Is overstretching bad? The truth behind overstretching in dancers.
Recently there have been some fairly prominent examples of unsafe stretching practices being shared online by large, influential social media accounts. Immediately, the dance medicine and science community raised the alarm and called attention to these unsafe practices. Thankfully, feedback on this was generally well received, and some of the offending posts have since been taken down. Fifteen years ago, when I started on this dance medicine journey, I don’t know if that would have been the case. Although change often seems slow, it’s times like these that make me realize that there has been a lot of progress in recent years.
So what exactly were the unsafe stretching practices and why are they so unsafe? The stretches being showcased that caused concern, were all what would be considered over-stretches. The most common example of this that most dancers are familiar with is the over-splits. This involves going into a split position, and then generally propping either the front or back foot up on something elevated (like yoga blocks, a chair, etc) and sitting in this position (sometimes for extended periods of time).
To understand why these practices are so dangerous (especially for young, developing bodies), we need to understand a bit of basic anatomy. The joints in the body (and in the case of over-splits we’re generally talking about the hip joint) are surrounded by connective tissue (the joint capsule, ligaments, etc) as well as the muscles that cross the joint.
Muscular tissue is elastic, meaning that it can stretch but also contract (or relax) back to its original length – much like a rubber band. Connective tissue, on the other hand, is inelastic – much more like a piece of rope than a rubber band. So if/when it gets stretched out, it doesn’t ever return to its original resting length. This is problematic as the connective tissues of the joint are one of the main stabilizers of our joints. If we permanently stretch out these tissues, we lose stability in our joints. This can lead to increased, uncontrolled movement at the joint, which in turn can lead to tissue breakdown and eventually injury.
Proponents of overstretching practices often argue that flexibility and mobility requirements in dance necessitate these kinds of practices. While no one is disagreeing that there is a certain amount of flexibility/mobility that is desirable for dance, there are much safer ways to go about achieving it.
The problem with lots of over-stretching practices, and especially the over-splits, is that these positions put the connective tissues under high loads, generally in unsupported positions. Therefore, we’re not actually stretching the muscles and gaining flexibility; we’re achieving increased mobility by permanently compromising the integrity of the connective tissues. Mobility practices that focus on active mobility, and actually target the flexibility and strength of the muscular tissues rather than the connective tissue, can attain similar degrees of mobility, without risking the safety of the dancer.
So next time you see some ‘impressive’ stretching on social media, take a minute to ask yourself whether what you’re seeing is actually safe, of if there might be a better way of achieving it.
If you’re interested in learning more about active mobility, check out the webinar and workshop recordings linked below.
