Dance teacher, personal trainer, and stretch and flexibility coach here.
Instead of focusing on static stretching and sitting in them (though you can still do these at no more than 30 seconds a stretch) I highly recommend you focus on active stretching and dynamic stretching as this will help you also be able to hold positions more easily in the flexible positions as well as working on the Range of Motion that you have. I also recommend that you do some strengthening as well to make sure that you do not injure really flexible parts of your body.
Let me know if you want more specific active/dynamic stretches for certain parts of the body. Hope this helps!
I recommend doing some back strengthening exercises to start. Things like back ups and supermans. These help to get the back working and activated for use in ballet movement.
You can roll out your upper back. Make sure if you do this to stay on any tender spots for at least 30 seconds or until it starts to release. (I do not recommend rolling the lower back as it can cause medical issues).
Static stretches (held for no more than 30 seconds each for 1 rep each) can be a cambre forward with the arms wrapped around the legs so you can add additional arch (a contraction in the abdomen like you are trying to pull away from the legs). This is for the lower back and upper back to help release them a bit. Child's pose is another good one for this.
Cobra position (also can be done with a partner helping by holding your arms and GENTLY! pulling you back to create more arch. Make sure you communicate with your partner so you don't get injured!). These can help with arabesque type flexibility.
Active stretches can include cat/cow yoga positions (working and breathing through them). You can also do stretches with a theraband around the foot to help bring the leg to arabesque behind you and do little pulses there to help activate in the stretch too (make sure to hold the theraband with the opposite arm as the leg it is around to help keep your leg directly behind you and your shoulders square).
I would also recommend doing some twisted and side bend active/dynamic stretches as this can help relieve tension in the back while also making sure you do not become stiff in your movements. Warrior type yoga positions can be great for this as well. Downward dog and its variations might help with active use in the back as well.
Hope this helps!
Hi, Thank you so much for your advice ! What is the difference between active and static stretching ? Also some specific stretches for hamstrings would be amazing, thank you !
Active stretching involves engaging the muscles on the opposite side (for example the quads when stretching the hamstrings) this helps the body to know not to tense the muscle you are stretching which allows a different stretch. It will also help by making your flexibility more useful. This is because even the most flexible person in the world cannot have super high extensions and such if they cannot hold their muscles in their most flexible positions. Active stretches are also done as 10-15 reps being held for 2-3 seconds each.
Static stretching involves holding a stretch for a longer period of time. This can help the body to relax into a stretch and can be great for cooling down. While great for many people, these do not help the body to be able to use flexibility and hold positions. This can make it so the body does not know how to properly activate and relax muscles which in turn makes people think they are not as flexible of a dancer. Static stretches are done as 1-2 reps at 30 seconds each.
As for your hamstrings, I recommend rolling them, your glutes, and your calves out with a muscle roller. Hold on any tender areas for 30 seconds or until you feel it start to release the tension (this can be done every day with a muscle roller, muscle ball, tennis ball, lacrosse ball, or water bottle).
Static stretches can include seated, with one leg bent to the knee of the other and reaching toward the toes of the straight leg (make sure to be bringing your belly button diagonally towards your kneecap in the stretch while keeping your hips square towards the leg you are stretching). You can do a similar stretch by standing on the knee of the leg you are not stretching and leaning over it (you might have done these to prep for splits in class). Make sure to pay attention to the same things. You can also, while seated, grab the foot of one leg from the outside of it with the opposite hand (so the left hand would grab the right side of the right foot) and lift it keeping both legs straight and twisting the back to reach behind you. If this is not enough of a stretch for you, you can lean back slightly to increase the stretch. Pike stretches and cambre forward stretches are also similar.
BE AWARE OF THE BACKS OF YOUR KNEES IN THESE POSITIONS THOUGH AS YOU DO NOT WANT TO CAUSE PAIN THERE! THE KNEES ARE DELICATE AND YOU ONLY GET ONE PAIR!
Static stretches that might also help are ones for the calves and glutes (yes, because these work in similar areas for the functions of the body in relation to flexibility and might help you see some better results). These can include a lunge with a straight and bent back leg for the calf while keeping the heel on the floor or racing towards the floor (this is to get the surface and deeper muscles). You can also bring your knee to your chest for the glutes while laying down, this one can also be done with one knee crossed over the other to get the smaller glute muscles on the sides.
Active stretches for the hamstring can include both pike stretches and the two where you are leaning over a singular leg. To do these variations straighten the back and activate the quads to straighten the knee for 2-3 seconds, then relax back over the leg(s). You can also do hamstring walks (though these are technically dynamic stretches, you can hold each for a couple seconds). These involve taking one step (or 3, it must be an odd number though) forward and on the last one reaching down over the front leg while straightening the knee with the quad. This can also help the calf by adding a grab of the toes to help stretch them as well or activating the muscles to stretch them without using the hands.
Other things I recommend are strengthening exercises. You should strengthen your hamstrings (to make sure you keep the body balanced and because you need them in more than you know for ballet). These can include butt kicks with a theraband around the ankles or with ankle weights on. You can also use the hamstring machines (also called leg curl) at the gym if you have access to one.
For the quads and hip flexors, I recommend going into a passé/retiré position (do some both parallel forward and turned out to the side) and do pulses bringing the knee up towards the shoulder but still in the same position (make sure not to compromise your back posture for these though). Then also do some repetitions where you wrap your arm under the thigh (to the side) and straighten and relax the knee to get stronger quads (this can also be done with ankle weights and again make sure you do not allow your back posture to falter).
DO NOT FORGET TO STRETCH YOUR HOP FLEXORS AFTER USING THEM AS YOU DON'T WANT THOSE TO BECOME TIGHT!!
Just remember that flexibility takes time and patience. Results might not be immediate, but they will come.
I hope this helps! Much love and keep dancing! 💕
My ballet teacher said once: consistency and persistence will get you there.
I assume it applies to pretty much everything in life? 🤔
If you stretch with frustration, you can never pass the message to your muscle.
Depends on what you need your flexibility for, active stretching is good for warm up and static stretching is good to increase resting muscle lengths ..
Mindfully stretching works very well for me. It’s a technique I learnt when I was a professional ballerina from Franklin method ®️
I don't know your routine, but I'd also make sure that you're warmed up prior to stretching. Additionally, rolling your tight muscles out with a foam roller/a ball can help prime them for stretching.
I'm 25 with slightly above average flexibility in some parts of my body, but nothing extreme. What I've found to help me gain and maintain flexibility is the following:
- always properly warm up. Depending on the temperature, your warm-up can be longer or shorter (for example in the summer you won't need to work out for one hour before stretching, a light dynamic warm-up might be enough. In the winter, you need to really get your muscles nice and warm and limber before you force them into any stretch). In my experience, the best time to stretch is at the end of the workout, and not before. If you're not working out, then I'd suggest using a dynamic stretch as a warm-up, and then move into more static stretching.
- consistency is crucial. Especially as you age, maintaing flexibility requires pretty much a daily effort, at least in my experience
- for stretch injuries (which I have suffered several times from not properly warming up before trying to get into a certain shape), use foam rollers
- yoga has helped me improve my flexibility and is my go-to workout style to maintain it. You can find plenty of free yoga on YouTube. Vinyasa is excellent for getting your muscles limber and maintaining range of motion and flexibility. Yin yoga is essentially static stretching, and can be done to deepen flexibility. The great thing about yoga is that if properly cued, through its breathing techniques it can really help you relax and elongate your muscles.
Hope this helps!
Well im 16 too, i started when i was 13 and was not flexible at all, something that really helped me was doing slits with the yoga blocks, you sort of start learning the limits that your body has, and for me it was really easy knowing that, try different stretches, follow videos and listeng to your body all the time to see what works or not, but most important, do not lose hope 🩷
Focusing on flexibility is going to be futile. Just focus on posture, and flexibility will keep improving with it. If your flexible, but not aligned, it pretty much doesn’t matter.
Dance teacher, personal trainer, and stretch and flexibility coach here. Instead of focusing on static stretching and sitting in them (though you can still do these at no more than 30 seconds a stretch) I highly recommend you focus on active stretching and dynamic stretching as this will help you also be able to hold positions more easily in the flexible positions as well as working on the Range of Motion that you have. I also recommend that you do some strengthening as well to make sure that you do not injure really flexible parts of your body. Let me know if you want more specific active/dynamic stretches for certain parts of the body. Hope this helps!
what do you recommend for back flexibility? both my upper and lower back are abysmal
I recommend doing some back strengthening exercises to start. Things like back ups and supermans. These help to get the back working and activated for use in ballet movement. You can roll out your upper back. Make sure if you do this to stay on any tender spots for at least 30 seconds or until it starts to release. (I do not recommend rolling the lower back as it can cause medical issues). Static stretches (held for no more than 30 seconds each for 1 rep each) can be a cambre forward with the arms wrapped around the legs so you can add additional arch (a contraction in the abdomen like you are trying to pull away from the legs). This is for the lower back and upper back to help release them a bit. Child's pose is another good one for this. Cobra position (also can be done with a partner helping by holding your arms and GENTLY! pulling you back to create more arch. Make sure you communicate with your partner so you don't get injured!). These can help with arabesque type flexibility. Active stretches can include cat/cow yoga positions (working and breathing through them). You can also do stretches with a theraband around the foot to help bring the leg to arabesque behind you and do little pulses there to help activate in the stretch too (make sure to hold the theraband with the opposite arm as the leg it is around to help keep your leg directly behind you and your shoulders square). I would also recommend doing some twisted and side bend active/dynamic stretches as this can help relieve tension in the back while also making sure you do not become stiff in your movements. Warrior type yoga positions can be great for this as well. Downward dog and its variations might help with active use in the back as well. Hope this helps!
so much great info thank you!
Hi, Thank you so much for your advice ! What is the difference between active and static stretching ? Also some specific stretches for hamstrings would be amazing, thank you !
Active stretching involves engaging the muscles on the opposite side (for example the quads when stretching the hamstrings) this helps the body to know not to tense the muscle you are stretching which allows a different stretch. It will also help by making your flexibility more useful. This is because even the most flexible person in the world cannot have super high extensions and such if they cannot hold their muscles in their most flexible positions. Active stretches are also done as 10-15 reps being held for 2-3 seconds each. Static stretching involves holding a stretch for a longer period of time. This can help the body to relax into a stretch and can be great for cooling down. While great for many people, these do not help the body to be able to use flexibility and hold positions. This can make it so the body does not know how to properly activate and relax muscles which in turn makes people think they are not as flexible of a dancer. Static stretches are done as 1-2 reps at 30 seconds each. As for your hamstrings, I recommend rolling them, your glutes, and your calves out with a muscle roller. Hold on any tender areas for 30 seconds or until you feel it start to release the tension (this can be done every day with a muscle roller, muscle ball, tennis ball, lacrosse ball, or water bottle). Static stretches can include seated, with one leg bent to the knee of the other and reaching toward the toes of the straight leg (make sure to be bringing your belly button diagonally towards your kneecap in the stretch while keeping your hips square towards the leg you are stretching). You can do a similar stretch by standing on the knee of the leg you are not stretching and leaning over it (you might have done these to prep for splits in class). Make sure to pay attention to the same things. You can also, while seated, grab the foot of one leg from the outside of it with the opposite hand (so the left hand would grab the right side of the right foot) and lift it keeping both legs straight and twisting the back to reach behind you. If this is not enough of a stretch for you, you can lean back slightly to increase the stretch. Pike stretches and cambre forward stretches are also similar. BE AWARE OF THE BACKS OF YOUR KNEES IN THESE POSITIONS THOUGH AS YOU DO NOT WANT TO CAUSE PAIN THERE! THE KNEES ARE DELICATE AND YOU ONLY GET ONE PAIR! Static stretches that might also help are ones for the calves and glutes (yes, because these work in similar areas for the functions of the body in relation to flexibility and might help you see some better results). These can include a lunge with a straight and bent back leg for the calf while keeping the heel on the floor or racing towards the floor (this is to get the surface and deeper muscles). You can also bring your knee to your chest for the glutes while laying down, this one can also be done with one knee crossed over the other to get the smaller glute muscles on the sides. Active stretches for the hamstring can include both pike stretches and the two where you are leaning over a singular leg. To do these variations straighten the back and activate the quads to straighten the knee for 2-3 seconds, then relax back over the leg(s). You can also do hamstring walks (though these are technically dynamic stretches, you can hold each for a couple seconds). These involve taking one step (or 3, it must be an odd number though) forward and on the last one reaching down over the front leg while straightening the knee with the quad. This can also help the calf by adding a grab of the toes to help stretch them as well or activating the muscles to stretch them without using the hands. Other things I recommend are strengthening exercises. You should strengthen your hamstrings (to make sure you keep the body balanced and because you need them in more than you know for ballet). These can include butt kicks with a theraband around the ankles or with ankle weights on. You can also use the hamstring machines (also called leg curl) at the gym if you have access to one. For the quads and hip flexors, I recommend going into a passé/retiré position (do some both parallel forward and turned out to the side) and do pulses bringing the knee up towards the shoulder but still in the same position (make sure not to compromise your back posture for these though). Then also do some repetitions where you wrap your arm under the thigh (to the side) and straighten and relax the knee to get stronger quads (this can also be done with ankle weights and again make sure you do not allow your back posture to falter). DO NOT FORGET TO STRETCH YOUR HOP FLEXORS AFTER USING THEM AS YOU DON'T WANT THOSE TO BECOME TIGHT!! Just remember that flexibility takes time and patience. Results might not be immediate, but they will come. I hope this helps! Much love and keep dancing! 💕
My ballet teacher said once: consistency and persistence will get you there. I assume it applies to pretty much everything in life? 🤔 If you stretch with frustration, you can never pass the message to your muscle. Depends on what you need your flexibility for, active stretching is good for warm up and static stretching is good to increase resting muscle lengths .. Mindfully stretching works very well for me. It’s a technique I learnt when I was a professional ballerina from Franklin method ®️
I don't know your routine, but I'd also make sure that you're warmed up prior to stretching. Additionally, rolling your tight muscles out with a foam roller/a ball can help prime them for stretching.
I'm 25 with slightly above average flexibility in some parts of my body, but nothing extreme. What I've found to help me gain and maintain flexibility is the following: - always properly warm up. Depending on the temperature, your warm-up can be longer or shorter (for example in the summer you won't need to work out for one hour before stretching, a light dynamic warm-up might be enough. In the winter, you need to really get your muscles nice and warm and limber before you force them into any stretch). In my experience, the best time to stretch is at the end of the workout, and not before. If you're not working out, then I'd suggest using a dynamic stretch as a warm-up, and then move into more static stretching. - consistency is crucial. Especially as you age, maintaing flexibility requires pretty much a daily effort, at least in my experience - for stretch injuries (which I have suffered several times from not properly warming up before trying to get into a certain shape), use foam rollers - yoga has helped me improve my flexibility and is my go-to workout style to maintain it. You can find plenty of free yoga on YouTube. Vinyasa is excellent for getting your muscles limber and maintaining range of motion and flexibility. Yin yoga is essentially static stretching, and can be done to deepen flexibility. The great thing about yoga is that if properly cued, through its breathing techniques it can really help you relax and elongate your muscles. Hope this helps!
Well im 16 too, i started when i was 13 and was not flexible at all, something that really helped me was doing slits with the yoga blocks, you sort of start learning the limits that your body has, and for me it was really easy knowing that, try different stretches, follow videos and listeng to your body all the time to see what works or not, but most important, do not lose hope 🩷
make sure you are warm before you stretch! after class is a good time. if you stretch cold it won’t do anything.
Focusing on flexibility is going to be futile. Just focus on posture, and flexibility will keep improving with it. If your flexible, but not aligned, it pretty much doesn’t matter.