. In one study it happened to 40% of people who walked in with none, and the ones who got it were using their lower back before their glutes. Four weeks of exercise cut that pain in half. Bridges strengthen the glutes so your back does less of the work.

Do squats

Dancing is hours of work for your legs, and squats train the same muscles. Across 20 studies, people who did that kind of leg work once were less sore the second time and had more strength left the next day. Squat in the week before a big night and you will hurt less after it.

Lie on your side, lift your top leg

Dancing sideways puts you on one leg over and over. Your side glute and the TFL, the small band down the outside of your hip, keep you steady, and too much of that load on the TFL is linked to hip and knee trouble. Side-lying leg lifts beat eleven other exercises for glute work, so the glute takes more of it.

Glute bridges for your lower back. Squats for your thighs. Side-lying leg lifts for your hips.