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stretching

Foam Rollers: Flawed Fad or Functionally Fundamental?

March 11, 2016 by Lauren Warnecke 2 Comments

Seems every dancer’s doing it but what is the purpose and value in using a foam roller? And, should you be doing it too? Here’s the 411 on fascia and foam rolling.

Filed Under: Blog, Health, Wellness & The Dancer's Body Tagged With: dance gear, fascia, foam roller, massage, mobility, range of motion, stability, stretching, tight muscles, warm-up

Stretch Hands-Free, Improve Flexibility And Turnout

December 6, 2012 by Nichelle (owner/editor)

Dancers demonstrate some Balletband exercises surrounded by holiday lights

Strengthen arabesque, work your turnout, and stretch hands-free when you win a Balletband. It’s a favorite flexibility tool among aspiring and professional dancers, alike!

Filed Under: Blog, Dancethropology, Fun & Games, Giveaways Tagged With: balletband, dance gifts, dance giveaway, elite dance, elitedance, enter to win, exercise band, extra challenge, flexibility, flexibility and stretching, gifts for young dancers, giveaway contest, giveaway for dancers, Giving Thanks Giveaway, heavy-duty resistance band, improving flexibility, motivation to stretch, prizes for dancers, resistance band, stretching, stretching device, teenage dancers, thanks 2012, time to stretch, todd fox, week of giveaways

Stretching For Front Splits

March 12, 2011 by Nichelle (owner/editor)

IMAGE An example of a Pigeon pose in Yoga by someone in jeans, a hoodie, and sneakers. IMAGE

If you’re struggling with getting all the way down in those elusive front-splits, there are two areas of flexibility that you’ll want to pay special attention to: the hamstrings and the hip flexors. Spend some time working to increase your range of motion in each of these areas individually with the stretches in this article.

Filed Under: Blog, Dancing, Health, Wellness & The Dancer's Body, Technique Tagged With: deborah vogel, effective stretching, flexibility, flexibility and stretching, getting the splits, hamstring flexibility, hip flexibility, Hip flexors, how to stretch the hamstrings, how to stretch the hip flexors, Saturday Savvy, splits, stretching, stretching for splits, stretching the hamstrings, the body series, tight hamstrings, yoga, Yoga for dance, yoga pose

Muscles 101: Comparing muscles to a rubber band might be stretching it….

July 19, 2010 by Lauren Warnecke

While the image of a rubber band is useful in demonstrating the elastic nature of muscles in the stretch reflex, it’s not always as simple as the stretch/recoil and stretch-farther/less-recoil that we gain from thinking of muscles simply as rubber bands.

Filed Under: Blog, Health, Wellness & The Dancer's Body, Technique Tagged With: Anatomy, anatomy concepts, brain, dance, health, how do muscles work, nerological, physiology, range of motion, recoil, Rubber band, Skeletal muscle, stretch reflex, stretching, the body, understanding muscles

Is It Okay To Stretch Before Dance Class?

June 17, 2010 by Lauren Warnecke

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.” 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.

Filed Under: Blog, Dancing, Health, Wellness & The Dancer's Body, Performing, Technique Tagged With: dynamic, fitness, flexibility, health, muscles, Pain, range of motion, research, splits, static, stretching, stretching before class, stretching safely, the body, warm-up

Oversplits – Overdoing It?

December 7, 2009 by Nichelle (owner/editor)

It is extremely important that someone working toward oversplits spend equal (if not more) time on strengthening and stabilizing the hips and core of the body. If you ignore signals that you are pushing too hard or too far, you may be hindering or halting any current progress you’ve made in your flexibility. You may even be sacrificing joint stability and overall joint health, perhaps ending your career early or causing problems later in life.

Filed Under: Blog, Dancing, Featured, Health, Wellness & The Dancer's Body Tagged With: flexibility, health, joints, ligaments, oversplits, Performing arts, stretching

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Nichelle is the owner and editor of Dance Advantage. Struck by the potential the Internet held for creating community among dancers online, she founded Dance Advantage in 2008 to share information, tips, and advice about dance and dance training. Each month, the site reaches thousands of new and returning readers from all over the world. Thank YOU for reading!
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