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How can I stretch to improve my flexibility?

I am a dancer and I have been dancing for 2yrs now. I need to work on my splits and flexibility. So what kind of stretches or techniques can I do to improve my flexibility everyday.

Public Comments

1. take it from a girl going into her twelfth year in dance, do ALOT of barre work! Keep your neck long with your head facing forward, roll your shoulders back and down, lengthen your torso, keep your hips even and energize your legs, this will keep the correct posture up through dance AND help your flexibility alot!
2. I would recommend Yoga. There are many different types, but I believe what they all have in common is increasing your flexibility. You can do a search for yoga studios in your area, and call them for more information. I've done yoga for only a couple of months, and very infrequently, and I see a big difference in my flexibility.
3. One exercise that we do in dance to work on our splits is to lay on our back and our butt is touching the wall, so our legs are up against the wall. And we lay there doing the splits for 5 mins. Or you can do this sitting up facing the wall and push yourself against the wall while doing the splits. I hope this makes sense :S
4. The correct way to stretch a muscle is to let it relax during a stretch. For example, take the simple hamstring stretch, touching your toes. (With straight legs of course) :) What you have to do is hold this stretch and continue to breathe in and out very deeply (About four breaths, if not more). While you are breathing you have to consciously think about relaxing your muscles. Inflexibility is mainly tension, and when the leg finally relaxes, there is not tension. I notice when I do this stretch the area around my knees tends to tense. And I can tell I have relaxed it when I see this tension has gone. I wouldn't recommend holding a stretch for anymore than 20 seconds at one time. You can come back to the same stretch later if you feel you need to work on it, but if you hold a stretch for 30 seconds your actually weakening that area. Also, don't make the common mistake with this breathing exercise which is half way through, you release the stretch a tiny bit. Although it feel correct with the tension disappearing your doing it wrong. Take stretching slowly, because if you pull a muscle, it reduces your flexibility. Make sure you warm before you stretch.