Are ballroom competitions stressful? Yes.

Rohleder et al. (2007) examined dancers’ levels of cortisol, a hormone released in response to stress, on competition and non-competition days.

Salivary cortisol levels taken from over 40 German dancers 6 hours before competition were already higher than cortisol concentrations taken at the same time on non-competition days.

As you can see in the graph below, cortisol levels continue to climb and stay elevated throughout competitions. [Read more…]