Now that we’re a few months back into the studio and headed into the cold of winter, it seems like a great time to talk about stretching, and how to use that to maintain your flexibility as we move through the year.

Flexibility can be something you are born with and comes naturally to you, or it could be something that you have to work on and put in effort to create. Either way it is a key to mastering certain movements in dance and to preventing injury. Before you add stretching to your everyday routine, there are a few things that you need to know.

• Stretching should not be used as your only means of “warm up”. Some light movement before you begin stretching (jogging or walking in place for example) will make sure that your muscles are warm and ready to stretch. You can even gently walk through some choreography to help warm your body up.
• No room for comparisons!!!! You’re not trying to have the ability to stretch your your foot behind your ear like the dancer next to you in jazz. Most likely that is genetics (with maintenance) and you should be focusing on evaluating your level of flexibility and setting a realistic goal for yourself.
• Strive for equal flexibility on both sides. Equal flexibility will be key to preventing injury.
• Pain is not gain. You should stretch until you feel tension but not pain so if it hurts, back off until you feel comfy again.
• Make sure that you add stretching to your routine. If you are looking to become more flexible but you aren’t stretching consistently, you’ll lose the progress you’ve made.

Another caution would be to make sure that you don’t push yourself if you are injured. Yes, you may lose a little flexibility while you recover, but the risk of worsening or re-injuring yourself far outweighs that. Make sure that you are patient with yourself too! Building flexibility takes time and it takes maintenance. If you can stick with it you’ll begin to see the difference it makes in your dancing.