Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Time to Lift Some Weights
I discovered the correct way to do dips and lifts at the L.A. Salsa Congress last weekend. I've been doing dips for years, so I was very surprised to realize that there is a lot more to a dip than I originally thought. A dip as an illusion in that it looks like the man is dropping the girl and picking her up all by himself. However, the reality of the move is that although the man starts the drop, the woman is the one who stops it by holding on to the man's waist and supporting her own weight during the duration of the dip. When it's time to get up, she doesn't just let the guy pull her up by himself. She is supposed to help, engaging her supporting leg and arm to lift herself back up.
The L.A. Workshop was the first time that I ever did a dip with this technique and although it was quite the workout, forcing me to use every muscle, it felt right. It felt better than any other dip I ever did because I felt safe and secure. I'm no stranger to being dropped and have been dropped on my head at least twice because of a flip or dip. I wonder now that if I knew this technique many years ago if I could have avoided those falls and bumps to the head, saving myself a lot of heartache, recovery time, and dead brain cells.
In another class at the congress, we did a lift to the shoulder. I was amazed at how quickly I came to trust a complete stranger to lift me up over his head, but as we slowly worked through the lift I discovered that with the right techique that a lift is about as risky as driving to work each morning. As long as you follow the rules and your partner does as well, there should be not accidents. It's only when you get in a hurry and speed through a lift that injuries and accidents occur.
In this workshop as well, the key to the move was in the girl using her core muscles to balance on the guys shoulder, using the abdominals to keep the legs lifted and keep the torso up. Once again all of my muscles were engaged, stretching, and lifting, trying to make my body as easy to balance as possible but it was a serious challenge for me. I kept on wanting to revert back to limp noodle mode which is not only ugly, but it's dangerous as well because it's so easy to get off balance when your weight is not centered and grounded on your partner's shoulder. I realized that my lean, flaccid muscles are not sufficent for salsa lifts and dips. I need not only a slender body but also a harder one that can hold it's own, that can do push-ups, chin-ups, and can open a jar of pickles without any assistance. As of today, I can not do any of the three, but just give me 90 days. I know that I can go from a push over to a force to be reckoned with.
The L.A. Workshop was the first time that I ever did a dip with this technique and although it was quite the workout, forcing me to use every muscle, it felt right. It felt better than any other dip I ever did because I felt safe and secure. I'm no stranger to being dropped and have been dropped on my head at least twice because of a flip or dip. I wonder now that if I knew this technique many years ago if I could have avoided those falls and bumps to the head, saving myself a lot of heartache, recovery time, and dead brain cells.
In another class at the congress, we did a lift to the shoulder. I was amazed at how quickly I came to trust a complete stranger to lift me up over his head, but as we slowly worked through the lift I discovered that with the right techique that a lift is about as risky as driving to work each morning. As long as you follow the rules and your partner does as well, there should be not accidents. It's only when you get in a hurry and speed through a lift that injuries and accidents occur.
In this workshop as well, the key to the move was in the girl using her core muscles to balance on the guys shoulder, using the abdominals to keep the legs lifted and keep the torso up. Once again all of my muscles were engaged, stretching, and lifting, trying to make my body as easy to balance as possible but it was a serious challenge for me. I kept on wanting to revert back to limp noodle mode which is not only ugly, but it's dangerous as well because it's so easy to get off balance when your weight is not centered and grounded on your partner's shoulder. I realized that my lean, flaccid muscles are not sufficent for salsa lifts and dips. I need not only a slender body but also a harder one that can hold it's own, that can do push-ups, chin-ups, and can open a jar of pickles without any assistance. As of today, I can not do any of the three, but just give me 90 days. I know that I can go from a push over to a force to be reckoned with.
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