Benefits of Stretching Before & After Dancing
Flexibility is a crucial piece of dancers that thrive. The strength and agility of muscles comes from constantly working and pushing the body, but it also comes from giving it the rest and recovery that it needs.
At the beginning and end of every dance class here at Miss Colleen’s Elite Dancentre, we like to incorporate some stretches. This helps warm and loosen up the body before practice starts, but it also relieves the muscles of tension at the end of practice.
Though we do work stretching into the schedule for all classes, the understanding, and importance of stretching is something that we want all dancers to have. Whether it’s after a competition or a practice where their body is still tight, here are a few of the reasons that your dancer should be stretching.
Increase Flexibility
As we mentioned before, increasing flexibility is something that all dancers want to achieve, but this takes time, and it takes practice. Even though it may not seem like the most straightforward idea of practice, stretching is one of the best ways to improve flexibility.
By stretching before a practice, you are helping your body loosen up and prepare for the positions that it’s going to be getting into during the practice. And when you stretch after a workout, you’re relieving your body of the tension and acid that it’s holding onto from a workout which keeps your muscles healthy.
Reduces Chance of Injury
Injury is a major fear for young dancers that are hoping to make a career of their passion. In this industry, an injury could be the end of that journey, so it’s best to do anything you can to avoid it — that means stretching. By spending some time stretching you are able to supply your body with a greater amount of nutrients to the muscles, which in turn reduces the level of soreness.
Aside from playing a part in the soreness you feel, stretching provides your muscles with the time that they need to recover from this type of physical activity. When you push your muscles (especially to achieve positions that challenge flexibility) your muscles tear. This is normal for all forms of physical activity, but it’s also why stretching and rest is essential. When you give your body the time to heal the muscles and to rest it builds the muscles up, strengthening them.
That means that a straightforward stretch before and after your workout can not only reduce the chances of you getting hurt while dancing, but it can also play a part in strengthening your muscles so that they’re able to perform better when you need them the most — while you dance!
Promotes Blood Flow
Circulation is a crucial part to good health and overall functionality of your body. Though doing exercise is one way to certainly get your heart pumping, stretching is another way to ensure that the blood flow reaches all of the right places — including your muscles.
When you’re finally done with practice, and you’re getting your heart rate down, there’s nothing better than ensuring your pumping blood makes it way to all your vital organs. You can achieve that and so much more while stretching.
Reduce Soreness
As adults, we fully understand what’s to come after a workout — soreness, sometimes for days. Though we can understand, and even crave, that soreness, children will very rarely be ready for their body to ache the way it does after their first few dance classes.
If your child is complaining about their body hurting and muscle aches, then it’s best to try and incorporate even more stretching than what we’re doing in the classroom. A few stretches before bed could significantly reduce the amount of soreness that they’re feeling after their dance classes and will also provide them with all of the benefits that we’ve included above.
Visit Miss Colleen’s Elite Dancentre
When you’re ready for a dance class that will challenge you and will set your passion for dance on fire, stop by Miss Colleen’s Dancentre in Rockville Centre. We offer a wide variety of kids dance classes for your child to choose from. Find our current schedule here and reach out to us if you have any additional questions or are ready to register for classes. We hope to see you soon.