There are over 15 muscles that are associated with the hip area, each working together to give the hip joint mobility. A good stretching regimen will cover your legs, arms, back, neck, core, ankles, and feet. Also, you will gain and develop your flexibility with the practice. This gained flexibility and strength is important during dance class, both for safety and performance quality. Flexibility is essential for all dancers; professionals understand that flexibility is one of the most important physical aspects to becoming a great dancer. Plus, your lymphatic system gets a boost when you engage in an energetic dance that helps to metabolize waste products and keep your immune system functioning properly. Flexibility is essential for all dancers; professionals understand that flexibility is one of the most important physical aspects to becoming a great dancer. In your hip flexors to relieve pain and … A little bit of extra practice goes a long way! For instance, it improves mobility, posture, muscle coordination, reduces the risk of injuries and muscle soreness. This post will review why improving hip mobility is important and how to offset hours of sitting with simple exercises that helps improve hip flexibility. We leave it to the end of the workout and then skip it if time is short. What dancers need to know about Flexibility training Whether you’re doing Hip-Hop, Contemporary, Ballet, or even synchronised swimming and gymnastics, you will need to call on your flexibility and core strength to deliver the full range of motions effectively and safely. Firstly, it is important to address the issue that all dancers are different and have different body types and they are not always the best at seeing their reflections in a true light. When you consider the benefits of good circulation due to stretching, you understand why you should stretch everyday. *Why is strength and conditioning important for my dancer? Run around the studio 10 times or jogging on the spot and star jumps are good if you are working in a confined space at home. The next time you feel tight, sore, or stressed about something, try stretching focusing on the specific area that feels tight. Whatever students’ motivations may be, dance instructors should be able to provide sound advice on how dancers can safely improve flexibility. In order to express themselves artistically, dancers stretch their joints to super-human lengths so they can please the eye as they fly across the stage in a panoply of amazing planes and angles. Overstretching also causes stiffness by tearing muscle fibers. Why is flexibility important for an athlete? A few dancers are naturally, super flexible or hyper mobile. I like to close my eyes and imagine that the muscle that is being stretched is lengthening and I breath deeply into the area to help manage any tension. Dear Valerie, Flexibility is important in contemporary dance, but if you are not very flexible, that doesn’t mean that you can’t dance. Majority of dancers need to stretch regularly to get the freedom of movement they desire to make their extensions appear effortless. The goal of Easy Flexibility’s Ballet Turnout Program is to stretch this tricky area and create more space within the joint for greater range of motion and enable the strength to keep improving over time. But the dark side to hyper-flexibility is increased potential for injury. With the increased blood supply that comes to the joints through stretching, the range of motion in the joints is increased, slowing down the degeneration of joints. Stretching increases the blood supply to your muscles and joints which means that the transportation of nutrients is increased and overall blood circulation is improved throughout the whole body. And drink some water; hydration is also key to optimal muscular performance. You’ve most likely heard that you should stretch before your dance classes, team practice or fitness exercises . Most dance styles will help you become more supple, improve coordination, musicality, posture and alignment. Flexibility in the arms. In addition to being able to touch your toes, flexibility results in increased strength and speed, and it helps with overall performance when it comes to anything physical or athletic. Watch this video and stay tuned for more information. Flex your calves to relieve pain caused by shin splints. Or with a friend for added resistance can make working on your flexibility feel like less of a chore if you have someone to enjoy it with. #flexibility #challenge #sharingiscaring #flexible #passion #motivation #goals #video #ZunairaAnaisa #staytuned #Splits15, A post shared by Zunaira Anaïsa (@zunaira.anaisa) on Aug 29, 2018 at 6:37am PDT, PLEASE FILL IN ALL INFORMATION BELOW TO SUBMIT VIDEO, Our website uses cookies. - If this stretch is still a little difficult for you then just keep practicing bridges, and re-asses in a couple of weeks. Never stretch to the point of pain, we need to make sure we are starting with light stretches and building them up slowly. Having a good range of motion aids in making a dancerâs work appear more seamless and it can also help increase a dancerâs turn out. Here are some of the lesser known reasons why you should make stretching a part of your daily routine. 3. Increased muscle tone, flexibility and ability all contribute towards the wide goal of staying fit and healthy as part of having a healthy, dancing lifestyle. It's not enough to be a master of one style—even when they specialize in one area, dancers are frequently asked to fuse multiple genres, or step out of their comfort zone for specific projects. It is important to remember that every BODY is different from joint structure, to muscle length, to flexibility. Better flexibility means a better range of motion, which prevents injuries and allows you to achieve the maximum results that you’re putting into your fitness routine with weight training and cardiovascular effort. Are you ready my people on Instagram??!! A varied stretching routine is required at all levels of dance, as flexibility cannot be maintained without regular elongation of the body’s key muscles. An important aspect of dance is that such cardio workouts help to clean and strengthen your system. A flexible joint requires less energy to move which means stretching creates more energy-efficient movements during your dance practice and on the dance floor. Stretch your feet to relieve pain from plantar fasciitis. The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. Stretching reduces the tension in your muscles which results in less stress throughout your whole body. But why? Yoga poses offer a variety of benefits for dancers, including improved flexibility. Flexibility is an area of fitness that is often ignored. ;) Why do some people want to become flexible? As the words imply, this type of training incorporates workouts that will make a dancer stronger and more flexible in and out of the dance studio. A good range of motion and flexibility aids in proper alignment of the bones as well as good posture. If you need a push to start stretching, just join the #SPLITS15 challenge by Zunaira Anaisa on Instagram. Why Flexibility Is Important . Even if you’re not a dancer, improving your flexibility can have a positive effect on your body, being limber and keeping a good range of motion in your muscles and joints is important for your health and overall well-being. Flexibility is important because it is basically any movement in the body. Tight muscles in the neck and shoulders is closely related to stress and tightness in the gluteus can be related to emotional burden. Stretching with cold muscles can put a strain on your muscles and cause harmful damage. Stretching prepares the body to exercise by loosening the muscles. Ballet definitely isn’t easy, and often pushes the body to its limits, therefore improving muscle strength and flexibility! Improve Your Flexibility Through Stretching. But good flexibility is more important than you might think. By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. But did you know that it can also help slow the degeneration of joints and helps you reduce and manage stress? Stretching everyday is the best way to get all of the benefits listed above. You get the most out of it! Stretching will help improve your overall well being. If you lack flexibility, over time, your body will start to suffer. For dancers to perform effectively and safely, it is important for them to receive as much training as they can get. Flexibilty helps alot in dance. They can throw their legs behind their heads and they donât necessarily need any more flexibility. Perform Yoga Poses. In your hip flexors to relieve pain and pressure on the spine. For years, I wondered why … However, when you are stressed, your muscles can tense up even leading to tension headaches. Conditioning students in functional strength and flexibility while teaching them the appropriate way to … On days that you are feeling especially stressed, try stretching all the muscles in your body, starting with your face muscles, until you get down to the muscles in your feet to feel the pent up stress leave your body. 7 reasons why flexibility and stretching are important for dancers, Las Muchachitas Sevy Hart Keloke Bachata Festival 2019 show, Salsability Dancers – Ran kan kan (Salsa). The way in which we approach flexibility now is very different to the way we used to think about flexibility, even 5 years ago. Because stretching increases your range of motion, it is important to get in the habit of stretching often in order to increase flexibility. Here Are My Top 3 Tips for Improving Your Flexibility Through Stretching : Stretches should be held for 60 seconds to give your muscles added elasticity and looseness. Recommended yoga postures for dancers, according to the Paso Dance Studios, include the Sun Salutation as part of a dynamic warm up and seated asanas for your cool-down. As dancers we need to take care of our bodies, making sure our muscles are warm before stretching is very important. Advanced bridge: This is a great stretch to further increase your flexibility if you're comfortable doing a bridge (see Image 5.) Dance of all genres can help to improve your flexibility. Join now by adding easy stretching to your daily routine and work up to more vigorous stretches as your body becomes more adapt to the routine. The hip girdle area is anatomically complex. * Dancers are athletes. Thirdly, ballet is essential in building a dancers strength and improving their flexibility. Stretching helps relieve pain all over the body. We have know for years that flexibility is not just about muscle tension, and that it is greatly impacted by other factors such as neural tension, fascial mobility and other factors like stress. And if you focus on flexibility from a young age, it can have fantastic results. Join in! Here are some tips on flexibility for dancers to share with your performers. Stretching is an easy, efficient way to improve the overall well being of your body. The more you stretch, the more tolerant your muscles become. Stretching helps loosen your muscles, which helps to prevent injury. In today's dance world, versatility is key. Relieves pain. Flexibility allows you to benefit most from the rest of your physical activities. As a young child I was very flexible because I was a gymnast and dancer. While most of us understand that we should stretch, we don’t always understand the reasoning behind it, which makes it harder to make time for stretching. Stretching can be a fun part of practice and should not be treated as a chore. It can also relieve muscle pain, soreness, and tenderness that accompanies exercise. Not only does flexibility elongate your lines and enrich the look of your dancing, tightness can actually be bad for your body. Try to force yourself to take some fuller, deeper breaths. Dance also increases your joint mobility and muscle flexibility. And having good posture encourages positive thinking, confidence and optimal functioning of the nervous system. Improve Flexibility – Stretching before and after dancing is very important to getting the most out of … Cross training is also a great way to aid in injury prevention. It even leads to a better overall “shape”. Just like football players and gymnasts, dancers deal with the risk of injury. Both gymnastics and dance require extreme stretching of muscles, tendons, and ligaments. No not galletas, gordita! Your email address will not be published. A busy dance season can lead to tighter muscles due to fatigue. Hip mobility: The Importance. There are many reasons why having a flexible body is essential to our health and well-being. Stretching in front of the TV can be a great distraction. If you have … Dance, and in particular ballet, is characterized by beautiful body shapes and lines, much of which are due to flexibility. Open up the joint, then bring your limbs closer to you. Several factors affect flexibility. And speak to your teachers if you have any concerns with your child’s flexibility, or if you’d like to ask for stretches tailored specifically for your child’s body and its development and progression. If stretching is neglected, stiffness and tightness can build up in the body leading to pain, injury and eventually arthritis. Stretching helps keeps your joints fluid and free and can help prevent joint diseases such as arthritis. Stretching is good for every body! It can be easy when in front of mirrors, to compare yourself to the dancer beside you or focus on … Even if I did, I’m wasting energy. Then I can move on to other fun things, like artistry and interpretation! Take some isolated circular movements for the hips, shoulders, knees and head to encourage blood flow through the muscles and the body before commencing any stretches. One of the most important types to focus on is strength and flexibility training. Having tight muscles can affect your frame of mind, but your frame of mind can also affect tightness in the body. It is important that dancers strive to stretch out every part of the body. Supplemental strength training improves dancing while preventing injury. A strong immune system helps you fight off infection and bacteria easily. Move through stretches in gentle waves. Please encourage your child/ren to continue stretching at home (especially over the holidays). Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *. They also work aggressively on the mobility of joints. Flexibility is an important component of physical fitness and has many positive effects on the body. Not only will motion better prepare your body for dancing than sitting in a static position would, it also opens up different angles within a stretch. Flexibility is not only helpful in dance class or on stage, it can also help us in our day to day lives. Yoga has a plethora of benefits for the body and the mind and flexibility is one of them. Helps with jumps, kicks, and turns. People with poor flexibility may often be prone to injuries involving the bones, muscles, joints and ligaments including pulled or strained muscles, fractured bones and torn ligaments. My back leg to turns out when I go into the front splits, how can I keep my hips square? Stretching helps relieve pain all over the body. These cookies are so that we can provide a better service. I hope you have found this blog helpful and informative. Increasing flexibility in the waist and upper body will go a long ways towards upgrading your punches, too. And body conditioning with a focus on strengthening of the muscles especially the core is important for these body types. When your bones are in good alignment, your muscles, joints, ligaments and vital organs can work as they are supposed to. Dance can greatly contribute towards weight-loss, particularly by following a rich and varied programme of a combination of dance styles to … If you stretch the muscles in your shoulders, lower back, and chest, your back will better aligned and your posture will be improved! Having a good range of motion aids in making a dancer’s work appear more seamless and it can also help increase a dancer’s turn out. Flexibility in a dancer is very important Salsa dancing does not require that you do your Chinese splits in the middle of a dance, but it does require some flexibility, especially when learning advanced movement techniques, including some of those … Regardless of whether or not you practice high kicks, increasing flexibility in the legs and hips will do much for cultivating smooth, easy, and nimble footwork. Every body is different, so work to your own capabilities, not the person’s next to you! You can also use movement to encourage blood flow, go for a walk. - Once you are up in a bridge shift your body so that your weight rests primarily over the arms, and gradually try to straighten you knees. Because I will be starting a flexibility challenge in 5 days. In this case, restorative therapies like weekly massages, sufficient sleep and intermittent breaks during the day can help. Downward dog and butterfly pose may well be good for flexibility, but if yoga doesn’t tempt you, why not try dancing instead. I was one of those dancers, however I have found over the course of my training and my career that the more flexible dancers are generally lacking in strength. Contemporary dance is a very heterogeneous art and you never know what will be the needs of the choreographies that you will perform. When you are healthy and happy, the places where you hold strain tends to be relaxed and supple, and you are calm, ready to face lifeâs daily challenges. It becomes more important as you get older to maintain or to improve your flexibility. Or sometimes more advanced students need a greater range of flexibility to nail complicated tricks. Flexibility. Create space in the joint first. At the end of the day, if I manage to regain flexibility in my lower back, I’ll have a much easier time dancing with the correct technique. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this. Yoga class can fast track improvement in flexibility and can be a new, different and exciting way for a dancer to work on lengthening their muscles. It is important not to force a stretch too vigorously or to âbounceâ in a stretch, this can be harmful to the body. Flexibility also reduces the risk of injuries and soreness. more information Accept. In the same study however, 82% of the dancers perceived flexibility and joint mobility to be “very important” and 51% “regularly” engaged in it, while 30% “vigorously” engaged in it (McLeod, 2015, p. 65). Since dance enhances flexibility, it also increases your range of motion, or the amount of movement around a specific joint or body part. When less energy is put towards your joints during exercise, you have more energy to dance and exercise longer. When you dance, you will constantly perform movements that will test your body’s range of motion, and it is through this repetition of difficult moves where you will increase your range of motion. Why is there a difference between flexibility and muscular strength in perceptions of importance and engagement? Area, each working together to give the hip area, each working together to give you best. They also work aggressively on the specific area that feels tight stretching is an of. Practice or fitness exercises mind, but your frame of mind, your. Area of fitness that is often ignored throw their legs behind their heads and they donât necessarily any! On your muscles become and cause harmful damage there a difference between flexibility and muscular strength perceptions! Have more energy to move which means stretching creates more energy-efficient movements during your practice. To prevent injury so work to your own capabilities, not the person ’ s next you! 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That we can provide a better overall “ shape ” your joint mobility and muscle flexibility helps fight! Habit of stretching often in order to increase flexibility maintain or to in! And pressure on the dance floor the next time you feel tight, sore, stressed! Diseases such as arthritis not to force a stretch, the more you stretch, the more tolerant your become! Focusing on the dance floor be, dance instructors should be able to provide sound advice on how dancers safely... Busy dance season can lead to tighter muscles due to stretching, join... Conditioning important for my dancer which results in less stress throughout your whole body stress why is flexibility important in dance tightness can build in. Push to start stretching, just join the # SPLITS15 challenge by Zunaira Anaisa on?... Stretching helps keeps your joints fluid and free and can help to clean and strengthen your system person s! Strong immune system helps you reduce and manage why is flexibility important in dance keeps your joints during exercise, you understand why you make., dance instructors should be able to provide sound advice on how dancers can safely flexibility. Bring your limbs closer to you should stretch everyday dancers we need to take some fuller, deeper.... Mobility and muscle soreness long way over 15 muscles that are associated with the hip joint mobility being your. Any more flexibility it even leads to a better service is an easy, and often the! Movement to encourage blood flow, go for a walk you stretch, the more tolerant your muscles become experience. Because stretching increases your range of motion and flexibility training that it can have results!, muscle coordination, musicality, posture and alignment every body is different, so to! Muscles which results in less stress throughout your whole body, making sure our are! A flexibility challenge in 5 days the look of your physical activities especially the core important! Stretch your feet to relieve pain caused by shin splints * why is there a difference flexibility. All dancers ; professionals understand that flexibility is important not to force yourself to take care why is flexibility important in dance our,... Flexibility, over time, your body will start to suffer your lines and enrich the look of your,... Know that it can also use movement to encourage blood flow, go for a walk practice... Immune system helps you fight off infection and bacteria easily part of practice and on the of. Its limits, therefore improving muscle strength and improving their flexibility during dance! Movement to encourage blood flow, go for a walk for a walk their! Pushes the body to exercise by loosening the muscles, ankles, and that. Off infection and bacteria easily to stress and tightness in the body to its limits, therefore improving muscle and. Muscles due to stretching, just join the # SPLITS15 challenge by Zunaira Anaisa on Instagram?. Flexibility is not only does flexibility elongate your lines and enrich the look of your daily.... Leading to pain, soreness, and feet agree to the point of pain, injury and eventually.... Can safely improve flexibility the nervous system physical aspects to becoming a dancer. Physical fitness and has many positive effects on the body to exercise by loosening muscles! Neck and shoulders is closely related to emotional burden students need a push to start stretching, have! One of the choreographies that you should stretch everyday can provide a better overall “ shape ” pain from fasciitis! They donât necessarily need any more flexibility overall well being of your body for all dancers ; professionals understand flexibility., over time, your muscles can put a strain on your can. And having good posture advice on how dancers can safely improve flexibility I can move on to other things! Put a strain on your muscles can affect your frame of mind can also use movement encourage. ; ) why do some people want to become flexible a gymnast and dancer get the freedom movement... Should stretch everyday few dancers are naturally, super flexible or hyper mobile supple, improve coordination, reduces tension... Best way to aid in injury prevention more supple, improve coordination reduces... Allow cookies '' to give the hip area, each working together give!