Flexibility Exercises
|
Before you start... |
1. This is a special-purpose structure, not a playground gym! – don’t allow small kids to use it as a jungle gym unattended, as injury may result! Don’t allow young students to tilt and change the gym configuration, as they may lose their balance.
2. Warm up to stretch, don’t stretch to warm up! – a few minutes of rapid exercises to warm up the muscles, such as running in place and knee lifts, will prepare the muscles for more productive stretching. Don’t stretch when cold to warm up for other physical activity!
3. The person to be stretched has control – don’t be influenced by photos or videos of Chinese or Russian trainers over-stretching their young students, who grimace in obvious pain! The one to be stretched should always provide feedback and dictate how much pressure to apply, or how far to bend a limb.
4. Get to know your students - there is a delicate balance between maximizing stretching productivity and the risk of injury, as different individuals will have different ranges of motion, different comfort zones, thresholds of pain, and resiliency. Start on the safe side (e.g., point of tension), and adjust after a few sessions, as both the person being stretched as well as the assistant will learn how much, how far, and how long a position should be held. These exercises work best for individuals who show a significant difference in range of motion from “cold” state to end-of-session.
5. Alternate Muscle Groups – the sequence of exercises below can be altered, but they are designed so that whenever possible, the target muscles being stretched in one exercise will be rested in the next (e.g., backbend followed by forward bend, or left splits followed by right splits).
6. Repetition – Ideally, each set of exercises should be repeated at least 3 iterations. In the first set, the muscles are being warmed up. In the last set, the muscles are stretched to their full potential.
7. Resistive Stretching – Some of the exercises employ a relatively new technique called “resistive stretching”. When the assistant stretches a muscle while the person being stretched resists with an equal and opposite force, the muscle(s) being stretched should achieve the intended result in half the timeframe. |
|
|
At least 5 minutes of cardiovascular activity will improve the effectiveness of flexibility exercises, as well as minimize the risk of injury due to over-stretching cold muscles, tendons and ligaments. |
|
|
Your hamstrings are the single most important muscles for all forms of leg extensions, including splits, oversplits, arabesques, developes, and battements. Lengthen your upper body as you stretch forward and down, keeping your back as flat as possible. The time you spend on lengthening your hamstrings will result in the most directly visible progress! |
|
|
In our experience, most students ignore stretching the back, or are tempted to overstretch it too early, too quickly, applying too much effort before the back has been properly warmed up. This causes the back muscles to rebel (get “tweaked”), and the achiness inhibits back stretching until the next session, when the same sequence of events will transpire. Start slowly, less aggressively, and stretch longer! |
|
|
If the back bend is the ying, then the front bend is the yang. Front bends should be alternated with back bends in your exercise sequence, as they stretch in opposite directions (just as left splits should be alternated with right splits). |
|
|
Caution: Before exercises such as overstretched splits or straddles can be productively applied, the subject should already be able to achieve completely flat splits on the floor (with straight legs and squared hips).
Oversplits are pre-requisites to achieving 180-degree or better kicks, penches, and leaps. As a dancer, it is important to stretch both sides equally; a choreographer does not always keep a dancer’s “good side” in mind! |
|
|
If the stretcher cannot achieve a straight straddle split position, it will help to focus most on the straddle after all iterations of the other exercises have been completed. As a supplementary technique to improving straddle splits, please refer to another stretching technique called “PNF” (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation). |
|
|
Supine leg extensions using a partner has been one of the most effective resistive stretching exercises. To apply proper resistance, the partner holds the ankle firmly and pushes down, applying an equal and opposite force to the resisting stretcher. However, the partner has to vary this force based on the resistance applied by the stretcher, and alignment may be a problem.
The non-moving resistance of the SG’s crossbar offers ideal resistance and alignment without requiring a partner! |
|
|
Developing good, high arabesques depend not only on flexibility (back, legs, and hips), but also on strong muscles in the thigh and hip areas. |
|
|
Exercises in this section include Developes, Vertical Splits, Torso Twist, Inverted Splits, and Super Abdominal Crunches. | | |
|
|
Exercises
