Client Testimonial: Lindsey Lum, Professional Ballroom Dancer & Coach
For a national-level competitor and professional Latin ballroom dancer like Lindsey, movement is her livelihood. Travelling the globe to compete in multiple international competitions and teaching various forms of dance demands an incredible level of physical resilience.
However, for a few years, Lindsey was working with a common issue faced by most dancing professionals: chronic right hip pain. Like many elite performers across diverse sporting fields, Lindsey needed a solution that would manage her pain without completely taking her out of her professional environment.
The Clinical Lens: Understanding the Mechanics of the Sport
At ATHLETIC INC, our approach to rehabilitation starts by understanding the specific demands of the athlete's discipline. When Lindsey began working with our Physiotherapist and Strength & Conditioning Coach, YuHeng, the first step was analysing the mechanical toll of Latin ballroom dancing.
"In a lot of Latin dancers, there is a lot of loading through the hips and pelvis," YuHeng explains. "They constantly do weight shifts, hip rotations, and pelvic dissociations. In many dances, they tend to favour one side—females often favour the right, and males the left."
Over time, this repetitive, one-sided loading places crucial stabilising structures—specifically the gluteus medius—in a lengthened and weakened position, leading to chronic pain.
The Strategy: Building Capacity, Not Forcing Rest
For high-level athletes, taking months off to rest is rarely a viable option.
"The most important thing," Lindsey notes, "is that YuHeng has never told me to stop dancing. He understands that I can't stop and I need to keep moving."
Instead of sidelining Lindsey, YuHeng's strategy focused on building her body's capacity to handle the exact movement patterns her sport requires. He developed a concurrent training program that she could execute alongside her dance practices, focusing heavily on:
Bilateral Glute Strengthening: Targeting the gluteus medius on both sides to correct structural imbalances.
Leg Stability: Enhancing overall lower-body control to safely manage extreme weight shifts.
Active Pain Management: Using progressive exercises to alleviate hip pain while actively keeping her in competition shape.
A Framework for Every Athlete
Whether you are a competitive dancer exceeding your body's capacities or an athlete in a field sport navigating chronic joint pain, the principle remains the same for longevity: you must build your body’s capacity in the exact moves you need to perform.
By bridging the gap between clinical physiotherapy and targeted strength and conditioning, we ensure our athletes don't just recover—they sustain their performance longer.
Click here the button below to find out more about YuHeng’s specialisations and book a consultation with our Physiotherapist & S&C Team at ATHLETIC INC Singapore, let's build a program that keeps you moving.
YU HENG CHIN
Physiotherapist & Performance Coach
SPECIALISATIONS
Sports Physiotherapy
Musculoskeletal & Post-operative Rehabilitation
Chronic Pain & Injury Prevention
TPI Certified Golf Screening & Performance Optimisation
Youth Strength & Conditioning
Personal Training
Sports Massage, Dry Needling, Shockwave Therapy
