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.