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Stretching After You Dance

September 30, 2016 by 4dancers

By Mikael Häggström (w:Gray's muscle pictures) [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
By Mikael Häggström (w:Gray’s muscle pictures) [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Aloha! We are pleased to bring you several short posts from one of our Dance Wellness Panel members, Matt Wyon, PhD, who is current President of IADMS (International Association for Dance Medicine and Science), Professor of Dance Science at University of Wolverhampton (UK), and Visiting Professor at Division of Surgery and Intervention – Institute of Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Science – University College London, and ArtEZ Institute of the Arts, The Netherlands.

Matt has been extensively involved in research in the dance medicine and science field for many years, so it’s always fun to see what new nuggets of information he has to pass on.

This first post is about stretching and how important it is to stretch properly AFTER you dance, and not do the kind of static stretching (such as sitting on the floor in 2nd and holding it) beforehand that has actually been shown to be detrimental for dancers.
Enjoy –  happy stretching (after class / rehearsal!) and pass it on-
Aloha, Jan Dunn, MS, Dance Wellness Editor


by Matt Wyon, PhD

Stretching is a way of life for dancers but interestingly there has been very little research into the best ways to stretch. Holding static stretches (where you take the stretch and hold it) for a long time during a warm up has been shown to negatively affect a muscle’s explosive ability – whereas a study in sport showed that incorporating dynamic stretching (active movements of the muscle that brings forth a stretch, but are not held in the end position) into a warm up helped prevent injuries during the subsequent activity.

But what about afterwards?

What sort of stretches should you do after dance has finished? A recent study by one of my doctoral students at the University of Wolverhampton (Nikos Apostolopoulos) has shown that a gentle stretch is better than a high intensity stretch in helping the muscle recover and maintaining flexibility. In fact, not stretching at all (the control group) was better than a high intensity stretch.

So how do you figure out the intensity of a stretch?

If you stretch a muscle until it hurts and it starts to wobble (this is a protective reflex trying to protect the muscle) then that is a 10/10 intensity. A gentle stretch is around 4-6/10 and you should only feel a lengthening in the muscle being stretched.

But dancers may say “But a high intensity stretch feels like I am doing something.”

Yes it might – but it is also causing micro-damage to the muscle. If you have just had a hard days dancing then your muscle is already damaged and needs to recover; a high intensity stretch actually delays this healing process whilst a gentle or low intensity stretch actually promotes the muscle’s repair.


Dance Wellness Contributor Matt Wyon
Matt Wyon, PhD

Matthew Wyon, PhD, is a Professor in Dance Science at the University of Wolverhampton, UK and a Visiting Professor at the ArtEZ, Institute of the Arts, The Netherlands.

At Wolverhampton he is the course leader for the MSc in Dance Science and Director of Studies for a number of dance science and medicine doctoral candidates. He is a founding partner of the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science, UK.

Prof. Wyon is President of the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science and a past chair of the Research Committee. He has worked with numerous dancers and companies within the UK and Europe as an applied physiologist and strength and conditioning coach.

He has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles in dance medicine and science.

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Filed Under: conditioning, Dance Wellness Tagged With: dance wellness, dynamic stretching, matthew wyon, Nikos Apostolopoulous, static stretching, stretching, stretching for dancers. safe stretching, stretching intensity, University of Wolverhampton

Dancers And Stretching: How Hard Should You Push?

January 2, 2015 by 4dancers

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou! — That’s Happy New Year in Hawaiian! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday — and
“Nutcracker” season — and are ready to start the New Year.  This month’s post is a brief one to help you with your stretching. New research (on dancers) shows that the intensity of your stretching doesn’t have to be extreme in order to increase your flexibility.

The post is written by Matthew Wyon, PhD, who has written for our Dance Wellness column before — Matt is currently serving as the Vice President of IADMS (International Association for Dance Medicine and Science), and is also a professor / researcher at the University of Wolverhampton (UK), as well as being affiliated with England’s National Institute for Dance Medicine and Science.   

So — enjoy the post, and have a good start to your New Year of dancing longer, stronger, and safer!

– Jan Dunn, MS, Dance Wellness Editor


Rubber band ball
Photo by Riley Kaminer, CC 4.0 license

by Matt Wyon, PhD

Dancers are renowned for their flexibility or range of movement, and devote a lot of time maintaining and enhancing this attribute. There has been much written on the different stretch techniques such as static, dynamic and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) and when they should be implemented — for example, dynamic stretching during warm-up and static during recovery. However, the intensity at which the stretch should be held has had little research until recently. We often feel that unless the stretch is just below the pain barrier, the point where the muscle starts to wobble, nothing will change; this often equates to “8 out of 10” intensity.

A series of recent studies has started to challenge this concept. The first showed that at 8/10 intensity there was a huge increase in inflammation blood markers, suggesting that the muscle being stretched was actually being traumatized — but at lower intensities (3-6/10) this effect wasn’t noticed.

But will this lower intensity help increase flexibility?

A six week experiment on dancers who were split into one group that stretched at their usual intensity (8/10), and another at the lower intensity (3-5/10), noted that the dancers in the lower intensity group increased their grande battement and developpé height. The second group (8/10 intensity) saw a very slight but not significant increase (5-degree) compared to 20-degree for the low-intensity group.

So it seems less is more when it comes to stretching intensity!

It must be emphasized that this intensity should be used at the end of the day as a recovery and improving range of movement technique, rather than during warm-up.


Dance Wellness Contributor Matt Wyon
Matt Wyon, PhD

Contributor Matthew Wyon, PhD, is a Professor in Dance Science at the University of Wolverhampton, UK and a Visiting Professor at the ArtEZ, Institute of the Arts, The Netherlands.

At Wolverhampton he is the course leader for the MSc in Dance Science and Director of Studies for a number of dance science and medicine doctoral candidates. He is a founding partner of the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science, UK.

Prof. Wyon is Vice President of the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science and a past chair of the Research Committee. He has worked with numerous dancers and companies within the UK and Europe as an applied physiologist and strength and conditioning coach.

He has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles in dance medicine and science.

Filed Under: conditioning, Dance Wellness Tagged With: dance wellness, flexibility, increasing flexibility, matt wyon phd, pnf, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, stretching, stretching intensity

Stretching Healthy…A Primer For Dancers

February 14, 2014 by 4dancers

photo
Know the difference between a good stretch and a bad stretch? (Hint: This isn’t a good one!)

by Jan Dunn MS

Stretching feels sooooo good!

Dancers love to stretch–we do it all the time, whenever we can–before class, during class, after class, watching TV, waiting for the bus (seriously–haven’t you ever done a quick calf stretch while standing there?) –but how many of us really know that much about stretching?  -i.e, the Do’s and Don’ts of doing healthy stretching?

Ankle-on-the-barre stretching….one of our favorites, and found in almost every ballet class……but–the problem with this position is that it puts so much weight on the Achilles tendon, on the back of the ankle—and can potentially lead to Things You Do Not Want To Have, like Achilles tendinitis.  Far better to stretch your hamstrings (back of the leg) or adductors (inner thigh) — which is what that stretch does — by sitting on the floor, or using Theraband lying down, etc.

Watching cold (as in not-warmed-up) dancers sitting on the floor stretching was the impetus for getting this particular article out to you, especially as you start off 2014!

So here’s what you need to know about stretching (in no particular order of importance):

1- WHEN to stretch:  When you are warmed-up.

Think of it this way–if you take a cold rubber band and pull it taut, what might happen (Yikes!)?  Yes, it might snap. Your muscles are like that. When we stretch stone cold (as in before a class or rehearsal), that’s what we are doing. We are potentially pulling small muscle fibers that may tear as a result.

LIGHT stretching before a class, which means alternating contracting and releasing a muscle is OK–(the stretch comes when you release), but heavy duty stretching (the on-the-floor or leg-on-the-barre variety) is not advised.

You want your muscles good and warm before you start heavy stretching–as in the middle of class, or at the end.

2- How LONG to stretch:  Again, if you’re warmed up–

Usually a minimum of 30 seconds is recommended–that gives the muscle fibers time to really lengthen. If you don’t have a second hand around, timing it to last about 3 nice long breaths is usually about 30 seconds for most people (or take the deep breaths with a second hand in front of you, and see how many you personally might need).

Sometimes in rehab, physical therapists will have you hold a stretch longer than the 30 seconds–but that’s a different situation.

3- If you have some very tight muscles that you want to hopefully permanently lengthen, it’s recommended that you do it at the end of a class / rehearsal / performance (i.e, when you’re really warm). Take the desired stretch and do 3 or 4 sets of the 30 second stretch, with a slight pause (maybe 10 sec.) in-between, doing this as your body cools down.

4- If you have really held a stretch for a long time, for whatever reason, don’t ask the muscle to contract immediately afterwards. They lose that ability briefly when heavily stretched, so you want to be careful.

5- We’ve already talked in this column, about how weather / age, etc. affect your body, but here’s a brief reminder when it comes to stretching:

-the colder the weather / room, the longer it takes to warm-up — i.e, the longer it will take to get to a good stretching place for your body!

-a muscle that has been injured may take longer as well.

-the older we get, the longer it takes / the more careful we have to be — we lose some of our flexibility as part of the natural aging process, so be aware that you can’t stretch as fast / easily at 40 as you can at 20!

6- There are different types of stretching–the two main types that we use are usually:

-Static: where you take the desired stretch and just hold it.

–Ballistic: bouncy stretches —not recommended (they can inadvertently tear small muscle fibers).

There are other types – such as Prolonged, Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF), and Dynamic, which I won’t go into in this article. But if you go to the IADMS website, there is an excellent Resource Paper on Stretching, which goes into considerable detail on this topic.

7- A word here about the difference between general flexibility / joint mobility, and Joint Hypermobility Syndrome (JHS), which is a very different thing. It’s a very specific condition which has to be medically diagnosed by a physical therapist or other medical practitioner – it takes the joint beyond what we think of as general overall flexibility. It’s something that both dancers and teachers need to be aware of, as studies have shown that a good number of younger dancers may have it, and if they do, it does impact their dance lives (and their everyday lives).  It doesn’t mean you can’t dance if you fall into this category, but it does mean you and your teacher should know about it, and about how to train properly.

We have a special article on the site dedicated to JHS.

8- And last but not least:

Research has shown us that stretching before a class, when cold, actually decreases such things as strength, power, endurance, balance, jump height and other factors that we use in dance movement. So when you are sitting on the floor stretching before class, you’re not only potentially injuring yourself, but also negatively affecting the dance activity you are about to do–whether it’s class / rehearsal / performance.

SOOO……I hope all of the above has been informative and helpful–and even better, maybe just a good reminder, because you already know all of this and are already Stretching Healthy!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Jan Dunn, MS
Jan Dunn, MS

Editor Jan Dunn is a dance medicine specialist currently based on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, where she is owner of Pilates Plus Kauai Wellness Center and co-founder of Kauai Dance Medicine. She is also a Pilates rehabilitation specialist and Franklin Educator. A lifelong dancer / choreographer, she spent many years as university dance faculty, most recently as Adjunct Faculty, University of Colorado Dept. of Theatre and Dance.  Her 28 year background in dance medicine includes 23 years with the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) – as Board member / President / Executive Director – founding Denver Dance Medicine Associates, and establishing two university Dance Wellness Programs

Jan served as organizer and Co-Chair, International Dance Medicine Conference, Taiwan 2004, and was founding chair of the National Dance Association’s (USA) Committee on Dance Science and Medicine, 1989-1993. She originated The Dance Medicine/Science Resource Guide; and was co-founder of the Journal of Dance Medicine & Science.  She has taught dance medicine, Pilates, and Franklin workshops for medical / dance and academic institutions in the USA / Europe / Middle East / and Asia, authored numerous articles in the field, and presented at many national and international conferences.

Ms. Dunn writes about dance wellness for 4dancers and also brings in voices from the dance wellness/dance medicine field to share their expertise with readers.

Filed Under: conditioning, Dance Wellness Tagged With: iadms, jan dunn, joint hypermobility syndrome, safe stretching, stretching, Stretching for dancers, warming up

Dance: The Importance Of A Good Warm-Up

August 23, 2013 by 4dancers

Jan Dunn, MS
Jan Dunn, MS

by Jan Dunn, MS

Summer is drawing to a close, and I’m guessing at least some of you have already started back to school / dance class / rehearsals….and I would guess that you’re in good shape, because you’ve been reading the Dance Wellness column over the last year and a half, and you know to not let your dancing body de-condition over the summer, yes?

So now that a new season is starting – whether that means as a student or professional dancer – let’s talk about how important warm-up is–and what exactly is this anyway, and WHY is it important?

I remember a number of years ago, when my Denver Dance Medicine Medicine colleague, Sarah Graham, PT, and I were working backstage with a well-known international dance company, and were distressed to realize that 90% of the dancers went on-stage with virtually no warm-up before the show – and the company had many injuries that came as a result. It was a grim reminder of how important warm-up is for your dancing life.

Bottom line:  We warm-up to prepare our bodies safely for the dance activity to follow, and to avoid injury.

Let’s just start with the basics:

The primary goal of a warm-up is to increase your core internal body temperature by 1-2 degrees.  By doing this, you accomplish a number of good things:

-increase your respiration rate (breathing)

-increase the blood flow to your muscles (to fuel your dance movement!)

-increase your joint lubrication, for easier range of motion. Think of your joints as having oil (they do – it’s called “synovial fluid”), which, when cold, moves slowly and makes movement more difficult. Warming-up that fluid makes the joint move more easily and freely.  (Like your car on a cold winter morning–you want to warm it up first!)

-increase the speed of neural signal transmission from your brain to your muscles.

-focus your attention

Misc. points to realize about the warm-up: [Read more…]

Filed Under: conditioning, Dance Wellness Tagged With: dance class, dance wellness, jan dunn ms, muscles, stretching, warming up

Review: Aurorae Synergy Yoga Mat

June 6, 2012 by 4dancers

by Catherine L. Tully

If you are a Bikram yoga fan–or just a dancer who tends to sweat, you’ll be excited by this product–I know I was!

The Aurorae Synergy towel-mat is a great pick for yoga class or to use at home for stretching. It makes so much sense I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve seen anything like it. The bottom is a yoga mat and the top is a microfiber towel. Combined, they give you 5mm of comfortable cushion which can make a difference after a long day of rehearsals (or, in my case, if you are over 40 and not fond of sitting on a hardwood floor to stretch out).

Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of the way most mats feel when you use them to stretch, so this solved my issue. The towel part is soft and feels good against the skin, and it also helps prevent slipping, as the two surfaces are fused together.

At 72 inches, the mat is nice and long, and it is also biodegradable, SGS approved, free from phthalates, latex and silicone. The best part is you can even put it in your washer (follow directions with mat and hang to dry).

It’s always nice to have a spot to stretch, and this product is lightweight, as well as easy to roll up and take with you on vacation–or on tour. I think it’s a winner for dancers as well as for those who practice yoga. (If you prefer the more traditional style of yoga mat, this company sells those as well.)

Filed Under: 4dancers, Reviews Tagged With: Aurorae Synergy Yoga Mat, bikram yoga, dance, dancer, stretching, yoga mat, yoga mats

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