At RNH we realise just how hard this time can be. We are a sport full of young dancers that all look forward to their big day on stage. Now however, the competition schedule is causing havoc on many of your training schedules and having that all important thing to work for at the end of the year. If this is affecting you then here is a new strategy to implement to get the most out of you!

Whether it’s the end of a major competition weekend or you’ve just finished a gruelling week of class, you’re probably feeling quite sore. Today's podcast explains what causes muscle soreness and how to prevent it so that you can continue dancing at a high level, all with less pain.

There are many layers to an Irish dancers performance much more than what there was 20 years ago. Today, we have transitioned into movements being completed as fast as possible, and with that change comes a great increase in the different types of training that is needed in order to achieve this result. Today’s podcast is about exploring each type of training, what they are, and when they should be done!

It's so important that all dancers working from home have a set structure in place to hold them accountable each week meaning you know what you are working on, and when, and that it is super specific to you. Listen now as we discuss how to create this plan so that you return to dancing better than ever before!

To recover well from your dancing sessions, it’s essential to get enough protein. In this podcast, you'll discover why that’s the case. Plus, you'll find out how you can ensure you hit your daily protein needs!

Many dancers struggle to get motivated at the beginning of each year and waste endless weeks easing into their training routines. Remember if you want to be a champion there is no time to waste and so here are my top 6 tips to kickstart your 2020 journey!

If you're a dancer that suffers from the side effects of the menstrual and it's effects on your performance then this episode is a great listen for you. Listen to find out why your performance might be thrown off during your cycle and hear Lauren's top tips for reducing your symptoms!

In today's podcast Robert teaches you how to establish if you have been repeating the same type of training for too long and if this is the reason why your progress has slowed. If so, you will also learn what you need to do to change up your approach and spark brand new levels of growth!

Understanding what the core is, how it works and how to get it as strong as possible is super important for all Irish dancers to learn. And so, if you are needing to improve your core strength in any way I highly recommend that you listen to today's episode that will give you the best insight as to it's importance for all competitive Irish dancers.

Measuring your heart rate is a fantastic tool to give you a clear indication of if you are training in the correct zone for your goals and for stage performance! In today’s podcast Robert goes into great detail on the benefits of heart rate tracking, what to look out for and how to target specific ranges to maximise your results!

Today we welcome 4 x World Champion and new RNH dancer Blanaid O'Neill. Blanaid is going to be demonstrating all of our Core exercises in the brand new core classes that will be starting on our on-demand platform and so today we bring her into the studio to find out more about her and listen to her inspiring journey so far!

If your heels are dropping it's because your hips are sinking. When the hips sink the knees sink and then the heels sink and so ultimately the problem comes from much further up the chain. If you have this issue then your upper body has a lot of catching up to do and so you really want to make sure you grab a pen and listen to today's podcast and get ready to make some changes!

Some competitions have a short amount of time between rounds whilst others will last for hours. This podcast will teach you how to plan for the different scenarios that you will face at different competitions and how to tackle your warm up and cool own routines around them!

This week's podcast is a collaboration of the top 5 questions Lauren has been recently asked and share the answers with you all. We hope you like this style of podcast and should you have any questions of your own you would like answered on the show please just send them to support@rnhacademy.com

For those of you that are struggling with fitness, you must have the tools to identify the exact type of fitness that you are struggling with so that you can improve this area as fast as you can. Not all types of fitness are the same, and once you are armed with the information in the podcast you will be able to find out exactly where your weaknesses lie, know where you compare to other top dancers, and how to improve these weaknesses as fast as possible. In today's podcast, Robert will explain just how much aerobic fitness is needed before moving onto the higher performance work and exactly how you can test for this so that you know where to direct your attention to most in your training sessions.

In this podcast, Robert goes into great detail on the theory of dancers starting a dance slower so avoid fatiguing at the end. Are we dancing marathons or sprints? and what type of training do we need to make sure that this doesn't happen? So many dancers class themselves as 'fit' but are still dropping off at the end of a dance. Why? and how do we fix this? Listen to this loaded podcast to find out how!

In this episode Robert discusses the key differences between developing a beginner dancer vs developing a dancer that is already good and wants to become great. How should a beginner dancer structure their weekly training to learn better technique? And how should a good dancer structure their training in order to become great? Listen now to find out why you need to change your mindset on training the higher up the ladder you get!

Amongst the endless years of daily sacrifices there will always be those 1 or 2 big moments that you have to miss out on in order to keep on track for your goals. For Lauren it was missing her Aunties wedding to go to a competition that she didn't want to be in, but later became a big part of her breakthrough to becoming a World Champion. What sacrifices are you having to make so far? What has been your biggest one to date? Share them with our community and help everyone realise there is no easy way to the top!

In this week's show Head of RNH Fitness Robert McAvoy comes on to discuss the main things that you need to change in your training if you want to see the best results fast. We also discuss why you need to avoid dancing back to back, and where the future of Irish Dancing is headed!

In this weeks episode, we get the team together to discuss highs and lows of competing, praise all Irish dance parents and go behind the scenes of some classic filming bloopers!