Please welcome Cesar Barragan to the blog! We connected on Instagram after I saw a post of his talking about his work with dancers aged 30 to 50 years old (yes, 30 to 50!). After chatting, I knew you would be interesting in learning more. So without further ado…

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There’s a moment I’ll never forget.

I was standing at the edge of a social dance floor, watching everyone move so effortlessly. The music hit…a song I used to love…and my body didn’t respond the way it used to. My steps felt stiff, hips resisted, and the confidence dipped.

It wasn’t my technique or the music. It was me feeling disconnected from the movement, the joy, and from myself.

If you’ve ever walked off a dance floor thinking:

“Why doesn’t my body move like it used to?”

“Why am I so tired after just a few songs?”

“Why am I working so hard and still not seeing results?”

I’ve been there.

I Didn’t Grow Up Athletic. I Grew Up Overweight.

I was the kid who hid behind humor. Always aware of how I looked… and how people looked at me. In college, a professor called me “heavyset” in front of the whole class. I laughed it off. But inside, it stung. That comment lodged itself somewhere deep, and it followed me.

So I did what most people do when they’re desperate to feel better in their body: I swung to the extreme. Long runs, crash diets and endless cardio. And yeah—I lost weight.

But I lost a lot more, too. I lost confidence, energy, and my sense of connection to movement. I looked “fitter” on paper, but I was constantly anxious, exhausted, and silently ashamed. I didn’t feel powerful. I felt punished.

Then Dance Found Me.

It was 2018. I had just gone through a breakup, and on a whim, I signed up for a salsa class. One class turned into five. Then ten. Then I was going out to socials, meeting people, connecting through music and something inside me clicked. Dance wasn’t just movement, it was expression. It gave me presence, rhythm, something to feel again.

But even then… I still felt like I was holding back. I looked confident on the outside. But internally? I was still dragging. Still tired. Still chasing some version of “fit” that didn’t feel sustainable.

That’s when I realized: You can’t move with confidence if your body’s running on fumes. You can’t show up magnetic if your system is stressed out, underfed, and overstretched.

And unfortunately, that’s the case for a lot of dancers, especially the ones in our 30s, 40s, and 50s.

Dancers Are Athletes—But Most of Us Are Under-Recovered

We perform, push, and train. But no one teaches us how to recover.

I was dancing 3–4 nights a week, lifting weights, trying to eat “clean,” and still felt like my body was fighting me. After some blood work, I learned I was dealing with mild thyroid dysfunction. My testosterone wasn’t optimal for my age. I had brain fog. Sluggish mornings. Low libido. Mood dips. And I was still trying to “push through” like nothing was wrong.

That’s when I started working with my coach.

And no, he didn’t put me on some insane supplement stack. He taught me to simplify, and support my system. To stop punishing my body and start fueling it.

We focused on: Quality food, Smart training, Alcohol boundaries, Sleep routines, Real recovery.

And the shift? It was massive. I started thinking more clearly, and waking up with energy. Recovering faster, and feeling solid in my movement—on and off the floor.

That’s when everything started to align.

Now, I Don’t Just Dance—

I own the space and show up present. Powerful and Energized. Not because I do more cardio or am on some rigid diet. But because I train and fuel like a dancer—not a fitness influencer, not a model. A mover.

The kind of person who wants to feel good—not just look good.

A Resource That Helped Me Feel Like Myself Again

Somewhere in that process, I started jotting down what was working. What helped me feel clear, and gave me energy. It actually made a difference after years of spinning in circles.

Eventually, it became a little guide I now share with other dancers.

It’s called: The Dancer’s Guide to Hitting Your Nutrition. It’s totally free, and if you’re curious, I’d be happy to share it with you.

In it, I walk through some of the small, but powerful, changes that helped me to feel more fueled and focused before and after dancing, to cut the bloat and fog that used to linger for days, and to support recovery without overthinking every meal.

If you’d like it, you can reach me on Instagram: @liftyourself82 and just send a message with the word “DANCERS.” I’ll send it over. Just something that’s helped me—and might help you too.

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Cesar is a strength and nutrition coach for Latin-style dancers and founder of the Dance-Ready Confidence Blueprint™. He helps dancers build strong, energized, confident bodies—without giving up their love of music, culture, or community.