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Better Extension Cheat Sheet

01/30/2020
iFlexibility | Strength
Better extension. Dancers everywhere dream of their legs lifting effortlessly into the air, resting by their ear and being able to hold it there with ease.

 

To get your dancers there, it’s a balance of proper alignment, strength training and strategic stretching.

 

Below you’ll find your 4 step cheat sheet to better extension that your dancers can start working on today!

 

1. Turn Out ✓

 

Just like in a full split leap, the legs cannot fully extend unless they’re properly turned out. Working the turn out can come from strengthening the rotator muscles of the hips and can be done very easily with an exercise like clam Shells.
helping leg extension in dancers
STEPS:
•Lay on your side with legs stacked and knees bent.
•Keeping toes connected, lift the top knee WITHOUT rocking hips backward.
•Hold at the top for a count and return to original position.Repetitions and Modifications:
Repeat 20 times each leg[+] add an athletic band around upper thighs.

2. Release ✓

So often the leg can’t fully extend because dancers are gripping for dear life with their quads hoping to keep their leg lifted, when in reality they should be lifting from supporting muscles like the core and outer hips. This becomes easier the stronger the core becomes. Try this exercise for engaging the deep, hard to reach abdominal muscles.

improve leg extensions dancers

STEPS:

• Begin laying on your back with hands gently pressing rib cage down and knees tucked in toward chest.
• Leaving rib cage down and low back glued to the floor, extend one leg out about 3 inches from the floor
• Flex the extended leg
• Pulse the leg up and down 5 times
• Switch legs

Repetitions:
Repeat 4 times on each leg

3. Heal the Hips ✓

The hip flexors (which are a group of muscles) in the hips are the main crew for lifting the leg above 90 degrees. With this much responsibility they deserve some respect and some TLC. One exercise you can implement strengthens the hip flexors and the other stretches it strategically.

leg extension exercise for dancers

STEPS:

• Starting on your knees, step one foot forward into a lunge
• Raise your opposite arm above your head and rotate your hips sitting deeper into the lunge.
• Hold for 30 seconds and repeat on the opposite side

leg extension exercises for dancers

STEPS:

• Begin on one leg with knee bent and other leg extended forward with foot flexed
• Gently pulse the extended leg up and down focusing on squeezing the top of the leg.

Repetitions:

Pulse 12 – 15 times and switch legs.

4. Your Butt Comes First ✓

Extension in an arabesque is usually limited from tight hip flexors (see above) and dancers trying to lift with their back. Something I ALWAYS struggled with! There’s an order in which your dancer’s muscles need to fire beginning with the glutes, the hamstrings, then the low back. Help your dancers understand how to engage their glutes with simple exercises like glute bridges and glute bridges on one leg.

leg extension for dancers

STEPS:

• On your back with your knees bent, lift your glutes so there is a straight line front your knee to your shoulders. Squeeze at the top.

Repeat 20 times

[+] Add a band above your knees for extra resistance

 

Feeling like giving those hips a little more TLC? Grab your free Hip Strength & Power Training Plan . Pull it up on any device or print and bring to class.

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