The Importance of a Quality Dance Warm-Up
Before your dance class, it is essential to warm-up your body.
Warming-up before beginning dance is a crucial step in the process. It is key to do this to prevent injury and keep your body in peak condition.
In addition to preventing injury, an effective warm-up will get the blood flowing, improve flexibility, and will give dancers some mental time to prepare for class. Keep reading to find out more about why warm-ups are so important to your body and your craft!
Warming up helps prevent injury.
As a dancer, it is vital to be disciplined in every aspect of dance, even things that may seem somewhat dull. While you may be very excited to start working on your Grand jeté or pirouette, it is essential to dedicate time to your warm-up.
A focused warm-up will gradually accelerate your cardiovascular system by raising your body temperature and increasing blood flow to your muscles. All of the things, plus the increased fluid to your joints and the boosted oxygen levels in your blood, will work together to decrease the chances of injury.
A proper warm-up will reduce muscle pain and soreness.
Warming up not only helps to reduce the chances of injury, but can also decrease muscle pain or soreness the next day.
During dance practice or performance, your body has to work hard to acclimate to higher levels of physical stress. It is vital to warm your body in preparation for the increased demands. Because a warmed muscle also contracts and then relaxes more rapidly, you will have less overall strain on your body.
Warming up improves flexibility and performance.
A good dancer has to be flexible, and a proper warm-up will help. Improving flexibility with warm-up stretching is another critical piece of improving physical performance and achieving your goals.
However, it’s important to remember that stretching on its own does not constitute a full warm-up, and dancers need to make a clear distinction between the types of stretching that take place during a dynamic warm-up and the static stretching activities that take place during flexibility training.
They provide mental preparation.
In addition to the physiological benefits, a warm-up prepares a dancer psychologically by encouraging a moment for breathing and focus.
An effective warm-up is a fantastic mental transition from the pressures of the day into dance activities. Dance requires high levels of concentration; this mental readiness begins with a warm-up. So warm-ups not only strengthen the body, but the mind as well!
What warm-ups do for your body.
In addition to helping prevent injury, reducing soreness, improving flexibility, and mental preparation, warming-up does many positive things to your body. A proper dance warm-up will do the following scientific things that you don’t even think about when doing it:
- Raises internal body temperature by 1 – 2 degrees.
- Increases heart rate and blood flow throughout the body.
- Mobilizes joints to supplement the synovial fluid.
- Improves the transmission of nerve impulses.
- Increases coordination and body awareness.
A thorough and efficient warm-up will engage the joints, muscles, energy systems, and mind systematically. This allows dancers to take full advantage of their many capabilities.
By engaging in a warm-up before each dance activity, dancers will maximize the work done in class, rehearsal, or performance safely and efficiently.
Staying mentally and physically healthy is very important to us at EDC, our goal is to help your child stay at the top of their dance game. Through our weekly conditioning classes, rigorous dance technique classes, and of course, thorough warm-up routines, we consistently work with you or your child to encourage fitness and fun!
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