If you are a beginner in ballet classes, adult ballet classes, or with a cheer leading team, safe stretching is an important factor in your training. Following are some safe easy at home stretches with which you can become more flexible. Whatever aspect of ballet/sports/fitness you participate in, these stretches will help.
Being able to kick, or lift your leg to the front, side, and back, enables you to move more freely and maybe eventually do the splits. You need a daily routine of stretches to become more flexible. You also need to understand a few principles of working safely.
Don't skip a warm up. If you haven't had a class or any other kind of exercise on a day where you decide to stretch, walk on the spot for at least five minutes, swinging and moving your arms freely. This will boost your metabolism and get your muscles a little warm.
For becoming more flexible to the front position, you need to engage your core muscles and lengthen the hamstring muscle(s) that run from your butt bone to the areas around your knee. There are two ways I recommend for this. If you are not able to lift or kick your leg to the front without the movement causing a change in the position of your hips, here's a great exercise. Stand in front of a chair. Lift one leg up and place it on the chair. Bend the standing leg, keeping your pelvis upright and your back straight. If you feel tension down the back of the leg on the chair, stop there. Very slowly lean forward, back still straight. You may only move a quarter of an inch, this doesn't matter. Don't let your back round. Hold this position for 15-30 seconds. That's your stretch. No bouncing or pulsing. Release up a little, then repeat. Change legs. As you get used to this you can do more repetitions on each leg. You want a stretchy feeling, but not pain.
You will feel a place where the muscles will let go a little, allowing more of a stretch. This is the "stretch reflex".
If you can already easily lift or kick the leg to over 90 degrees, or above your hip height, you can put your leg up on a ballet barre or counter top, keeping your hips facing to it. Maintaining a straight pelvis/back, lean over the leg slightly, while pressing the leg down. Hold 15-30 seconds. At some point you will feel the stretch reflex, maybe not on the first repetition. Do the same number of reps on each leg.
After a class or workout is an ideal time to stretch, but sometimes that's not possible. Always warm up for safe stretching.
With these ballet stretches, you will become more flexible for your ballet moves or cheer leading choreography.
The Stretching Handbook outlines many more stretches to help you become more flexible for dance/sports/fitness and cheer leading.
Showing posts with label ballet stretches. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ballet stretches. Show all posts
How to Start Stretching For Adult Beginner Ballet Classes
If you're planning to enroll for adult beginner ballet classes, there are two very safe stretches that you can do before you learn anything about ballet. You can do these every day and continue them once you start ballet lessons. Even if you never carry through with dance classes, learn these anyway as they will help to avoid back pain. And if you dance, get some fabulous and easy to learn muscle stretching exercises with The Ultimate Stretching Guide!
Why is back pain so common among adults? Even among adults with no history of injury or back strain, low back pain especially can become a chronic problem, mild or severe.
As you age, your flexibility decreases. Your long muscles that allow a certain range of motion, get shorter. Your joints begin to lose their range of motion, and the ligaments that hold bone to bone begin to lose their strength. Similar to an elastic band aging and getting less elastic. However, your ligaments and muscles will not just fall apart one day like an old elastic band.
However, you will start to feel pain as you continue to try and move and do all the things you are used to doing. You depend on the muscles at the front of your body, the muscles across your chest and shoulders, and the muscles at the front of your spine and hips, for a lot of every day motions. You particularly lose flexibility in these muscles from sitting at a desk, typing and staring at a computer monitor, or similar sedentary inactivity.
Loosening up these muscles is all you need to do. Ligaments do not need to be stretched - in fact, joint stability depends on their integrity.
So here are two easy stretches that will help you avoid back pain.
Done correctly, you may find some aches and pains that you already have will disappear. Healthy muscles are relaxed, and can stretch when you need them to, for daily activities.
My chiropractor calls this 'the doorway stretch'. Standing in a doorway, place the palm of your hand against the door jamb, above shoulder level, so that your arm is bent at a 90-degree angle, and your armpit is right against the door jamb. Press your hand and arm into it. Slowly press forward increasing the stretch, not to a point of any pain, just a stretchy feeling. Hold for about a ten count. Repeat with the other arm.
You are stretching muscles that routinely tense, especially if you are not sitting with your hips against the back of your chair, your spine upright in its natural curve, head held straight, neck relaxed. And of course your monitor, keyboard, mouse, arm rests are all ergonomically placed perfectly. I know! Who sits like that?
Allowing these muscles to retain more and more tension without relief, will pull on your neck muscles, upper back muscles and lead to headaches and neck and shoulder pain. Now you can reverse that trend.
For your low back and hip area: stand with feet together, and take a long step forward. Keep your hips and low back upright, and place your hands on your hips so you can feel it if your posture changes.
Bend your back leg slowly, lowering into a runner's lunge, not uncomfortably deep. You will feel the stretch at the front of your hips. The posture muscles at the front of your spine will get this stretch as well, and also the front of your back thigh. Hold for a 10 count, and switch legs.
You will be more able to stretch after a hot bath or shower. If you do any kind of exercise class, do after class while you're warm.
In a dance studio, before a class, you will see dancers sitting on the floor in stretch positions, or maybe with their legs on the barre in a stretched ballet position. They are not really stretching, they are just checking their positions and loosening up a little. So don't copy what ballet dancers do before class. You'll see them really go at it after a 45 minute barre, or at the end of a class.
For those who have had an injury or who are experiencing any sharp or burning back muscle pains, see your health care practitioner before trying these exercises.
If you try ballet as an adult beginner and later opt for another style of workout, keep up these two very healthy exercises. And get your copy of The Ultimate Stretching Guide for muscle stretching exercises.
Why is back pain so common among adults? Even among adults with no history of injury or back strain, low back pain especially can become a chronic problem, mild or severe.
As you age, your flexibility decreases. Your long muscles that allow a certain range of motion, get shorter. Your joints begin to lose their range of motion, and the ligaments that hold bone to bone begin to lose their strength. Similar to an elastic band aging and getting less elastic. However, your ligaments and muscles will not just fall apart one day like an old elastic band.
However, you will start to feel pain as you continue to try and move and do all the things you are used to doing. You depend on the muscles at the front of your body, the muscles across your chest and shoulders, and the muscles at the front of your spine and hips, for a lot of every day motions. You particularly lose flexibility in these muscles from sitting at a desk, typing and staring at a computer monitor, or similar sedentary inactivity.
Loosening up these muscles is all you need to do. Ligaments do not need to be stretched - in fact, joint stability depends on their integrity.
So here are two easy stretches that will help you avoid back pain.
Done correctly, you may find some aches and pains that you already have will disappear. Healthy muscles are relaxed, and can stretch when you need them to, for daily activities.
My chiropractor calls this 'the doorway stretch'. Standing in a doorway, place the palm of your hand against the door jamb, above shoulder level, so that your arm is bent at a 90-degree angle, and your armpit is right against the door jamb. Press your hand and arm into it. Slowly press forward increasing the stretch, not to a point of any pain, just a stretchy feeling. Hold for about a ten count. Repeat with the other arm.
You are stretching muscles that routinely tense, especially if you are not sitting with your hips against the back of your chair, your spine upright in its natural curve, head held straight, neck relaxed. And of course your monitor, keyboard, mouse, arm rests are all ergonomically placed perfectly. I know! Who sits like that?
Allowing these muscles to retain more and more tension without relief, will pull on your neck muscles, upper back muscles and lead to headaches and neck and shoulder pain. Now you can reverse that trend.
For your low back and hip area: stand with feet together, and take a long step forward. Keep your hips and low back upright, and place your hands on your hips so you can feel it if your posture changes.
Bend your back leg slowly, lowering into a runner's lunge, not uncomfortably deep. You will feel the stretch at the front of your hips. The posture muscles at the front of your spine will get this stretch as well, and also the front of your back thigh. Hold for a 10 count, and switch legs.
You will be more able to stretch after a hot bath or shower. If you do any kind of exercise class, do after class while you're warm.
In a dance studio, before a class, you will see dancers sitting on the floor in stretch positions, or maybe with their legs on the barre in a stretched ballet position. They are not really stretching, they are just checking their positions and loosening up a little. So don't copy what ballet dancers do before class. You'll see them really go at it after a 45 minute barre, or at the end of a class.
For those who have had an injury or who are experiencing any sharp or burning back muscle pains, see your health care practitioner before trying these exercises.
If you try ballet as an adult beginner and later opt for another style of workout, keep up these two very healthy exercises. And get your copy of The Ultimate Stretching Guide for muscle stretching exercises.
Ballet Shoes, Ballet Stretches, and Especially The Splits
Get the right information about gentle ballet stretches that lead to high leg extensions and split jetes, a featured attraction of ballet. If you were not born with long ligaments, muscles and tendons, what are the best ballet stretches for you?
While you spend strength on fighting your own tightness, striving for that effortlessness in your ballet shoes and pointe shoes, other very flexible dancers are trying to reign in their movements to maintain form and balance. But, ballet being the way it is, they look better during the struggle than the tighter dancers.
Stretches after exercising are the best. After class, do the following:
Sitting on the floor, stretch the legs out in front to stretch the hamstrings – one at a time, bending one knee, so as not to stretch the lower back, flex and point the foot. After slow stretching, I recommend completely relaxing the legs and letting the torso sink forward, with a few deep breaths, to release tension before going into a second position split.
The second position split should be opened fully but WITHOUT pain. Ideally have your pelvis upright, and your knees facing the ceiling, with the backs of your thighs pressing into the floor. You are mimicking the position your legs/spine would be in, in a standing position. Do not tuck your hip bones under or sway your back and roll forward off your pelvic bone onto your thighs.
In this position you will do a side bend toward one leg, hang there, breathing deeply, holding the legs straight but relaxing neck, shoulders, face and arms. Straighten upright, and bend forward, hold the abdominals, but allow the upper torso to bend forward toward the floor, keeping the legs with the backs of the thighs pressed into the floor. Straighten up again and bend over the other leg, hold for about 30 seconds, and pull up into a straight position. You want a stretch but not any sharp pains. You are applying stress to the soft tissues, but never painful or sudden movements.
The splits. A full 180 degree splits depends on overall extreme flexibility.
If you can't sit in this position but can only get, for example, down to a few inches from the floor (or halfway or three-quarter way down) stretch one leg at a time. Sit down and stretch one leg devant. Let the back leg bend. Keeping the front leg straight and turned out, pull forward slowly, and when you can't go any further, hold your lower abdominals and let your upper torso bend over. Your weight will effect the stretch, breathe deeply a few times, for about 30 seconds, and then come back up to a straight position. Do this four times, and change legs.
Next, bend the front leg into a 90 degree angle so you can lean forward over it, and extend the back leg to a straight position. It will probably slide sideways so that it will not be behind the hip as it would if you were standing up. Slowly move upright, stretching the front of the hip, do NOT go to a point of pain. Stretching is DISCOMFORT, not pain. Lean forward releasing the tension, and turn your leg in. Then straighten up again, and you will feel the stretch in a different area. Do this several times and change legs. Eventually your leg will stretch out more behind you.
Another great stretch is to do a side bend away from the derriere leg – you'll stretch from your thigh through your hip area up the side of your torso.
To finally relax, sit in a splits position with both legs bent. Bend forward right onto your front leg and let the weight of your torso press your hip, inner thigh and groin muscles into a relaxed stretch. Then bend back, but in a relaxed manner. Breathe deeply a few times and change legs.
If you have any muscles or joints stinging and aching after classes, ice. Get a soft gel ice pack, and you can use it 15 minutes per hour. Make sure the ice pack is wrapped in a thin towel and does not touch your skin.
Another therapy is a hot bath with a cup of apple cider vinegar. This draws the lactic acid out of the muscles and is extremely relaxing. Epsom Salts are good too, I think vinegar is better. You won't smell afterwards, honest.
If you are a retired dancer, or are on a hiatus from classes and miss that wonderful stretched out feeling, I highly recommend a ballet dancers's guide for getting more flexible.
While you spend strength on fighting your own tightness, striving for that effortlessness in your ballet shoes and pointe shoes, other very flexible dancers are trying to reign in their movements to maintain form and balance. But, ballet being the way it is, they look better during the struggle than the tighter dancers.
Stretches after exercising are the best. After class, do the following:
Sitting on the floor, stretch the legs out in front to stretch the hamstrings – one at a time, bending one knee, so as not to stretch the lower back, flex and point the foot. After slow stretching, I recommend completely relaxing the legs and letting the torso sink forward, with a few deep breaths, to release tension before going into a second position split.
The second position split should be opened fully but WITHOUT pain. Ideally have your pelvis upright, and your knees facing the ceiling, with the backs of your thighs pressing into the floor. You are mimicking the position your legs/spine would be in, in a standing position. Do not tuck your hip bones under or sway your back and roll forward off your pelvic bone onto your thighs.
In this position you will do a side bend toward one leg, hang there, breathing deeply, holding the legs straight but relaxing neck, shoulders, face and arms. Straighten upright, and bend forward, hold the abdominals, but allow the upper torso to bend forward toward the floor, keeping the legs with the backs of the thighs pressed into the floor. Straighten up again and bend over the other leg, hold for about 30 seconds, and pull up into a straight position. You want a stretch but not any sharp pains. You are applying stress to the soft tissues, but never painful or sudden movements.
The splits. A full 180 degree splits depends on overall extreme flexibility.
If you can't sit in this position but can only get, for example, down to a few inches from the floor (or halfway or three-quarter way down) stretch one leg at a time. Sit down and stretch one leg devant. Let the back leg bend. Keeping the front leg straight and turned out, pull forward slowly, and when you can't go any further, hold your lower abdominals and let your upper torso bend over. Your weight will effect the stretch, breathe deeply a few times, for about 30 seconds, and then come back up to a straight position. Do this four times, and change legs.
Next, bend the front leg into a 90 degree angle so you can lean forward over it, and extend the back leg to a straight position. It will probably slide sideways so that it will not be behind the hip as it would if you were standing up. Slowly move upright, stretching the front of the hip, do NOT go to a point of pain. Stretching is DISCOMFORT, not pain. Lean forward releasing the tension, and turn your leg in. Then straighten up again, and you will feel the stretch in a different area. Do this several times and change legs. Eventually your leg will stretch out more behind you.
Another great stretch is to do a side bend away from the derriere leg – you'll stretch from your thigh through your hip area up the side of your torso.
To finally relax, sit in a splits position with both legs bent. Bend forward right onto your front leg and let the weight of your torso press your hip, inner thigh and groin muscles into a relaxed stretch. Then bend back, but in a relaxed manner. Breathe deeply a few times and change legs.
If you have any muscles or joints stinging and aching after classes, ice. Get a soft gel ice pack, and you can use it 15 minutes per hour. Make sure the ice pack is wrapped in a thin towel and does not touch your skin.
Another therapy is a hot bath with a cup of apple cider vinegar. This draws the lactic acid out of the muscles and is extremely relaxing. Epsom Salts are good too, I think vinegar is better. You won't smell afterwards, honest.
If you are a retired dancer, or are on a hiatus from classes and miss that wonderful stretched out feeling, I highly recommend a ballet dancers's guide for getting more flexible.
A Ballet Dancer's Guide - Increase Your Turnout, Learn Ballet Stretches
Deborah Vogel's ballet dancers guide books highlight the hot topics - increase your ballet turnout, ballet stretches and much more.
This summer there are some extra workshops scheduled for any teacher or dance student interested in functional anatomy - "FUNctional Anatomy" is Deborah Vogel's title of her book series (with co-author Anneliese Burns Wilson).
I remember that nothing felt as good as the progress a summer intensive created. Several classes a day, 6 days a week. Exhaustion, hot and humid weather, but no academic school. Complete focus on ballet, and then running off to extra modern dance classes in the evenings too. (Gosh, how did I do all that?!!!)
The evenings at the school residence were spent sewing all pointe shoes we needed for the summer intensive, and getting ready for the next day.
Deborah Vogel is a dancer, author, and master teacher who conducts workshops across the U.S. for both student and professional dancers. From a recent e-mail:
"Announcements
The venues have been set! Here is the listing of the cities and contact information
of my summer workshop tour. The full workshop information will be posted online
soon - and I will send a notice out when it is viewable. Contact the sponsors ASAP
to save a slot, as registration will be cut off at 25 participants per workshop!
7/07/07 Santa Fe, NM, Contact: Audrey Derrell, charismatopia@aol.com (10 - 1pm)
7/08/07 Albuquerque, NM, Contact: Cecelia Jaramillo, cjlamesa@swcp.com (1-4pm)
7/12/07 Paso Robles, CA, Contact: Cheryle Armstrong, classactdancepasorobles@yahoo.com
(5-8pm)
7/14/07 Berkeley, CA, Contact: Elizabeth Godfrey, berkeleycityballet@sbcglobal.net
(9am - noon)
7/14/07 Berkeley, CA, Contact: Karen Olson, idance@berkeleyballet.org (2-5 pm)
7/18/07 Elko, NV, Contact: Yong Pratt, dance_elko@yahoo.com (1-4 pm)"
So the contacts are above for more info.
Ballet tips - my recipe for a multi-mineral homemade electrolyte drink here. It's fantastic for keeping the blood balanced and the strength up:
Freshly squeezed lemons (probably about 6 per 4 quarts of water)
Maple syrup to taste
Pinch or so of cayenne pepper (that's where the minerals are)
Filtered water to dilute to taste.
Dancers tend to disregard recovery time for muscles and summer is especially intense. Please eat good lean proteins and fresh foods - minimize junk food.
For muscles soreness and cramps try "A to B Calm", a calcium-magnesium powder you dissolve in hot water. It tastes chalky so you can cool it with fruit juice. The so-so taste is really worth the relief from pain. You will find it at a health food store.
Get the most out of your ballet summer intensives with the best info from a ballet dancers guide.
This summer there are some extra workshops scheduled for any teacher or dance student interested in functional anatomy - "FUNctional Anatomy" is Deborah Vogel's title of her book series (with co-author Anneliese Burns Wilson).
I remember that nothing felt as good as the progress a summer intensive created. Several classes a day, 6 days a week. Exhaustion, hot and humid weather, but no academic school. Complete focus on ballet, and then running off to extra modern dance classes in the evenings too. (Gosh, how did I do all that?!!!)
The evenings at the school residence were spent sewing all pointe shoes we needed for the summer intensive, and getting ready for the next day.
Deborah Vogel is a dancer, author, and master teacher who conducts workshops across the U.S. for both student and professional dancers. From a recent e-mail:
"Announcements
The venues have been set! Here is the listing of the cities and contact information
of my summer workshop tour. The full workshop information will be posted online
soon - and I will send a notice out when it is viewable. Contact the sponsors ASAP
to save a slot, as registration will be cut off at 25 participants per workshop!
7/07/07 Santa Fe, NM, Contact: Audrey Derrell, charismatopia@aol.com (10 - 1pm)
7/08/07 Albuquerque, NM, Contact: Cecelia Jaramillo, cjlamesa@swcp.com (1-4pm)
7/12/07 Paso Robles, CA, Contact: Cheryle Armstrong, classactdancepasorobles@yahoo.com
(5-8pm)
7/14/07 Berkeley, CA, Contact: Elizabeth Godfrey, berkeleycityballet@sbcglobal.net
(9am - noon)
7/14/07 Berkeley, CA, Contact: Karen Olson, idance@berkeleyballet.org (2-5 pm)
7/18/07 Elko, NV, Contact: Yong Pratt, dance_elko@yahoo.com (1-4 pm)"
So the contacts are above for more info.
Ballet tips - my recipe for a multi-mineral homemade electrolyte drink here. It's fantastic for keeping the blood balanced and the strength up:
Freshly squeezed lemons (probably about 6 per 4 quarts of water)
Maple syrup to taste
Pinch or so of cayenne pepper (that's where the minerals are)
Filtered water to dilute to taste.
Dancers tend to disregard recovery time for muscles and summer is especially intense. Please eat good lean proteins and fresh foods - minimize junk food.
For muscles soreness and cramps try "A to B Calm", a calcium-magnesium powder you dissolve in hot water. It tastes chalky so you can cool it with fruit juice. The so-so taste is really worth the relief from pain. You will find it at a health food store.
Get the most out of your ballet summer intensives with the best info from a ballet dancers guide.
Ballet Stretches - Tips To Relieve Muscle Tension
One thing that I have now - and love - is my physio ball, also known as a gym ball or exercise ball. Below are some tips on doing ballet stretches on the ball. (You can click right now to get it).
I use the ball as my computer chair. I use no other.
Bouncing gently, or just fidgeting on the ball while I'm thinking or waiting for pages to load, is healthy, and it is relaxing. Sore muscles get a little movement. Sitting on a chair, sore muscles get positioned poorly and become more spasmed and hurt.
Also, the ball gives even when you breathe. There is literally no impact, no pressure moving up the spine when you sit on the ball.
Sitting in second position, fourth position, and lunge positions, you just roll in different directions and get stretched, while you are reading or writing.
Since we dancers tend to mindlessly stretch something, taking advantage of every move we make, the ball is a great addition to our collection of things that aid our recovery after classes. If you get one, experiment with it and you'll see what I mean.
If your legs just are relentlessly aching, lie on the floor and put your calves up on the ball. You can roll slowly from side to side, stretching the sides of the hips and lower back, or roll all the way to the side, draping the top leg over the ball so you don't overdo the stretch.
Hanging over the ball like a rag doll, knees on the floor, and rolling up and down is a wonderful
spine stretch. It opens up the lower, mid and upper back, relaxing the shoulders as well. Just let the head hang. Aahhh.....and you can reverse the position, bending back over the ball, and roll around a little.
I use an exercise mat so my feet don't lose grip. Also you can position the ball against something behind you so you won't lose control and get dumped overboard.
So it's a great tool for stretching and relaxing. The bouncing is excellent for your lymph system.
A wonderful ballet dancer's guide has been put on a DVD by a dance expert. It gives a top to toe routine for getting the most out of your ballet stretches.
I use the ball as my computer chair. I use no other.
Bouncing gently, or just fidgeting on the ball while I'm thinking or waiting for pages to load, is healthy, and it is relaxing. Sore muscles get a little movement. Sitting on a chair, sore muscles get positioned poorly and become more spasmed and hurt.
Also, the ball gives even when you breathe. There is literally no impact, no pressure moving up the spine when you sit on the ball.
Sitting in second position, fourth position, and lunge positions, you just roll in different directions and get stretched, while you are reading or writing.
Since we dancers tend to mindlessly stretch something, taking advantage of every move we make, the ball is a great addition to our collection of things that aid our recovery after classes. If you get one, experiment with it and you'll see what I mean.
If your legs just are relentlessly aching, lie on the floor and put your calves up on the ball. You can roll slowly from side to side, stretching the sides of the hips and lower back, or roll all the way to the side, draping the top leg over the ball so you don't overdo the stretch.
Hanging over the ball like a rag doll, knees on the floor, and rolling up and down is a wonderful
spine stretch. It opens up the lower, mid and upper back, relaxing the shoulders as well. Just let the head hang. Aahhh.....and you can reverse the position, bending back over the ball, and roll around a little.
I use an exercise mat so my feet don't lose grip. Also you can position the ball against something behind you so you won't lose control and get dumped overboard.
So it's a great tool for stretching and relaxing. The bouncing is excellent for your lymph system.
A wonderful ballet dancer's guide has been put on a DVD by a dance expert. It gives a top to toe routine for getting the most out of your ballet stretches.
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