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.