Safe Stretching Tips for Dancers

Dancers love to stretch! There also seems to be quite a trend for “overstretching” if you watch the social media channels. But whilst stretching is an essential routine for most dancers, it is important for the health and longevity of your body, to do this safely.

All bodies are different and hence we are all made with different degrees of flexibility depending on things like the shape of our bones (particularly relevant to hip joint) the composition of our collagen structures eg. Ligament. So this means some people are born flexible and others need to work on it. The most important factor for each dancer independent of their flexibility, is always STRENGTHEN WHAT YOU STRETCH. Different types of stretching protocols are appropriate for different times, for example, dynamic stretching is more appropriate for a warm up routine, and static stretching is most appropriate for after class.

There are also techniques such as ballistic stretching, prolonged stretching (not for dancers) and PNF (Propricepitive neuromuscular facilitation) stretching. Below are some tips on how to carry out safe stretching when doing static stretches. These are the stretches you might do after class, or when you have completed any from of exercise, when your muscles are already warm and you are trying to get that little bit further into range.

STATIC STRETCHING:

Do
Stretch after class when muscles are warm 3- 4 times in each bought
Once a week to maintain muscle length
3-5 times per week for increasing muscle length
Warm up before class Strengthen what you stretch

Don’t
Hold a stretch for more than 30 sec
Perform static stretches immediately before dancing
Stretch into pain
“Overstretch” into ligaments and joints