Turning on the television set these days and we an inundated with programs about dancing. We have celebrities sambaing across the stage on Dancing with the Stars or Fox's So You Think You Can Dance which gives everyday peoples off the street the chance to strut their stuff. It's almost enough to give a person with two left feet like myself a complex.

It's not because of the training or learning the steps. It's the training required to become a dancer. Even with the best sense of rhythm, the most careful technical training, and the most respected dance instructor, you're won't make it with out the right kind of muscle and strength training. You're going to need a combination of strength, balance, and flexibility to execute any of those movements with power and grace.

Only by working your muscles through set movements and ranges of motion, you can truly enhance your dance performance potential. As you strengthen your body's core, stretch to gain just the right amount of flexibility, and incorporate the power of the mind, you'll begin to unleash your full artistic and physical potential. Here is some information on how:

• Strength - Your strength conditioning is pretty easy to increase if you follow some common rules. The first is to use few repetitions with maximal resistance. In other words, while lifting weights increase the weight but even if you cannot get a lot of repetitions in. Remember when you do a particular strength building exercise; it will only work that primary muscle you are focusing on.

• Flexibility - A true dancer needs not only strength but also flexibility. You will need to be aware that as your strength increases, your flexibility diminishes and vice versa. It is very important to work both your strength and flexibility equally. Flexibility happens when the elasticity of your muscles is increased. Never attempt to stretch ligaments for parts of your body that do not have the ability to repair themselves when over stretched as most muscles can. There is a good chance of causing permanent loss of strength by doing this. A great way to achieve the maximum stretch of a muscle is by using reciprocal inhibition such as targeting a muscle, reversing the action of that muscle or using the opposite muscle, contract it against a resistance and then finally stretch it out.

• Endurance

• Muscular - A muscle's ability to do work over a period of time is referred to as its endurance. Even though it can be boring since it requires many repetitions and minimal resistance, it is extremely important and involves a lot of self-discipline. Getting the full workout of a muscle will produce a burning sensation. Try doing a few more repetitions after the burning sensation for maximum effect.

• Cardio respiratory - Your ability to maintain aerobic activity over a period of time is referred to as cardio respiratory endurance. That is where we get the term cardio exercise. This is the one area of a dancer's repertoire where you'll find a lot of classical dancers are missing since dance is generally anaerobic. You'll find that basic ballet and modern technique classes don't even train for cardio. The key is to ensure that your target heart rate is maintained for at least 20 minutes. Exercises like walking, bike riding, and swimming are all excellent activities to improve your cardio health.