Anyone Can Do Ballet!
I’m always struggling to fit stretching and flexibility training into my schedule, although it’s always something I’m trying to get better at. Here are two of my favorite videos for stretching (which are for splits specifically, but they’re good for general hamstring flexibility):
The longer version:
The shorter version:
What are your favorite stretching routines? How do you find time to stretch?
There’s been a lot of talk about splits and flexibility in general on this blog, including a post on is there a such thing as too much flexibility as well as a stretching series with its first post on increasing back flexibility (and hopefully we’ll have more posts in this series soon by Caysie!).
Personally, I’ve kind of put stretching specifically for splits on the backburner, and I’ve recently adapted more of an injury prevention and working towards generally increasing my flexibility instead of stressing my splits, because things like my back tend to get ignored when I’m focused on splits. So I’ll be working on more general stretching for awhile until I get my way back to the splits.
But for when I do, I’m researching different methods to stretching. There’s a lot of different tips out there (many of which contradict others) such as stretch everyday, stretch every other day, stretch in short bursts throughout the day, etc. I even found this fairly lengthy split stretching guide–that I’m thinking about trying out.There’s just so much information out there that kind of makes my head spin.
What have you found works best for you to increase your flexibility?
The pink socks are for you, Legal Ballerina, since I didn’t take the picture by the rest of my pink room!
I really despise my left side and this photo is to remind me to keep stretching it and not just favor my right!
Several of us adult ballerinas started the 30 Day Stretch Challenge on October 9th! Feel free to join us, even if you missed the start date! If all goes well, I’ll probably start a new one once this one has finished!
Hi Adult Ballerinas! I thought I’d leave you with a quick post with a link to some split advice and a reminder (as mentioned in the article) to not force your splits!
While of sure some of you who may have worked towards splits for a little may get them with the #30daystretchchallenge, many of us won’t. My main point in making myself do the challenge was to develop a regular stretching habits (something my ballet routine was lacking) and track my progress via pictures (and using those pictures as a reminder about why I should be stretching everyday!)
I’m so glad that so many people have agreed to take part in the challenge! Have fun everyone!
What’s your favorite time of day to stretch? I either stretch in the evenings while watching TV or after ballet class (when I’m nice and warmed up!)
(P.S. My lovely MacBook has had some battery issues so keep your fingers crossed that it gets fixed today!)
Be sure you tag any of your pictures, tweets, or posts with #30daystretchchallenge so I follow them!
Day 1 of the #30DayStretchChallenge! I have a long way to go with my splits. Ignore my messy hair…I had just gotten home from ballet.
