The Importance of Stretching

Just like in every sport of athletic activity, you need to warm up in dance. A main component in worming up for dance is stretching! To avoid injuries before practicing and especially before performing any dances, leaps, or extensions. By stretching, you are warming up your muscles and getting them prepared for strenuous activity. By not stretching, you are at greater risk of tearing a muscle or getting an other active related injury.

Stretching is also extremely important when it comes to flexibility. Most people can not just drop into the splits without ever stretching. There are many different stretches that can help you stretch the many different muscles in your legs. To be able to gain flexibility, you have to stretch regularly and more than just during warm ups. You must also keep stretching after you have reached the flexibility you want to be able to maintain your flexibility.

Here are some tips for stretching:

• Use different stretches
•  Stretch as many muscles as possible as to stretch your main muscles as well as your supporting muscles
• Stretch often
• Schedule a certain part of your day to stretch, such as when you wake up or go to bed. If you schedule a time to do it regularly, you are more likely to stick to the schedule and stretch more often  
• Hold stretches. By holding stretches they become more effective than short bursts of stretching
• Stretch through the pain of tightness. One of the reasons people don not stretch as much is because it hurts. This is because your muscles are tight. You need to stretch through the pain of tight muscles to be able to benefit from the stretch

This website gives many good examples and tips for stretching and improving your flexibility. Hopefully with these tips your are able to increase your flexibility and are more careful before strenuous activity.