Friday, February 15, 2013

Flexibility Problems?

Hey guys! How are you all doing? (That is not a rhetorical question, feel free to answer!) I don't have school today (yay for in-service days, right?) so I decided to work on my flexibility. Here are some of my tips.

1. Get warmed up! I put on some nice warm pants; fuzzy pj's, sweat pants, leg warmers, ect, and do some warm ups. Sometimes it's a few rounds of Just Dance with my sister (I win every time, #danceradvantages), jumping jacks, yoga or pilates, or some barre routines. 

2. Start off easy. Don't rush into your splits right away! That can cause pulled muscles, tiny tears which cause soreness, and it won't even improve your flexibility. Your goal is to stretch the muscles, not break them!

3. Find a routine that works for you! Stretching is the most beneficial when you do it often right? So put together a fun routine, add some music, and do it as often as you can! Right now I'm in a yoga kick, so I've been trying out some different yoga routines. Sometimes, I just do my favorite stretches from dance class to some pop music. So make a music playlist, and a list of your stretches! It doesn't need to be long, 5 stretches for each side (10 total), holding for 30 seconds each is just 5 minutes. In addition to a warm up, you've only spent 10 or 15 minutes, out of 24 hours!

Here are some different videos and stretching guides:

Videos:
Yoga for Flexibility
Yoga for Core Strength
Pilates for Core and Flexibility

Web Pages:
Dance.net Guide to 120 Stretches
Gymnastics Stretches for Splits
Gymnastics Stretches for Center Splits
Improving Extensions

If you have trouble getting settled into a routine, try this method with me, it's called Don't Break the Chain. Basically, draw up a calander, or print one out, set a minimum goal (ex, 20 minutes of stretching, 5 days a week), and every day you do it, give yourself an X. Since my goal is just once a week, I made 4 colomuns of 5 boxes, with the labels, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4. See how long you can go before starting over, and remember, don't break the chain! 

2 comments:

  1. I came across your blog recently and it's inspired me to start ballet (late I'm 14) again! I was a little nervous about starting late when most people my age are on pointe and are pretty good but your blog has shown me that I can still dance because I love it and there's hope that I'll dance on pointe in the future. Could you do a post about what your dance schedule is like (classes, stretching and other exercises you do at home, pilates)? I'm curious to know, thanks :)

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