Sport
Dance is a sport as much as an art: class, rehearsals and performances add up to long weeks of jumps, turns and extreme ranges of movement, much of it on the balls of the feet. Injuries are common in every style, mostly from overuse, and the feet, ankles, hips and lower back take most of them; street styles add the knees and, in breaking, the wrists, shoulders and neck. Strength and jump training make dancers stronger and more powerful without making them bulky, and in the one randomised trial in professional ballet, the dancers who kept up a short strength programme were injured much less often, though only about half managed to.
This guide covers what each style asks of your body, the common injuries and what helps prevent them, strength and jump training, eating enough and why missed periods matter, hypermobility, young dancers and pointe work, breaking, and when to see a GP. It includes a strength workout built on the ballet trial and a dance warm-up, with a 3D demo of every move. We're not connected with any dance school, company or awarding body.
Across 16 studies of recreational, student and professional dancers, there were fewer than 5 injuries per 1,000 hours of dancing, yet over a school year 76% of 266 full-time ballet students and 81% of 130 contemporary dance students were injured. Most injuries build up gradually, and the foot and ankle lead in every style.
Dancers who did three short strength sessions a week on their own, for at least 4 weeks in a row, were injured much less often than dancers who didn't. Only 11 of the 20 managed that, and the analysis left the others out, so the true benefit is probably smaller.
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Across 36 studies of dancers over 16, strength and conditioning improved strength, power and flexibility, and 12 weeks of thigh strength training made professional ballerinas stronger without changing their thigh size or body weight.
In pooled studies, about 12% of dancers had an eating disorder, about 3 times the rate in people who don't dance. A dance medicine consensus treats missed or irregular periods as a key sign of not eating enough for your training, which weakens bone, and in professional ballerinas stress fractures went with longer spells without periods.
A commonly cited guide ties pointe work to years of training and readiness rather than a birthday, and experts rate a teacher's assessment above any test. Your teacher decides, based on strength and control as well as years of training.
Very flexible joints are common in dancers and, without symptoms, weren't linked with more hip problems in professional ballet dancers. With pain, repeated sprains or joints that slip, strength and control come first.
The main loads, by style:
The Compendium of Physical Activities, from published measurements, gives ballet, modern or jazz class 5.0 metabolic equivalents (METs), performance 6.8, contemporary dancing in general 3.8, vigorous folk dancing including Irish step dancing 9.8 and DanceSport competition 13.0. Dancers' aerobic fitness (VO2 max) ranged from 37 to 57 mL/kg/min across studies, and class asks less of the heart and lungs than performance, so reviewers suggest extra fitness training.
In a professional contemporary company, weekly training load was higher than in many sports, and the dance energy consensus notes that dancers' activity can exceed 30 hours a week. The UK's National Health Service (NHS) counts dancing as moderate activity.
The sites the studies point to:
In pre-professional dancers, a previous injury and poor coping skills went with more injuries. Overload and longer hours, forcing turnout beyond your hips' range (compensated turnout) and lower energy availability went with injuries in other studies. These are associations, not proven causes.
Calf and foot strength for relevé and landings, hip strength and control in turnout and in parallel, single-leg landings, hamstring strength at long lengths, trunk control when arching and twisting, upper-body strength for partnering and floor work, and aerobic fitness for long rehearsals and performances.
Each study counted injuries its own way (any complaint, an injury needing medical attention, or one that stopped dancing), so the figures in different lines aren't comparable.
The numbers, by group:
In two professional ballet companies over 3 seasons, women had 1.20 foot and ankle injuries per dancer per season that needed medical attention, and men 0.83. Ankle impingement (pinching inside the joint) and inflamed joint linings were the commonest problems, pointe work and jumps were the commonest causes in women, and ankle sprains, mostly from jumps, were the commonest foot and ankle injury that stopped dancers dancing. Our sprained ankle, Achilles tendinopathy and flexor hallucis longus guides cover these, and our posterior ankle impingement guide covers pinching at the back of the ankle on pointe.
Our anterior ankle impingement guide covers the pinch at the front of the ankle in plié. Two other foot problems seen in dancers have their own guides too: cuboid syndrome on the outer midfoot, described mostly in ballet dancers and athletes, though the evidence is thin, and a plantar plate tear under the second toe, a joint that time on demi-pointe loads heavily.
In 54 professional ballerinas, 17 had had 27 stress fractures between them: 63% in the long bones of the foot, 22% in the shin and 7% in the spine. They went with dancing more than 5 hours a day and with longer spells without periods, both associations. Reviews link low energy availability, low bone density and heavy loads with them. Our stress fracture and sesamoiditis guides cover treatment.
Hip and groin injuries made up 17.2% of dancers' injuries across 13 studies, more in professionals than students. Painful snapping, labral tears and hip impingement are the common problems, and our splits guide explains why even professional dancers' hips reach a bony limit at the end of a split. Our snapping hip, hip labral tear and hip impingement guides cover them.
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Low back pain is very common: across 50 studies, a median of 73% of dancers had it in a year, and the lower back accounted for about 11% of injuries that cost dance time. In young dancers, a stress fracture in the back of a vertebra (spondylolysis) was the commonest bone injury among dancers seen at a children's sports medicine clinic. Back pain that lasts, or is worse arching back, needs checking: see the warning signs below and our spondylolisthesis guide.
Knees lead in hip hop and youth street dance: 36% of hip hop dancers' injuries at a London dance clinic (men mostly tore a meniscus, women mostly had kneecap pain) and 47% of injuries in youth street dancers. Dancers tear an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) far less often than team-sport players: 0.009 per 1,000 exposures in 298 elite dancers over 5 years, almost all landing on one leg. Our runner's knee, meniscus tear and ACL injury guides cover these.
Slow, forced stretching can strain the hamstring tendon high near the sitting bone: 15 professional dancers injured this way took a median of 50 weeks to get back to their previous level. Our hamstring strain and high hamstring tendinopathy guides cover recovery.
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In 42 break-dancers, 95% had been injured in more than one place: wrists 69%, fingers 62%, knees 62%, shoulders 52%, lower back 50% and neck 38%. 31% had broken or dislocated something, and only 19% had been taught under supervision. Case reports describe spins, freezes and landings injuring the wrists, head, neck and back. In 146 street dancers, breakers had the highest injury rates, mostly in the arms.
Dancers get concussed too. In a case series of 11 dancers aged 12 to 20, causes included stunts and flips, being dropped in partnering, slips and falls, blows, and repeated head whipping, and symptoms lasted from under 3 weeks to over 2 years. See the warning signs below.
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There's one randomised trial of an injury prevention programme in professional dance, and none in street or Irish dance. Most other studies compared injuries before and after a programme, without a control group.
In one US professional ballet company, 39 of 52 dancers took part (13 said they had no time): 20 were randomised to the programme and 19 to their usual practice, for a season.
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It's one small trial in one company, but it's the only randomised injury trial in professional dance, it needs little kit, and its direction fits the wider evidence: across 25 trials in many sports, strength training cut injuries to about a third. Our strength workout for dancers uses its exercises and doses.
In the ballet trial, done unsupervised in the dancers' own time, 9 of the 20 didn't manage 4 weeks in a row. In a trial of 11+ Dance, a warm-up adapted from the 11+ warm-up used in football and done 5 times a week before class, only 38% of sessions were done, and dancers cited tiredness and fear of building bulky muscle. Shorter sessions built into the school or company day are our suggestion.
In a professional ballet company, individual conditioning programmes built from each dancer's injury history and a movement screen went with injury rates falling by about half over 3 years: from 4.76 to 2.22 per 1,000 hours in men, and from 4.14 to 1.81 in women. In a modern dance company, early treatment and case management went with the yearly rate of new injury compensation cases falling from a high of 81% to a low of 17%. Neither study had a comparison group.
In 44 pre-professional dancers randomised to 4 months of conditioning (endurance, strength and movement control) or health education, injury rates didn't differ, but the conditioning group had fewer low back injuries and less pain.
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In 35 ballet dancers, 12 weeks of training in relaxation, imagery and self-talk, then practice 3 times a week, cut the time spent injured compared with a control group. Poor coping skills went with more injuries in pre-professional dancers.
Stress fractures went with dancing more than 5 hours a day, injury risk rose through 3 years of full-time ballet training, and professional dancers blamed too much workload and tiredness for their injuries. Our suggestions: at least one full rest day a week, lighter weeks after performance seasons, hours added gradually at the start of a term or production, and pain that changes how you dance treated as a reason to be assessed.
Stretching didn't prevent sports injuries in trials, and no dance warm-up has been tested on injuries: the 11+ Dance trials measured how often it was done and fitness, not injuries. No screening test has been shown to predict dance injuries well, and reviews of dance prevention call the evidence limited.
Across 36 studies of dancers over 16, strength and conditioning programmes improved lower-body strength, upper-body strength, lower-body power and flexibility, with large effects in mostly small studies. The authors recommend extra sessions to improve fitness and, in the end, dance performance.
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In 22 professional ballerinas, 12 weeks of thigh strength training raised knee strength and stopped it dropping after a tiring routine, without changing body weight or thigh size. The weakest dancers gained most.
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In 81 professional ballet dancers, two extra 1-hour sessions a week of jump training, or jump and strength training, for 9 weeks raised jump height, sautés included. In 23 ballet dancers, 5 months of kettlebell training in place of the jump and balance part of class raised jump height by 39% to 53% and improved balance. The 11+ Dance warm-up did no better than usual training.
Class asks less of the heart and lungs than performance. In 24 contemporary dancers, 6 weeks of twice-weekly circuit and vibration training raised lower-body power and aerobic fitness by 11% each, and judges rated their dancing 12% better, while the control group declined.
In 39 dance students, strength training at the end of the hip's range plus gentle stretching raised how high they could lift the leg themselves more than moderate-to-hard stretching did. Our splits guide explains the method.
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The ballet trial used three short sessions a week and the jump trial two 1-hour sessions. Our suggestion: two strength sessions a week on lighter dance days or after class, jumps while you're fresh, sets stopped with a couple of reps in reserve, no heavy leg work or big jump sessions in the 48 hours before a performance or exam, lighter weeks in production periods, and aerobic intervals once or twice a week if your style needs stamina.
Young dancers can strength train too: the NHS says young people can use weights if a qualified adult trains them to use weights correctly and supervises them.
When you eat too little for the dancing and training you do, your body saves energy by turning down other jobs. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) calls this REDs (relative energy deficiency in sport, also written RED-S): it can stop periods and harm bone, health and performance, in men and in women. A 2024 consensus of dance medicine experts applied it to dance.
In 247 trained dancers answering a survey, 57% of women and 29% of men reported signs of low energy availability. Across 11 studies of female dancers, disordered eating or low energy availability appeared in 28% to 74%, period problems in 40% to 66% and low bone density in 15% to 40%. These are screening results, not diagnoses.
Missing or irregular periods are a key sign in female dancers; poor sleep and low sex drive can add to the picture in men. Eating more and changing the dance workload come first, with a dietitian's assessment and strength training for bone, and the contraceptive pill shouldn't be used to manage it. After a bone stress injury, blood tests should include bone health, and after two (or one with other warning signs), a bone density scan. Every school and company should have an action plan, education and a referral pathway.
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Across 33 studies, 12% of dancers had an eating disorder, and 16.4% of ballet dancers: about 3 times the rate in people who don't dance. The NHS says you may be more likely to get one if you're really worried about being slim, particularly if you also feel pressure from your job, for example ballet dancers, models or athletes, or if you've been criticised for your eating habits, body shape or weight.
In the dance consensus's focus groups, dancers described restrictive eating being rewarded with praise, roles and jobs. An IOC expert group says body composition should be measured only by trained practitioners and treated as confidential medical information, and found no body composition cut-off for performance. A review of dancers' diets recommends sports dietitians. Our suggestion: no weighing or comments about bodies in class, and food advice from a dietitian, not a teacher.
If you have, or think you might have, an eating disorder, see a GP as soon as you can, or talk in confidence to the eating disorder charity Beat: 0808 801 0677 (England), 0808 801 0432 (Scotland), 0808 801 0433 (Wales) or 0808 801 0434 (Northern Ireland), 3pm to 8pm, Monday to Friday. Missed periods, bone pain or repeated stress fractures also mean seeing a GP: our women's guide explains why.
A Beighton score of 5 or more out of 9, a common measure of hypermobility, was found in 72% of 85 elite Australian dancers, and up to 44% of dance students had hypermobility in other studies. In professional ballet dancers followed for 5 years, hypermobility wasn't linked with more hip pain, hip injury or retiring.
The NHS says the main treatment for joint hypermobility syndrome is improving muscle strength and fitness so your joints are better protected, and not to overextend your joints just because you can. One Dance UK's guide for teachers says hypermobile dancers, including those with symptoms, can strengthen their muscles and control their range of movement.
Build strength in the middle of your range, avoid hanging in end-range positions such as locked knees, stretch only what's genuinely tight, and see a GP or physiotherapist with pain, repeated sprains or joints that slip. Our hypermobility guide and workout cover this.
A commonly cited guide, from a 2009 dance medicine paper (we read its abstract), suggests starting pointe work in about the fourth year of ballet training for students who started at 8 or older and take class at least twice a week, if they have good trunk and pelvic control, leg alignment, and foot and ankle strength and range. It discourages pointe for students who take class once a week, and rules it out with too little ankle range or poor alignment.
Readiness tests such as the topple, airplane, sauté and relevé tests predicted readiness better than age in 8 small studies, and in a 2026 expert panel all agreed that a teacher's assessment is more reliable than a test battery. Your teacher decides, based on strength and control as well as years of training.
Range of movement changes through the growth spurt, which may relate to injury in young dancers and athletes. An expert consensus on young athletes says children who train more hours a week than their age in years, or more than 16 hours of intense training, should be watched closely for overuse injury and burnout.
A stress fracture in the back of a vertebra (spondylolysis) was the commonest bone injury among dancers seen at a children's sports medicine clinic. Back pain that lasts more than a couple of weeks, is worse when arching back or stops a young dancer dancing should be checked by a GP or sports physiotherapist.
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The NHS says young people can use weights if a qualified adult trains them to use weights correctly and supervises them. Bodyweight exercises and light loads with a teacher or coach watching are a sensible start (our suggestion).
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Most breaking injuries come from spins, freezes and landings on the hands, head and back, and few injured breakers had been taught under supervision. Learn power moves step by step with a qualified teacher, on a suitable floor, and build up spins and freezes gradually (our suggestion).
Knee injuries led in hip hop and youth street dancers. Landing practice and leg strength, as in our knee control warm-up and the strength workout below, are borrowed from sports where they cut knee injuries (our reading).
Built on the site's warm-up guide and a study in which short static and moving stretches after easy cardio gave dancers their best jump height and balance (editorial). No dance warm-up has been tested on injuries.
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The movement on the figure: Front-to-back leg swings
The strength workout's main exercises, from the professional ballet trial, and the warm-up's key moves. Each has a 3D demo.
3D demoSingle-leg calf raise from a stepIntermediate · A step + A wall
3D demoBand ankle eversionBeginner · A band + A bench or box
3D demoClamshellBeginner · No equipment
3D demoLateral band walk, band at the feetIntermediate · A band
3D demoSide plankIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoDead bugBeginner · No equipment
3D demoNordic curlAdvanced · An anchor point
3D demoGlute bridgeBeginner · No equipment
3D demoHeel-elevated deep squat (slant board squat)Intermediate · A step
3D demoPatrick step-downIntermediate · A step
3D demoSingle-leg standBeginner · A wall
3D demoSnapdown to athletic landingBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSingle-leg hop and stickIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoFront-to-back leg swingsBeginner · A wallThe first two are new: a strength workout built on the professional ballet trial, and a dance warm-up. The others add foot and ankle strength, hypermobility control, jump training, balance, a knee-protecting warm-up tested in football, splits, hips, bone loading, Pilates and a cool-down.
A strength session for dancers, built on the professional ballet trial: calf and foot work, hip and trunk strength, Nordic lowers, step-downs and landings.
55 minIntermediate21 movesA wall, A stepA dance warm-up for class, rehearsal or performance: easy cardio, ankle circles and rises, leg swings, spine moves, turnout, balance and small jumps.
15 minBeginner16 movesA wall, A dumbbellA 15-minute barefoot routine for stronger toes, arches, calves and ankles, finishing with balance. You need only a towel, a wall and a resistance band.
15 minBeginner11 movesA wall, Other / check instructionsA 25-minute low-load routine for hypermobile joints: hip, trunk and shoulder control plus balance, done slowly in the middle of your range.
25 minBeginner15 movesA bench or box, A wallAn advanced jump training session: pogo hops, box jumps, split squat jumps, broad jumps and depth jumps.
30 minAdvanced8 movesA bench or box, A stepBalance practice in 10 minutes: tandem stance, single-leg stands, marches, heel walks, tree pose and floor transfers.
10 minBeginner7 movesA wall, A bench or boxA 20-minute warm-up that trains your knees to track over your toes: side-hip strength, squats and lunges with alignment practice, balance and quiet landings.
20 minBeginner10 movesA wall, A bandFront-split and middle-split days: hip flexor, hamstring and inner-thigh stretches, then strength in the stretched position. Alternate them 3 to 4 times a week.
25 minIntermediate16 movesA wall, An anchor pointA 15-minute hip opener: 90/90 switches, windshield wipers, CARs, Cossack squats, frog and pigeon.
15 minIntermediate8 movesA wallImpact, strength and balance for stronger bones, following UK osteoporosis consensus advice, with options for every level.
40 minBeginner14 movesA kettlebell, Other / check instructionsA 20-minute mat Pilates workout for complete beginners. It covers breathing, spine position and the foundation moves, each with an easier option.
20 minBeginner13 movesNo equipmentA 10-minute cool-down for after a run, a class or a gym session: a few minutes of easy movement, stretches for the muscles you used, then slow breathing.
10 minBeginner9 movesCardio machine, A wallTwo strength sessions a week fit around classes and rehearsals. Keep heavy leg days away from performances.
Two full-body strength sessions a week: the minimum that meets health guidelines, with every set, rep and rest, and an 8-week progression.
2 training days45 minBeginner3 days a weekA 12-week beginner barbell program: squat every session, alternate bench and row with press and deadlift, and add weight each time until it stalls.
3 training days50 minBeginner3 days a weekA weekly workout plan for women: three strength days, cardio and pelvic floor training, with the evidence on periods, pregnancy and menopause.
3 training days45 minBeginner3 days a weekA free 4-week, 3-day Pilates plan for complete beginners. Two mat days and one wall day, with clear rules for when to move each exercise to its harder version.
3 training days25 minBeginnerThe NHS advises speaking to your GP first if you haven't exercised for some time, or if you have medical conditions or concerns. The Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone (PAR-Q+) asks about a heart condition or high blood pressure, chest pain, dizziness or fainting, other long-term conditions and their medicines, and bone or joint problems. Start with a beginners' class.
They can be a sign of not eating enough for your training, which harms bone. See a GP: our women's guide explains the checks.
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The NHS lists exercising too much among the signs. Talk to your GP or treatment team before adding training (our suggestion); Beat's helpline in England is 0808 801 0677.
See a GP or physiotherapist, and build strength and control before end-range work. Our hypermobility guide explains.
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Back pain that lasts more than a couple of weeks, is worse arching back or stops them dancing can be a stress fracture in the spine: see a GP or sports physiotherapist.
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Ask your teacher, who decides on readiness. A dance physiotherapist's screen helps if one is available.
A previous injury is the most consistent risk factor for the next one. Finish your rehabilitation, as our pain guides set out, before going back to full classes.
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Learn with a qualified teacher, on a suitable floor, and build up spins, freezes and flips gradually (our suggestion).
The NHS advises against sports and activities with a risk of falling or bumping your tummy. Talk to your midwife: dancing with changes, without jumps, lifts or partner work that could cause a fall, may suit (our suggestion).
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Follow the UK's grassroots concussion guidelines and our concussion guide before dancing again.
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Pain in one spot of a bone that builds with each jump, then aches at rest or at night, can be a stress fracture: stop jumping and get it checked, even if an early X-ray looks normal. Our stress fracture guide explains.
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Call 999 or go to A&E (accident and emergency) if you heard a crack when you were injured, the injured part has changed shape or points at an odd angle, it's numb or tingling, or the skin has turned blue or grey or is cold to touch. Get help from NHS 111 if it's very painful, very swollen or bruised, or you can't put weight on it or walk more than a few steps.
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Sudden pain or a pop high at the back of the thigh during a stretch needs checking the same day: stretching strains of the hamstring tendon can feel mild but take months to recover.
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Call 999 or go to A&E if you have back pain with pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs, a loss of feeling around your genitals or bottom, or changes in your bladder or bowels.
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See a GP if you've missed 3 periods in a row, or your periods haven't started by 15, as our women's guide advises.
The NHS lists spending a lot of time worrying about your weight and body shape, avoiding socialising when food might be involved, eating very little, making yourself sick or taking laxatives, exercising too much, very strict habits around food, and changes in mood. See a GP as soon as you can, or call Beat on 0808 801 0677.
The NHS says to call 999 if someone has hit their head and:
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Stop dancing: if in doubt, sit them out. Under the UK's grassroots concussion guidelines, there's no training or performing for at least 24 hours, an assessment within 24 hours by a healthcare professional or NHS 111, and no return to competition before day 21. Contact NHS 111 straight away if they're being sick or feel dizzy. Our concussion guide covers the stages.
Call 999 if someone faints while exercising, can't be woken within a minute, or has chest pain or a pounding, fluttering or irregular heartbeat. Call 999 for sudden chest pain that doesn't go away, pain that spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or chest pain with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness.
Thigh strength training made professional ballerinas stronger without changing their thigh size or body weight, and strength and conditioning improved dancers' strength, power and flexibility across 36 studies. Fear of bulk is still a reason dancers give for skipping conditioning.
Class asks less of the heart and lungs than performance, and extra conditioning improved fitness and judged artistry in a trial.
It's a key sign of not eating enough for your training, which harms bone. See a GP after 3 missed periods in a row.
Stretching didn't prevent sports injuries in trials, and forced stretching can cause hamstring strains that take months to heal. Short holds inside a moving warm-up are fine if your work needs range.
It's common in dancers and wasn't linked with hip problems or retiring in professional dancers, but with pain, sprains or slipping joints it needs strength and control first.
A commonly cited guide ties pointe to readiness and years of training, not age, readiness tests beat age alone, and experts rate a teacher's assessment above any test. Your teacher decides.
Injured dancers had more compensated turnout, forced beyond the hips' range, than uninjured dancers. Turn out from the hips, within your range.
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The NHS names pressure to be slim, including for ballet dancers, and criticism of body shape among the things that make eating disorders more likely, and an IOC expert group found no body composition cut-off for performance.
Overuse injuries of the foot and ankle lead in every style, such as ankle impingement (our posterior and anterior ankle impingement guides cover the back and the front of the ankle), tendon problems and stress fractures, followed by the hips, knees and lower back. In ballet companies, ankle sprains were the commonest foot and ankle injury that stopped dancers dancing. Street dancers hurt their knees more, and breakers their wrists, hands and shoulders.
Calf raises and foot work for relevé, hip and trunk exercises for turnout and balance, hamstring work such as Nordic lowers, step-downs and landings. That's the mix in the one professional ballet trial, and strength and conditioning improved dancers' strength and power across 36 studies.
Not in the studies: professional ballerinas who did 12 weeks of thigh strength training got stronger without bigger thighs or a change in body weight. Building size takes a lot of extra food and training aimed at it.
Add jump training and strength work. Two extra hours a week of jump training, or jump and strength training, for 9 weeks raised professional ballet dancers' jump height, sautés included, and kettlebell training in place of part of class did the same in another study.
Not at a set age. A commonly cited guide ties it to training and readiness: usually around the fourth year of ballet for students who started at 8 or later and take class at least twice a week, with good trunk control, alignment, and foot and ankle strength and range. Your teacher decides, based on strength and control as well as years of training.
No. Periods that stop or become irregular can be a sign of not eating enough for your training, which weakens bone. See a GP if you've missed 3 periods in a row or your periods haven't started by 15.
More common than in people who don't dance: about 12% in pooled studies, and higher in ballet. If you're worried about your eating, see a GP or talk in confidence to the charity Beat on 0808 801 0677.
Yes: hypermobility is very common in dancers and isn't a problem on its own. If you have pain, repeated sprains or joints that slip, build strength and control in the middle of your range before working at the extremes, and see our hypermobility guide.
Briefly, if your class needs big ranges: short holds of 15 to 30 seconds inside a moving warm-up didn't harm performance and went with dancers' best jumps and balance in one study. Stretching doesn't prevent injuries, and you should never force a stretch.
Often it's a sore muscle, but in a teenager, back pain that lasts more than a couple of weeks and is worse when arching back can be a stress fracture in the spine. See a GP or sports physiotherapist.
Exercise education for people who play sport, not a personal prescription or a diagnosis, and clinical review of these pages is pending. Check with a GP or physiotherapist before hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or an injury that isn't settling, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
