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" The
body as an instrument must be prepared for the physical activity that the
class demands of that body."
What
is warm up or warming up? It is NOT:
-Having
a hot shower before class
-Sitting
on the studio heater
-An extra
layer of practise clothes or
-Application
of lineament
From
the above ‘practices’ we only managed to make the body externally warm
and comfortable.
We have
not prepared it for physical exertion. Sweating at the beginning of class
doesnot signify that the body is warm. Stress, related to any number of
factors, can cause sweating:
-Being
late for class
-A new
teacher
-A new
environment, etc
Even
if you are dancing in a hundred degrees without a proper warm up you are
asking for trouble, maybe not immediate trouble but you are setting up
a pattern that could shorten your career.
Warming
up is preparing the body for increased exertion.It is increasing the
internal body temperature, which allows the muscles, joints and the nervous
system to work efficiently. To begin with we need to work two systems
-The
cardiovascular
system – the heart and blood network that carries oxygen to all the body
cells and carbon dioxide away from these cells
-The
respiratory
system–the lungs and airways that allow oxygen to be introduced into the
body and carbon dioxide to be removed from the body. During the warm up,
movement in the joints must be slowly increased. The function of the joint
is to allow movement to take place between two bones and it is the joints,which
allow the skeleton to be flexible. The main type of joint that we are concerned
with is the synovial joint, a joint which allows a free range of movement.
Examples
of this type of joint are the ankle, knee, hip, elbow and the joint islubricated
by synovial fluid, which in turn is surrounded by a layer of tissue called
the synovial membrane. Outside this is a strong capsule made up of fibrous
tissue.
This
is an extremely simplified description of the joint, but it gives an indication
of howcomplicated and important joints are, and why we must treat them
with care and consideration.
Slowly
increasing movement in the joint increases the volume of fluid shock absorbing
ability and prevents wear. Also, movement in the joint increases the flow
of blood and raises the temperature, which in turn increases the elasticity
and movement in the joint’s supporting tissue.
All
this transition happens within 10 minutes of the movement beginning
and is completely gone 30 minutes after the movement is completed.
Therefore if you have a break of 30 or more minutes between classes
the warm up process should berepeated.
Gentle
stretching should complete the warm up period. Bouncing, lunging, bobbing
forms of stretching should be avoided as the can result in muscle
and tendon injuries.
Staticstretching
exercises are much better as they do not involve a strong stretchreflex.
Static stretching involves placing the muscles slowly into a stretch and
holding for 10 to 15 seconds. There is no place for stretching and forcing
areas of the body into positions that the student/teacher think, wrongly,
will improve technique.
Here
are some basic ideas on which to build your own warm up routine.
In an ideal situation you would be using the studio where you take
your dance class. Remember,during the whole warm up you must breathe
with slow deep inhalations and long slow exhalations.
Start
by walking around the studio using the whole space and a continual of direction.
Build up an awareness of your space and the people around you. Soft
easy feet and relaxed joints.
Gradually
build up speed. While moving around start gently moving the shoulders,
rotating them forwards and backwards. Rotate the writs and move the fingers.
Make arm circles in both directions with bent elbow and then with straight
arms. Now turn the torso in the direction of the circle. Gradually
increase your waking pace until you start in to a gentle run. Remember
to keep the feet soft and light and the joints
easy
and relaxed. As your running pace increases continue to move your
arms but close to your body, piston fashion. Gradually decrease your
speed until you have returned to your initial walking pace. Find
a space and stand in a small parallel second position with straight
but not locked knees. Place your fingers onto your shoulders with
your elbows out to the side and your upper arms parallel to the floor.
Now circle your elbows backwards and forwards, feeling the movement
in the shoulder joints. Standing in the same position, place your arms
by your sides with your palms facing backwards. As you breathe out, and
without moving the shoulders, slowly press yourarms backwards. This
movement works your latissimus dorsi, a muscle that is important
in the stabilisation of the trunk. Now fold your arms in front of the chest
a few inches away from the breastbone. Keeping the hips very still, as
you breathe out turn your torso as far round to your right as possible,
breathe in as you return to the centre, breathe out as you repeat to the
other side. Place your feet into a wider second position, put
your left hand onto your hip with your elbow out to the side, stretch your
right arm up to the ceiling. As you breathe out keeping the hips still,
stretch the torso over to the left, hold the stretch. You can increase
the stretch by rotating the palm of the hand towards the ceiling.
Repeat on the other side. Back to your basic standing position, drop
your head to the chest and as you breathe out slowly roll the spine down
as far as you can without straining, allowing your arms to hang loosely.
Breathe in and as you breathe out slowly roll back up to the starting
position. All of these movements should be repeated approximately
10 times. Now gently stretch your calves, hamstrings and quadriceps.
Remember to go slowly into the stretch and hold for 10 to 15 seconds. DO
NOT BOUNCE. Do not forget your ankles and feet. Resting with one foot off
the floor and supported, gently move the ankle join through its full range
of movement. Using your hands, manipulate the joints of the toes
and then carefully stretch them. Finish with a good massage of the muscles
around the toes and their joints. To many students, warming
up is a chore and lying in an exaggerated stretched position gossiping
with friends is a much more attractive option. A good way to introduce
a warm up procedure is to use a few minutes at the beginning of class to
teach and to supervise a correct warm up. This will help students to realise
the benefit and the importance of this activity, and hopefully encourage
them to spend the time before class in a more productive way. |
