by David Colello

Created on: May 26, 2009

Few activities require as much overall fitness as the art of Capoeira. It is no simple task to prepare your body to meet its rigorous demands on your flexibility, strength, and balance. While there is no substitute for actually going to a Capoiera class and practicing the moves themselves, beginning such strenuous workouts without a basic level of fitness can be dangerous.

As a personal trainer, I have clients train using motions similar to that of their chosen sport or activity. This is known as the concept of specificity, which is a fancy way of defining a bit of common sense: you must train the same muscles that you will use in your sport. The art of Capoiera requires a broad range of muscles, but there are still two areas of particular importance that you should focus on to minimize the risk of injury.

Legs

To excel in Capoeira, one must develop power and grace that is rooted in the legs. A capoeirista drives their flips and spins up from their feet and relies on explosive but controlled leg muscles. Acquiring this type of skill involves doing standard leg strengthening exercises coupled with daily flexibility stretching. Some exercises that should be done daily to build powerful leg muscles include:

1) Squats: This classic exercise can be done multiple ways, but it essentially comes down to keeping your torso vertical as you bend your knees while standing in place. Variations might be done by standing with a large ball between your back and a wall while you perform your squats. Adding the ball allows you to dip lower down, and also forces you to work on your balance.

2) Lunges: This is a bit harder than squats because instead of standing still, a lunge involves stepping forward with one leg at a time and bringing the other knee down to the ground. This will work your side-to-side balance while really challenging your quadriceps. Lunges can be done stepping backwards, to the side, or can even be done in a walking manner. All types of lunges will hone your legs and prepare you for the kind of movements needed for Capoeira.

Building strong legs will do little without constant attention to flexibility. Before and after doing your leg exercises, work on stretching out all the muscles of your legs. Take your time, at least 10-15 minutes, doing slow stretches for your calves, hamstrings, quadriceps, adductors and abductors. During each stretch, go until you feel pain from tightness and then hold there for a few

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