Stretching 101

Are you un-flexible? Do you wish you could be as bendy as some of your friends? Well in this blog post I am going to show you the "do's" and "don't's" of a few simple stretches that you can do at home! Some people have the perception that dancers are born flexible, which most of the time isn't the case. I do have a few dance friends who have just always been bendy, but for the rest of us, including myself, we have had to work really hard to get to the point of flexibility we are at now.

Lets start by looking at a simple stretch to open up your hips. I like to call this stretch the "Butterfly", but feel free to call it whatever you want. To start this stretch you have to sit on the floor and place the balls of your feet together. The goal here is to be able to get both knees touching the floor. Some people do find that this stretch can bother their knees, so make sure not to bounce you knees up and down in this stretch as it can create stress on your knees. You can use your elbows while grabbing onto your feet to help push your knees down on either side. 

Photo Taken By Caitlyn Tink

The next stretch we will look at stretches your hamstrings. Most of us know how to do a lung, one foot in front of the other with our front leg bent at a 90 degree angle to the floor and back leg straight. Well, this stretch is very similar only we are going to get a deeper stretch into our hamstrings by placing our hands on the ground. Make sure to place one hand on either side of your front bent leg to ensure you have the proper balance to feel the full stretch. The lower you push your hips down towards the ground the greater the stretch you will feel. Make sure that your front leg stays bent at a 90 degree angle to the ground as if you push it any further forward you can cause great strain on your knees and later have knee problems. Ensure that your back leg also doesn't bend as it will have a tendency to the deeper you go into the stretch. 

Photo Taken By Caitlyn Tink

The last stretch we will look at doesn't really have a name so lets just call it the centre stretch. The point of this stretch is to really stretch and open up your hips. While doing this stretch you should feel the stretch running all down the inside of your quads and even in your hamstrings. To start this stretch you have to sit on the ground with both your legs open to the side (one on each side). Try to open you legs as wide as you can until you really feel the stretch. Make sure that both of your legs are straight, no bent knees, and sit up nice and tall so you have a flat back. 

Photo Taken By Caitlyn Tink

To get an even better stretch while in this position, you can try and get your stomach to the floor. The idea here is to maintain a flat back and straight legs while pushing your stomach towards the floor. Now do make sure that your hips don't try and rotate forward on you.You can create a lot of stress on your knees if you let your hips roll forward and try to hold it there, especially if you are less flexible. Even if you can't get your stomach to the floor yet, you can just walk your hands slowly forward until you hit a point where you can't go any further. 

Photo Taken By Caitlyn Tink

Photo Taken By Caitlyn Tink

The biggest thing to remember when stretching is that it isn't about how far you can go, it's about making sure that you are getting something out of it. Injuries happen very often in dance, much like many other sports, where people try to push themselves way beyond their limits just to try and look good. Why cause injury for yourself? Over time after doing a series of stretches, you will find that your flexibility will get better you just have to work on it!