Dancing - Leg Muscle?

Question:My question is: Why does dancing build muscle in different areas in the legs in different people? Say if you do ballet, why is it that some ballet dancers have muscular and bulky legs, while others have skinny and lean legs? Is that just bad technique? I know many dancers with all the muscle in their legs, developing in the right areas so they don't look bulky. Others though, build muscle in the "wrong" (for lack of a better word) areas, and therefore get some weird shaped legs. Will the same dance style build the same leg muscle tone in everyone? If not, why?I hope that kind of made sense.Thanks :)

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: My question is: Why does dancing build muscle in different areas in the legs in different people? Say if you do ballet, why is it that some ballet dancers have muscular and bulky legs, while others have skinny and lean legs? Is that just bad technique? I know many dancers with all the muscle in their legs, developing in the right areas so they don't look bulky. Others though, build muscle in the "wrong" (for lack of a better word) areas, and therefore get some weird shaped legs. Will the same dance style build the same leg muscle tone in everyone? If not, why?I hope that kind of made sense.Thanks :)

that absolutely made sense. I always wondered about this too, but what i think is that... i don't tink big calf muscles are really apassed down from your family thing. My parents are both very slim, and i use to be slim until i became active in sports such as bball and swimming and my calves became huge. Ballet dancers have very muscular calves because when you releve or do any of the other stuff you are working your calf muscle. For some this will help tone down their calf muscle, but for skinnier girls this will make it very cut, not sure about bulky tho. But if you are on teh heavier side and wanna get thin.. aside from keep doing ballet.. which will tone it.. you need to add in soem aerobics to burn some fat. However, on top of all of this, i've also heard that wrong technique can result in bigger thighs, but im not 100% sure of the reliability of this source. Hope this helps !

I've always wondered about this too. All I know is that ballet dancers, whether they are male or female, tend to have very large calves- their thighs and calves are literally the same width. I'm guessing that it's probably because ballet requires a lot of complicated footwork; females also dance en pointe.

I think you are born with big calf muscles. I have huge muscles but so does my mom, dad, and two sisters. My cousin always wanted them and took years of dancing and never achieved them.

it does build up leg muscle. specially if you dance the "corridas" its a mexican style of dance. its awsome ^_^ and the greatest thing about dancing is that you burn tons of calories without noticing, specially if you're at a party

it doesn't really have to do with technique. I've been doing ballet for like 6 years, and am quite advanced. I just started going on pointe. i'm 13. I have very large legs, no matter how hard i try to get smaller, they stay the same. It's just every one is different, and i danced with a girl who had toothpicks for legs. you can't really change it, it just depends on the size. if you did leg exercises for like 3 hours every day, it might make a little bit of a difference, but not a whole lot. I've tried.