Hello FTT Family and welcome back to another FTT blog post Today we are sharing a quick little blog post on how to take your flexibility to the next level safely! Extensive flexibility is a goal for a lot of dancers, but sometimes it’s not achieved in very effective ways. There are tons of methods available online that claim to show you how to increase your flexibility and today we would like to add to those methods, but this time from a risk free perspective. So come along with us as we share four effective tips on how to elevate your flexibility game, while avoiding all the injuries. Let’s go!
- Lengthen Your Stretch Time
One way to safely elevate your flexibility game is to stretch for a longer length of time. Now this can mean a couple of different things. You can opt for increasing the time you stretch in terms of how long you hold a stretch, or you can increase the time that you stretch in terms of the length of your stretch routine as a whole. Making these small adjustments will lead to big results as the longer you stretch the more your muscles are required to accommodate their new requirements, thus making stretching easier and more comfortable.
- Don’t Gyp Yourself On Recovery Days
Now I know what you may be thinking. Recovery days usually mean not stretching at all. So how in the world is that going to make me more flexible? The reality of physical activity is that it’s not all about how often you do it, but about how you let your body retain it. Rest can do so much and if you let your body take time to recover, it will come back better, stronger and more flexible. So don’t be afraid to give yourself two or maybe even three rest days throughout the week. Muscle memory is a powerful thing. Give your body time to think and accommodate the new requirements that you are expecting from it, all well staying well rested and free of fatigue.
- Hyperextend (in moderation)
Now this next tip is 100 percent a personal choice. When we mention hyperextension, we truly are not talking about hiking your leg upon some super high surface. In our opinion, that can be a fast track to an injury. However, a little elevation can be good to add, especially if you are not feeling the challenge you once felt in your stretch. Hyperextension can be both a blessing and a curse, so please be sure to be careful and not test your limits to the point of discomfort. Once again, the operative word in this blog post is “safety”!
- Introduce New Challenges
One of the best ways to safely gain more flexibility is to introduce new challenges! After a while, our bodies become accustomed to the same old, same old. It is usually during this point that we experience a plateau in progress.This means it’s time to shake things up a bit! Slowly but surely begin to add in new stretches into your already established routine. Take out one stretch that has become too easy for you and replace it with a new stretch that you know will challenge you. And as you substitute bit by bit, you’ll realize one day that you have a whole new stretch routine, filled with things that were once a challenge. We love to see it!
We hope this blog post was of great help to you as you work to improve your flexibility. As always, we wish you wonderful weekend, filled with love and remember…
Keep Dancing!
Lexi
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