Is stretching part of your ritual?
While I was a dance major, I had a very strict routine that consisted of getting up at 6:00am, making coffee in my leotard, driving to school by 7:30am (to grab my super secret parking space in downtown Chicago), and entering the studio for morning ballet class before anyone else had arrived. The sun would peak through the windows creating a beautiful, peaceful place for me to be alone without the distraction of other dancers, teachers or fluorescent lights.
Five days out the week I followed this routine, and without fail the first thing I would do is lay down on the ground, stick my feet over my head and stretch.
I never gave much thought at that time as to whether or not stretching before class was beneficial. It is just something we dancers do. We arrive early (never on time) and stretch. Many ballet teachers give a warm-up or stretching exercises to the class before even beginning the barre. I remember being told as a young dancer “you must be fully warm before you ever do your first plie.” You feel that morning crunchiness in your joints, the little tug in your hamstrings, and just “stretch it out.”
To stretch or not to stretch?
The idea of stretching before physical activity is not unique to dance. I recall those days of P.E. where we would all stand and stretch together before going to play whatever sport was featured that day. In fact, studies performed as recently as 1989 have declared stretching to be “essential” in preventing injury and enhancing performance by increasing the elasticity and range of motion (ROM) of the muscle (1). It is by this presumption that we came to believe that you must stretch before completing any sort of vigorous physical activity, and this opinion is still held by a great many P.E. and dance teachers, not to mention personal trainers, physical therapists, sports physicians and athletic coaches (2).
More recent research has questioned the commonly held belief that stretching before activity is beneficial to performance and prevents injury. In fact, there is some evidence to suggest that stretching can have detrimental effects on performance, and may even INCREASE the risk of injury…
But aren’t there different ways to stretch?
There are five major types of stretching: static, dynamic, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, ballistic stretching, and eccentric lengthening. For the purpose of this article, we can work with the two most common forms of stretching (static and dynamic). You may see both types in your dance classes or do them on your own. The other types of stretching are usually employed in a therapeutic setting with the help of a clinician. Here’s a summary of the difference between the two types:
STATIC STRETCHING
Now, let’s assume that you aren’t lucky enough to be one of those hyper-flexible Gumbi-type dancers that can walk into a studio cold and plop down into the splits. That is a whole other issue that carries its own set of benefits and challenges. Instead, you are a dancer of average flexibility. You have no problem extending to 90-degrees, and once you are warm you can easily accomplish the splits and higher extensions. However, when you first enter the studio, you feel that pinch and that crunch. In the traditional thinking, you are like me: the dancer who comes in early to sit on the floor in a straddle, or plow, or forward bend until the pinch slowly begins to ease and feel less pinch-y. This type of stretch is called static—where you choose a position at the end of your ROM (range of motion) that targets a particular muscle, and hold it.
DYNAMIC STRETCHING
Dynamic stretching is a series of or active motions that increase joint ROM and stretch the muscles more passively than static stretches. Examples include leg swings (or balancoire), grand battement, and arm swings. Some people believe that this is a more natural way to stretch and increase your range of motion, and it simultaneously warms the body. Dynamic stretching is rather trendy right now because it somehow fulfills our moral obligation to stretch and isn’t uncomfortable like static stretching.
So, can I stretch before class, or can’t I?
That depends on the goal…
If you are stretching with the goal of long-term changes in your flexibility (for example, you can’t do the splits and would like to), save your stretching routine for after class or between barre and center when your muscles are “warm.” See more about this in Nichelle’s post about Stretching Safely For Splits.
Generally speaking, both of the stretching techniques above have acute (short-lasting) effects on your range of motion before activity, but don’t really increase your overall flexibility.
If you are stretching to chase away the “crunchiness,” there isn’t really any reason to believe that stretching before class can hurt you, but then again, it doesn’t necessarily help you either. Stretching doesn’t inevitably mean that you will not be sore or will be less sore (3). Some researches have found that pre-stretching might result in a small decrease in muscular strength and power, and this may be of importance to elite dancers requiring exceptional strength and endurance, but there is no current evidence suggesting that stretching while cold leads to injury (3,4).
- Image by stevendepolo via Flickr
Bottom line:
Ultimately, if stretching feels good, then stretch. If it’s part of your morning routine or class-time ritual, then do it. Just take care…
- Stretching should never hurt.
- Don’t reach past your natural range of motion unless your body is completely warm.
- If you find that static stretching is very uncomfortable for you, try some dynamic stretches.
Your body is a complex series of chemical and mechanical processes, and while we imagine that muscles are as simple as stretching a rubber band, there is a lot going on in there that is still not fully understood by scientists. But for more on muscles, you’ll have to wait!
Want to know more about how muscles work? See Muscles 101.
References:
- Safran, M.R., A.V. Seaber, and W.E. Garrett, Jr., Warm-up and muscular injury prevention. An update. Sports Med, 1989. 8(4): p. 239-49.
- Shehab, R., et al., Pre-exercise stretching and sports related injuries: knowledge, attitudes and practices. Clin J Sport Med, 2006. 16(3): p. 228-31.
- Herbert, R.D. and M. Gabriel, Effects of stretching before and after exercising on muscle soreness and risk of injury: systematic review. Bmj, 2002. 325(7362): p. 468.
- Thacker, S.B., et al., The impact of stretching on sports injury risk: a systematic review of the literature. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2004. 36(3): p. 371-8.
Lauren Warnecke is a freelance writer and editor, focused on dance and cultural criticism in Chicago and across the Midwest. Lauren is the dance critic for the Chicago Tribune, editor of See Chicago Dance, and founder/editor of Art Intercepts, with bylines in Chicago Magazine, Milwaukee Magazine, St. Louis Magazine and Dance Media publications, among others. Holding degrees in dance and kinesiology, Lauren is an instructor of dance and exercise science at Loyola University Chicago. Read Lauren’s posts.
When you say that stretching shouldn’t hurt.. How are you supposed to push the boundaries of what your muscles already can do then?
Hi Oda,
Thanks for your comment–that’s an excellent point. I don’t know if I mentioned it in the article, but for me there is a difference between “hurting” and “discomfort”. When you are stretching to increase your flexibility, your body should be completely warm. As I mentioned, stretching while cold only produces temporary changes. It also doesn’t feel very good! Stretching a little bit past your natural range of motion may feel a little uncomfortable, but you shouldn’t go as far as to cause pain. Doing so may lead to injury. I hope that makes it a little more clear and thanks again!
Lauren
Very interesting! Thank you for the information.
So doing grand battement before barre is somehow supposed to be safer and less painful than static stretches before barre? You are kidding me right?
I’m thankful that you at least tell people to keep doing whatever their routine they’re doing because that’s always the best advice, but I would like to address some of the scientific arguments.
The anti pre-activity stretching movement seems to be the fashion of the day in recent years. They cite scary studies that claim injuries but the biggest study I am aware of showed that it’s actually dangerous to make people stop stretching before their activity. A study of 3000 runners found that forcing people who never stretch before running had no impact on injury rates, but forcing people who normally stretch before running to stop their pre-run stretch doubled their rate of injury.
http://www.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?DUID=USATF_2010_08_20_12_13_14
I’ve heard of others make the argument that pre-activity stretching is detrimental to performance and they cite papers like http://www.portalsaudebrasil.com/artigospsb/flex011.pdf
But the paper states that one study actually showed no loss of power in 45% of the subjects in the vertical jump test if the test subjects were allowed to do other warm-ups like running and practice jumps in addition to the static stretching. Furthermore, the studies that did show significant decline in power had the test subjects to do 15 minutes of static stretching an no other warm-ups which is totally unrealistic for any athlete or dancer. Nobody in their right mind does only static stretches before explosive exercises.
Even if a ballet dancer only does static stretches before a ballet class, it’s not like they’re going to start doing big jumps as soon as class starts. They’ll be doing an hour of barre and centre work before they even start small jumps. The worst case studies claiming loss of power only claim a weakening effect of 60 minutes. But the range of motion studies indicate an increase of ROM that lasts 90 minutes which means there is a sweet spot of 30 minutes where the dancer enjoys better range of motion and recovers any loss in power. There are other studies that suggest no loss immediate power if the athlete is allowed to supplement static stretches with other warm-ups and trial runs.
Hi George, thanks for your comment. Perhaps I should rephrase what I said about dynamic stretching…. I used grand battement as a frame of reference to indicate that using full range of motion to do dynamic stretching as part of your warm-up is favorable over static stretches. While these types of movement will mimic the path of grand battement, it should be a loose and relaxed movement rather than the propulsion we use at the end of the barre.
It’s true that the jumps come at the end of class, and for good reason. The role of the barre is to prepare the body for it, but ballet instructors sometimes include full combres and static stretching in the first few exercises.
I think my main goal in writing this article was to dispel the myth that you HAVE to stretch before class, a myth that is perpetuated by many instructors. This belief is pervasive in athletes too… who didn’t have their Jr. High gym teacher drill the importance of reaching your toes for 30 seconds before doing anything else?
At the end of the day, pre-exercise static stretching might not matter to a dancer all that much, but for an athlete where minutia is important (100M dash runners) it could really, really matter. I maintain my position: stretch if you want to, don’t if you don’t.
Lauren, let me repeat that I am thankful of your attitude that it is best to let people figure out what they need. As the research I linked to indicates, it’s best to let people keep doing what they were doing because forcing people to break their stretching routine caused them more injuries.
I agree that conventional wisdom in the past overemphasized pre-routine static stretching but I think the fitness world has overreacted and gone too far in the opposite direction. There are too many people claiming that stretching causes a reduction in explosive power of the muscles but it’s clear they haven’t actually read the research. What the research indicates is that athletes who *only* do static stretching and no other warm-ups before doing a maximum exertion exercise like the vertical jump test lose significant power. Other research shows that athletes who do static stretching and other dynamic warm-ups like practice runs see little or no decline in performance.
It’s hard enough to get ballet students to stretch on their own and work on their flexibility without these myths floating around that stretching reduces power. I know plenty of ballet guys who won’t ever stretch be they believe this nonsense.
For me personally I can’t do ballet without static stretches because my pre-stretch range of motion is poor. My splits is a foot off the ground and it takes me around 5 minutes to reach the floor. I see too many ballet students with poor extension because they failed to do their pre-class stretching and they never learn to work in the enhanced range of motion.
On a personal note I always like to do a little cardio before I stretch because I am one of those freezing cold dancers all the time. I must have been a reptile in my other life. I love dancing in the summer because my flexibility really improves. I wear leg warmers year round and woolly tights. I will also do a series of isolation movements such as leg swings or ankle rotations.
For my students a quick way to warm up is Anne Green Gilbert’s Brain Dance.
I never had problems being cold when I was younger. Now that I hit 40, it takes me quite a bit to warm up and I’m a lot more sensitive to the cold if the AC comes blasting on. I can eventually ramp up to do what the 20 year olds do but I need a *long* warm up process.
What I have found in the process of using the gym to get back in shape (get stronger and lose weight) is that there are far more effective strategies for getting warm than what we’ve been doing in ballet for nearly 20 years. That knowledge has been crucial to me because performance time gives us only minutes to go from completely cold to explosive jumps on stage. I found that I could completely warm up in 10 minutes at the gym with heavy resistance exercises and 2 minutes on the treadmill to be able to do full size jumps with no pain but it takes me 60 minutes in ballet class. My gym routine is a more effective method of raising my blood pressure and pulse and warming up the muscles.