Fitness and Health

Fitness and Health

DONNELLAN, CRAIG (2006) ‘Fitness and Health’ Volume 113. Published by Independence, Cambridge.

In recent years we have become aware of our need of exercise especially for children. 9 out of 10 children are not getting enough exercise to ensure that will become healthy adults. Only 10 per cent of young people get one hour of physical activity per day that health experts and scientists say is necessary and needed. Becoming lazy and ‘couch potatoes’ leads to obesity and a number of different diseases, more and more children sat in after school watching TV or playing video games instead of meeting friends out, playing football etc.

Researcher’s monitored 4500 11 year old pupils in Bristol area, using sophisticated motion sensors called ‘accelerometers’ they found out most students did not do enough exercise during the day, some did not even exercise at all, and only a handful of students did the correct amount. Children are expected to exercise only 60 minutes per day. Children need to exercise such as walking, but also vigorous exercise like running and cycling. Vigorous intensity aerobic exercise is where you perform a certain type of exercise which increases your heart rate significantly and causes heavy and fast breathing. Parents and children need to understand balancing the energy they take in from food by burning off calories through exercise.

Britain was third fattest in the world after the US and Malta, 22 percent of boys and 28 per cent of girls aged 2-15 in England, which is a huge amount. Neville Rigby of the International Obesity Task Force, said ‘We live in a society where parents are too frightened to let their kids out to play, school playing fields have been sold off and streets are so packed with parked cars that youngsters have nowhere to kick a ball around even if they feel like it.’

Why Exercise is Wise

Children need more physical activity than adults, children need 60minutes per day, and adults need 30minutes of exercise 5 or more times per week which experts agree with. Being more active is not just about running, swimming, and playing a certain sport, being more active also involves walking, gardening and climbing the stairs, which is in our daily routine. There are lots of advantages of being more active, and you will start to feel the benefits such as: better health, more energy, reduce stress, stronger bones and muscles, better balance, more independence in later life, improves sleep, more social opportunities, a sense of achievement, increased enjoyment. This shows that being more active helps physical and mental health, we need to exercise our heart, it is the most important muscle we have, and it needs to keep fit so it can pump blood efficiently with each heartbeat.

There are also certain health problems which being active helps with too; coronary heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, stress, depression, obesity, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, certain cancers, abnormal blood cholesterol levels.

Aerobic Exercise

Making sure your heart gets a good workout is important, aerobic exercises is any type of exercise that gets your heart pumping and the muscles using oxygen, you will notice your body using more oxygen when you start breathing faster) If you give your heart this type of workout regularly, your heart will get stronger and more efficient in delivering oxygen (in the form of oxygen-carrying blood cells) to all different part of the body. Being in a team sport is a great way to make sure you get enough aerobic exercise per week, maybe even more which is great! But there are other types of forms of exercise too, you do not need to be in a team sport, but most children join a team at school weather its football, basketball, swimming etc. After finishing school is when people start doing less activities, like I said before most children join a club or team at school which helps towards keeping fit, after you leave school you still need to find some way of keeping fit such as swimming, biking, hiking, dancing.

Flexibility Training

Strengthening the heart and other muscles is not the only important goal when exercising. Exercise also helps keeping your body, joints and muscles flexible, people who are flexible can worry less about strained muscles and sprain. Some sports such as gymnastics and dance you need to be flexible, but it also helps in football and other sports too. Warming up before a workout is especially important, but during a warm up and cool down is a perfect opportunity for some stretching and help develop your flexibility.

 

 

ISTD Foundation in Dance Instruction

ISTD: Foundation in Dance Instruction

(Unit 2: Promotion of Health and Safety in Dance)

Professional source published by Dec 2008 by ISTD Examination Board. Cathy Barret, Jane Baylis, Jaap Blokdijk, Heather Burns, Jasmine Challis, Janet Cclark, Giovanna Curati, Bronda Dossett, Gail Farrow, Jacqueline Ferguson, Teresa Hall, Ben Hastings, David Henshaw, Gillian Hurst, Katy Inigo-Jones, Jillian Knight, Marion Lane, Helen Laws, Angela Lynch, Penny Meekings, Elizabeth Nabarro, Diane Paull, Kim Pedrick, Matthew Portal, Rachel Rist, Druanna Roberts, Nicola Stephens, Charles Russel LLP Partners and to the Imperial Society of Teachers in Dancing (ISTD) staff for their contributions. Warming Up and Cooling Down p115-119 and Growth and Bones development (young children (Ages 5-10years) p83-86.

Warming Up and Cooling Down

Definition of Warming Up?

‘Warming up is a set of exercises that needs to take place before any acticity is undertaken. Ideally, this should be a section of continuous movement of about 15minutes or longer and should include the large muscle groups. The effect should be such that the internal bodt temperature increases by one to two degrees.’ Shelloch (1983)

Warming up prepares the mind and body equally so a dancer can perform complicated movements that are required in a dance class. A dancers body before warming up is at a state of rest is you successfully carried out a warm-up this will improve the performance and significantly reduce the chances of injury. Warming up prepares dancers mentally and physically for the dance class ahead, so teachers need to plan and pay a lot of attention to this section of the class.

Benefits of warming up

·         It enhances the psychological focus on the activity-

Warming up gives a dancer time to focus on posture, stance and technique, giving them time to adjust to class and improves concentration will mean a dancer is more prepared for class, and will be more likely to execute difficult dance movements.

·         It increases muscle elasticity-

Warming up increases blood circulation to the working muscles this will allow the muscle to become more elastic and less likely to snap and cause an injury.

·         It improves the transmission of signals along nerve cells-

Your brain sends messages along the nerves to the muscle this will be done more efficiently resulting in quicker response times and more co-ordination.

·         It increases the heart rate-

During a warm up the blood begins to start pumping around the body more quickly, this means the increase in the heart rate ensures the oxygen and glucose are carried to the working muscles and the brain quickly for energy production and muscle contraction.

·         It increases body temperature-

After a warm up a dancers body temperature should have increased by one to two degrees, this will help warm the muscles making them more elastic. Blood also carries warmth around the body to the muscles, this increase in temperature allows more efficient energy production for muscle contraction.

·         It redistributes the circulation of blood-

As the heart rate increases the blood flow is redistributed to where oxygen and glucose are needed (for example; skin, muscles, brain and away from other areas such as gastrointestinal tract.) This is also the reason why dancers should not eat a heavy meal before a dancer class or any type of exercise for that matter as the blood will divert to the gut to facilitate digestion.

·         It improves the functions of the joints-

Movement helps the fluid in the joints to increase in volume and the thickness of cartilage increases too. This improves the joint’s shock-absorbing ability when the body is exercising.

·         It increases the respiratory rate-

During a warm up a dancers breathing should start to sound heavier, this ensure an adequate supply of oxygen from the lungs to the tissues to support the muscle contraction. Teachers also need to be aware of a warm up being too intense, their body will not be able to keep up with the demand for oxygen and this will lead to a build-up of lactic acid. Heart and breathing rates should increase during a warm-up and this usually occurs approximately 3-6minutes after you start a warm-up.

What is the Best Way to Warm Up?

Many students especially younger students do not understand that being warm and warmed up are not the same state. Sitting on a radiator with lots of clothing on drinking a hot drink does not mean the body is warm.

A warm-up should be designed to fit the age group and fitness level you are teaching. Clearly younger children do not need as long to warm up compared to a full time dance student. Having a warm up too long will on exhaust the children before the class has even begun properly. On the other hand a full time dancer who trains frequently will need a longer warm up to have the same effect on their body. A mistake that has been made before is forgetting the effect of a warm up wear off after about 30 minutes of rest following exercise.

The warm up routine needs to include the following movements:

·         A warm up should begin with using large controlled general movements that use the large muscle groups with gentle movements of the joints through their normal range of movement.

For example: walking, lunges, arm swings etc. Using feet, ankles, knees, hip and should joints.

·         The pace of the movements should increase slowly as the dancers heart and breathing rate increase.

·         Next, start by using the spine then you can start to engage the neck as well.

For example: bending forwards with knees bent to protect the lower spine, controlled twists and side bend. With the neck side to side, forwards and backwards and slowly tilting.

·         Gentle stretches of the muscles can be performed. Make sure when stretching these large muscle groups that the stretching is not extreme as dancers are still preparing for bigger movements and stretches.

For example: hamstrings, quadriceps, hip flexors and calf muscles. You could even try controlled movements standing with your foot firmly on the ground, bent supporting leg and leg extensions to the front and side or deep lunges forward.

·         Once the dancer feels warm and more prepared for class you can then perform some simple jumps with changing directions to complete a successful warm up.

 

Effect of a Warm Up

1.       Feel warm with an increased heart rate but not out of breath;

2.       Still be able to hold a conversion

3.       Be sweating

4.       Feel that their muscles and joints are warm and supple;

5.       Be able to execute dance moves with accuracy

A warm-up should take into account a number of factors including:

·         The fitness level of the dancer;

·         The style pf dance/dance genre;

·         What the dancer has already done during the day;

·         The temperature of the environment;

·         Whether there are any old injuries;

·         How much space and time is available.

What is Cooling Down?

At the end of a dance class it is very important to cool down. This will be accomplished through gentle and sustained movements that do not cause stress on the muscles and joints. Cooling down helps the dancer and her body to wind down and relax physical and mentally, to reduce the breathing and heart rate and to prevent any injuries or muscle soreness.

If a dancer suddenly stops after a high level of activity, the heart carries on pumping blood through the body at a high level even though the muscles have stopped working. If the muscles stop working and the blood is still pumping at a high level the blood has nowhere to go and leads to ‘pooling.’ This can result in a dancer feeling dizzy or even faint as the blood flow to the brain is reduced. The waste products which has pooled in the non-working muscles will not be removed and will lead to sore muscles the next day.

The aim for a successful cool down is to reduce the intensity of the body movement, allowing the redistribution of blood from the muscles to pump towards other organs in the body. During the cool-down the body returns to pre-exercise state, it is necessary that a teacher leaves time for a cool-down.

Principles of Cooling Down

·         Do not stop the activity suddenly.

·         Keep moving, bringing the intensity of the exercise down gradually. For example: walking around the room, or gentle movements on the spot.

·         Concentrate on relaxing and feeling the breathing rate slow down.

·         Do some static stretches.

Growth and Bone Development

A human body goes through a lot of different stages and developments at different points in life. These changes do not only effect the body physical but also emotionally this can have an impact on a dancer’s ability to perform at their best. Dance teachers need to be aware of these changes and developments and take this into consideration when teaching their classes.

Young Children (Ages 5-10 Years)

Firstly, young children are not small adults. There are many differences between a child and an adult, mostly the immaturity of the organs and tissues. For example a child’s liver is not as well developed as an adult’s.

Bone Growth-

The long bones in a child’s body are not fully mature (ossified) at birth. These process can take up to 20years to fully develop and reach maturation. The plate of cartilage at the end of the long bone (the epiphyseal plate) continue to grow and ossify (turning into bone) to allow for total bone growth. Teachers need to be aware of the immature bones and are susceptible to dislodging following an injury.

Body Proportion-

A child’s proportion are different to an adults, they go through stages of having short limbs or a big head which is normal but every child is different. This will lead to a child finding certain movements difficult, maintaining or supporting their weight especially when a movement involves a sustained extension of arms and legs. When limbs grow children need to find muscle that will help control or hold an extension, this will take time, some students longer than others.

Body Temperature-

Children are not able to regulate their body temperature as well as adults due to their immature sweating mechanisms. This means children will find extreme temperatures hard to tolerate, they will need to keep warm, and ballet cardigans are very popular in the winter.

Energy-

Children do not have as well-developed store of glycogen as adults, this means children will not be able to perform disciplined for a long amount of time, and short burst of high energy.

Emotional Development-

·         Perceiving the world physically

·         Perceiving themselves at the centre of the world

·         Less developed social skills

·         Language development

Teachers need to be aware of this, and be there to support them. Listening and responding to children provides a guide for them to follow, working with others will also help them develop social skills.

Fluids for Dancers

Fluids for Dancers

When researching into warm-up I find many sources talk about sweating and keeping hydrated during class or a performance, so I wanted to look into this slightly more.

Professional source written by Jane Griffin first published by ‘dance UK’ in 1998 but was revised in 2001 and 2005. 

Why do dancers sweat?

·         Sweating keeps a dancers body temperature steady

·         Cools the body down

·         Heat rises and needs to exit the body quickly and efficiently.

·         Pro longs the time of exercise if fluids and replaced, if not this will causes dehydrations and effects the performance of the body.

Dehydrations can effect a dancer physically and mentally.

2% loss of fluids starts to effect the performance already and 5-6% decreases the capacity to work by 30%.

Hydration is one of the main reasons dancers suffer from muscle cramps.

More exercise = More sweat

The higher the temperature of the room = More sweat

More clothing = More sweat

Humidity = More sweat because it drips off the body rather than evaporates so it produces more sweat.

Hydration status- dehydration eventually limits the sweat production, as the body is trying to conserve fluid. 

Also wearing the wrong clothes for dancing can resist sweating. This is not a good idea as this stops sweat, nor is a good way to lose weight as you are only losing fluid not body fat.

Drink 2-7% cards and sodium can help not being hydrated. This is called isotonic drink, same concentration as bodily fluids so they are more easily absorb.

Example of an isotonic drink:

·         50g glucose or sugar, 1 litre water, 1 large pinch of salt (1-1.5g)

Dissolve the sugar and salt water. Flavour with low calorie squash and top up to 1 litre with COLD water. Cover and keep chilled in the fridge until needed.

Sweating maintains the body temperature at 37 degrees, this results in the loss of body fluids and electrolytes, which are minerals (for example chloride, calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium.)

Dehydration can cause circulatory collapse and heat stroke.

Fluid balance is maintained by receptors in the brain and circulatory system. They check blood pressure and the concentration of the dissolved particles in the blood stream.

When exercising the rate of heat production rises a lot, to remove this from th body but it does not take much of an increase in heat to overload the usual mechanism for losing heat. So the body finds a new method which is called the evaporation of sweat from the surface of the skin. Which will eventually cool down the body.

If you participate in a dance class for 30 minutes you should not need a drink break as long as you hydrate before and after class. If dancing for longer you should drink water or an isotonic drink.

You should always start a dance class well hydrated otherwise fluid loss will leads to tiredness and a risk of injury.

You should also vary what you drink during the day.

Remember if you are drinking tea, coffee, cola and other energy drinks normally contain caffeine which has a diuretic effect. Drinking 5 cups of tea or 3 coffees should be fine.

If a dancer wants to assess how much fluid you lose after a hard dance class they should weigh themselves (not with hot sweaty clothes on) every kilogram lost is equivalent to a litre of fluid not replaced.

It is also important to remember to keep hydrated and not wait until you feel thirsty, then that’s too late!

You need to train your body to drink water and keep hydrated. Start by taking small sips of water so you do not feel bloated and you can slowly build up the amount you drink.

Preparing for my interview...

As it was the first week back I have recently been looking into more professional sources to gather more information on my topic of inquiry, I have been looking into warm-ups, cool-downs and how to improve flexibility. I had been looking at these 3 things separately for a while, but only recently I have started to look at them as a whole and should they be used together, or not?
As most people are aware of you should only stretch when a body is fully warmed up and prepared for stretching which is 'common sense' for a dance teacher but looking into this more I have come across many different opinions on this topic, some sources think certain stretches should be involved in a warm-up and others say stretching is not necessarily during a warm-up and if anything only causes injuries rather than preventing them! I want to look into this more, and I have added questions to my interview which focus's on this more.

IADMS

IADMS- International Association of Dance Medicine and Science

I have recently been reading a resource paper: ‘Stretching for Dancers’ by Brenda Critchfield. This was published by IADMS in 2011. I have also looked through the references use to this piece and found she had used quotes and information from ‘Essential of Strength Training and Conditioning-3^rd Edition’ by Thomas Baechle, and I really enjoyed his book. Here is the link https://www.iadms.org/?353 

Flexibility versus Range of Motion (ROM)

Range of motion is the degree of movement in a moving joint. Depending on the structure of the joint and what type of movement is necessary. The human body has many different joints and this provides us with stability and structure, joints let us achieve everyday movements. There are many different factors that can affect the range of motion in a joint such as; biomechanical and physiological factors, the shape of the bones involved is a very big factor too, the connective tissues (joint capsule and ligaments) all these factors stabilize and can also restrict a joint, but this helps us stretch to a safe range. Range of motion can also be shortened down to ROM.

Understanding flexibility as a dancer is very important, I like this resource paper as it focuses on the science behind it, my other professional sources have also looked into this but IADMS is dedicated to improving dancers health. The soft tissue structures gives a dancers the ability to stretch and improve their flexibility. Muscles, tendons and connective tissue helps us smoothly move through our personal range of motion ROM. Dynamic and static flexibility are the two components you can split flexibility into. Dynamic stretching is the active range of motion (ROM) we contract the muscles which gives the body ability to move a particular joint. For example a grand battement, pushing off the floor and contracting the muscle for the height of the grand battement. Static stretching on the other hand is passive stretching and the muscles do not contract while using the range of motion ROM. An example of static flexibility would be uses a hand to pull the passive leg further than a dynamic stretch. Both dynamic and static stretches are important but dancers and teachers should be aware that static stretches and injuries as your pulling and helping your muscles to stretch.

Type of Stretching

There are many different techniques to stretching; such as dynamic, ballistic, static and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) and each technique has advantages and disadvantages which we should be aware of. Also prolonged stretches should be avoided. Prolonged stretches elongate ligaments and joint capsules which should help dancer’s stability. This type of stretch can lead to loss of stability and serious injuries. I do not think many teachers use this technique as you have to hold the stretch for 20 minutes or longer and having that time spare during class is very rare.

Here is a table I found on this article which I found interesting:

Stretching Technique	Advantages	Disadvantages
Ballistic Stretch- A brief, bouncing, swinging stretch.	Useful tool for coordination	High risk of injury
Dynamic Stretch- Controlled, dance-like movements that prepare the body for activity.	Improves coordination without risk of injury.	Not as effective as static stretch in producing long-term gains in flexibility.
Static Stretch- Held for 30 seconds.	Useful in maintaining flexibility.	Needs to be regular to produce long-term gains in flexibility.
PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation)	Effective in producing long-term flexibility over time.	Needs professional guidance to avoid risk of injury.

As you can see from this table they are useful when you want to increase the range of motion (ROM) but some of them are better than others, and the most effective techniques are the ones with high risk of injury. Many sources have researched into these techniques to find which ones have shirt term or long term gains, dancers should try out all types with an experienced teacher and see which technique suits their physique more.

When to Stretch

A mistake many dancers make is the differences between warming up and stretching, they are not the same thing. The aim for a good warm up is the body temperature should increase this means the core and muscle tissues should increase in temperature too, you should see slight sweat appearing on the skin but not too much. The focus of the warm-up is not to increase a dancer’s flexibility, it is a much better time to stretch at the end of class or rehearsal when a dancer’s body have been exercised and active for 1-2 hours. When a body is at normal body temperature and you apply a small amount of pressure on a stretch, connective tissues are warm and they can lengthen more effectively it can be 4 times more effective than a bigger amount of force. Most dancers want to improve their flexibility and you want the effect to be long-term, for long-term effects tissue length can last up to twice as long if it’s a low-load stretch and the tissues are warm, on the other hand stretching when muscle tissues are at a higher temperature there is a less of a risk on injuries. One technique of stretching is holding a stretch while cooling down, this also gives a greater increase in tissue length.

Before a demanding class, rehearsal or a performance it is best not to perform major stretches as it has been proven to have an effect on strength, power, endurance, balance, and grip strength, sprint time, jumping height, reaction time and movement time. You need all of these skills during a dance class, rehearsal and especially a performance. Dancers will especially find the fact that the magnitude of jumping deficit is 5-30% this also has an impact on ankle plantar-flexion strength and will decrease (25% on average will decrease after a 30 minutes stretch.)

The conclusion to this piece is during a warm-up you should keep stretches brief and only hold for about 10-15 seconds, no longer then there is an unlikely risk of performance problems. When a dancer is aiming to increase their flexibility it is best to save major stretches until the end of class and should practice this regularly at least up to 6 weeks probably more until the dancer can see a change occur to their flexibility. Research in this area is always evolving and it is always good to keep up to date with new evidence or sources.  

Benefits of Stretching During Warm-Ups

Experts Debate Benefits of Stretching During Warm-Ups

Published by Human Kinetics 2008, this is an excerpt from ‘Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 3^rd Edition’ by Thomas Baechle.

During a warm-up, most teachers prefer to use the static stretch technique when it comes to stretching at the beginning section of class, we do this in hope of enhancing the dancer’s performance and reducing the risk of injuries. More recently there are more reviews of literature that question static stretching in this practice and there is very little evidence that stretching pre or post-participation can prevent injuries and even muscle soreness. Depending which sport you are warming up for, it can increase the range of motion for gymnastics or dancing but it can also compromise muscle performance. Teachers especially, need to analysis the benefits and risks when choosing weather or not to include static stretching as a section in the warm-up, it is more important to focus on strength and conditioning professional performance rather than risking static stretching.

Some studies have been shown that if you perform static stretching during a warm-up it can lead to a decrease in force production, power performance, running speed, reaction and movement time, and strength endurance, after reading this I could connect to this piece as I teach a stretch class on a Saturday afternoon and the students that stay for ballet afterwards lose a certain aspect of speed I normally put this down to being tired at the end of a long day but it could be an effect from the stretch class, I find their allegro and beats tend to have less control and they ‘throw’ themselves around rather than staying in control of their body. This article then goes on to say PNF stretching and ballistic stretching have also been shown to have a damaging effect to a dancer’s performance.

On the other hand dynamic stretching could be an alternative compared to static, PNF and ballistic stretching. Teachers and students need to question and look into the advantages and disadvantages of stretching during a warm-up. There is evidence that dynamic stretching can improve subsequent running performance so this could be an alternative option when performing stretches in a warm-up.

Obviously there are different amounts of stretching required for a warm up and this depends on what type of sports the body is preparing for. Dancing, gymnastics and diving need more stretching compared to jogging or cycling. Teachers need to design a warm-up based on what they are teaching and only choose certain exercises that are appropriate in their class.

A warm-up should start with a period of time performing constant slow activity for about 5-10 minutes. This section of the warm-up is to increase the body temperature, increase the heart rate, blood flow, deep muscles temperature, respiration rate and perspiration and to decrease viscosity of joint fluids. The second section is certain exercises in the style of the class you are teaching and 8-12 minutes of dynamic stretching focusing on the range of muscles you will be using during the class. A warm-up should progress gradually, the core temperature should rise but without your students feeling tired.

I think teachers should be aware of all studies and reading this article has made me more aware of many different opinions compared to other sources of literature I have read, I want to find more sources like this one; debates, discussions and arguing their opinions across.

Methods of Stretching

Dance UK information sheet. Warming Up and Cooling Down. By Helen Laws, Caroline and Matthew Wyon.

Static Stretch-
Static stretching is a very popular stretch and is one of the safest methods of stretching, static stretching can also be very popular for dancers recovering from an injury. Current research has been aimed towards static stretching, and it is not proven to prevent an injury but is an essential part of cooling down. This includes all types of stretching methods, all muscles should be warm before starting to stretch, so cooling down is a perfect time for deeper range stretches.
With static stretches you need to place yourself or a student into the correct position, gently move (not push) deeper into the stretch, the dancer should feel the stretch but it should not be causing pain. You then breathe slowly and evenly while holding the stretch for 30+ seconds during a cool down. If you are stretching during a warm up you should hold it for 10 seconds just for the muscles to relieve stiffness.
With static stretches if the dancer or dancers are completely warm you can then release for holding the stretch but then return to the same position and hold it again.

PNF Stretch-
This type of stretch is aimed to improve your flexibility and should only be carried out when dancers are fully warm. PNF stretching is a popular name for this stretching method but it stands for 'proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation' the small sensors that identify muscle tension (proprioceptors) are used to achieve maximum elongation of the muscles without initiating the stretch reflex.
PNF stretching works in the way of finding a position that you can feel the stretch and again the dance should not be feeling pain. After holding the stretch for 10 seconds you apply resistance to the chosen muscle for 10 seconds, this stretch is often used when in partners. After 10 second you relax the muscle and gently increase the stretch to the point of feeling the stretch, not pain. Try and repeat this another 2 times.

Plate 17. Anatomy and Kinesiology for Ballet Teachers. By Eivind Thomasen and Rachel-Anne Rist (1996) PNF stretching technique, a partner assisting with a hamstring stretch.

Dynamic Stretch-
Dynamic stretching is often used during an effective warm-up, this type of stretching involves moving a muscle or joint through its full range, I slightly disagree with this part, as I believe full range stretches should be performed nearer the end of the class when the body is completely warm and supply, a cool down is perfect for full range stretching. But anyhow dynamic stretching is full range movement in a slow and controlled manner, you should not hold this stretch but continuously keep moving.

For example: if you wanted to stretch the hamstring muscles, you could use a slow grand battement, extending the leg devant, side and derriere. I believe less and less teachers are using this technique to stretch, after more research on different types of stretching most teachers know not to use full range stretches during a warm-up or the beginning of class.

 

Ballistic Stretch-
This type of stretching is similar to dynamic stretching, the only difference between these two is ballistic stretching is bouncing in a stretch, this means the speed of starching is fast and can be forceful. This type of stretching is rarely used, I can not say I use this type of stretching in my classes, you need to be sure all students are completely warm, warm enough for jumps, leaps and energetic movements otherwise this will lead to injuries and harming you or your students.
I think this type of stretch is becoming less and less popular. I think this is a dated technique which was very popular but after more research I believe there are better methods to stretch.
This type of method would be finding a full range stretch and bouncing or swinging at a fast speed, normally with your body weight pushing down to deepen the stretch.

Anatomy and Kinesiology for Ballet Teachers

This professional source has helped me a lot! 'Anatomy and Kinesiology for Ballet Teachers' written by Eivind Thomasen and Rachel-Anne Rist in 1996 (published by Dance Book Ltd.) Recently I have re-read section 3: The Dancer in Action I found the beneficial stretching, warming up and warming down, breathing and balance sections (found in contents) really helped me in my topic of interest. It has also lead me to research more into stretching and flexibility. Stretching was already a big part to my topic of warming up and cooling down, but researching into factor that affect flexibility and how a child's body develops and becomes less flexible around the age of 10 or 11 (dancers may improve their flexibility throughout adolescence.) After warming your body up dancers tend to perform mid range stretches and save full range during the cool down when the body is completely warm but I want to research more into this.

I trained at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts and during my time at this school the Director of Dance was Rachel-Anne Rist. She was one of my many ballet teachers and I also took dance A 'level and again Rachel-Anne Rist was one of my teachers on this subject. This was one of our books we revised for our exams so we spent many classes reading through and taking notes. Having one of the authors of this book teach and train me at college and having the opportunity to study this book together has really helped me and motivated me. I have also seen Rachel-Anne Rist name when reading 'ISTD Foundation in Dance Instruction' in the acknowledgements they thank ISTD staff for their contributions.

ISTD Warm-up

ISTD Warm up

I have recently been reading a source written by Hazel Fish MSc BSc(Hons) CertEd(PCET) MCSP SRP AISTD DipHSW and it has been posted on the formal ISTD website, but was first published for DANCE magazine, Summer 2002.

Why should we warm-up?

The majority of dancers that injure themselves when dancing is normally the case of not warming up correctly or not warming up at all, your body needs to be prepared and your mind needs to be focus which is why we need to warm-up, I know some injuries are unavoidable and this is not always the case. From a young age of being at school during PE lessons and elite athletes both know it is important to warm-up before exercising, this is what makes your exercise programme successful, and prevents injuries.

A large amouth of dance teachers and students do not understand what a successful warm-up should consist of, especially in ballet. Most ballet lessons start at the barre with plies, tendus, rond de jambe and so on, but your body should already be warmed up before any set exercise take place in the studio, this will ensure all students are prepared for class and the least likely chance of any injuries.

A good warm-up is a handful of exercises performed at the beginning of class, a dancers body needs to be fully warmed up before any activities. A warm-up is designed to improve performance standards, focus the mind mentally, and reduce any chance of injuries.

A warm-up should benefit a dancer a number of ways such as:

·         Increased elasticity of the muscle/tendon unit

After performing a good warm-up a dancers should feel greater flexibility in their joints, which reduces the risk of any injuries. Muscle elasticity depends on blood saturation, so when the muscles are cold (before a warm-up) with low blood saturation the muscles are much more vulnerable to damage. Your muscles are very alike a blog of Blu-tack, when Blu-tack is cold it snaps apart easily, but if the Blu-tack is warm it is able to stretch much more, this is how our muscles work too. During a warm-up all the warm blood travels through your muscles warming the muscle fibres to make them more elastic.

 

·         Breathing becomes faster and deeper

This allows the dancer to breath in deeper breath of oxygen and breath out carbon dioxide.

·         A rise in the heart rate

Oxygen and glucose travel to your muscles for energy production.

·         A rise in the internal body temperature

In our skin we have capillaries which open up when we start warming up, the dancer will begin to sweat.

·         More efficient transmission of signals along motor nerves

Muscles to contract smoother and react quicker, even our muscles have to coordinate with each other.

·         Improved proprioception

Proprioception is the body’s ability to sense movement within joints and feel a certain position, this enables a dancer to know where their limbs are in space without looking. Being able to feel the position on your body, and knowing you are in the correct position with the correct posture.

·         Time to focus

Allowing the dancer time to focus herself, being distracted and not having their full attention on the class will only lead to injuries or an unsuccessful class.

 

·         Increased joint range of movement

During the warm-up there will be an increase in the extensibility of tendons, muscles, ligaments and other connective tissues.

·         Change from parasympathetic to sympathetic control of the autonomic nervous system

Allowing your body to rest for small breaks and then exercising again

·         Redistribution of blood 

Your body is an incredible instrument, when warming up your blood is directed away for certain areas (for example the gut) and pumped towards other areas such as muscles etc.

·         Release of energy fuel from storage

Glycogen turns into glucose with the help of hormone glucagon.

The warm-up should be specific

When performing a warm-up you need to make sure the standard fits the dancer’s ability and especially their age. A 5 year old would be exhausted after warming up for a couple of minutes, but a full time dancer or student need about 10-15minutes to be completely warmed up and prepared for class. Many people forget or do not realise the fitter you are as a dancers the longer your warm-up should be, making sure it has the same effect on your body.

The warm-up should gradually increase muscle and body temperature without causing tiredness or reducing energy stores, it should not include technical steps or exercises, a warm-up should be easy to follow.

It is very important to remember who your warm-up is aimed towards, you need to take in to consideration what age are they and their level of fitness and relating the warm-up towards what they will be doing in class on that specific day. Concentrating on movements and exercises that will warm-up the correct muscle for what they will be using in class, relating a warm-up if you are planning on practicing grand allegro compared to partner work (both men and women would need different warm-ups in this case) or adage etc. Also being aware of which style of dance you are teaching, a ballet warm-up would be very different to a tap warm-up.

When warming up for a performing or just in general, the teacher needs to be aware of long rest periods, if you spend time on costumes, hair or makeup the body might lose the benefits of a warm-up they carried out earlier in the day. Many dancers spend a lot of time sitting around a theatre if they are not rehearsing their section or getting ready backstage, this is a mistake many dancers make.