Belly dance performances, classes, and workshops online and in Delft and Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Voorstellingen, lessen en workshops buikdans online en in Delft en Rotterdam, Nederland.
Afonso et al. go through some simple questions: “Can I?” versus “Do I have to?” stretch in multiple scenarios.
Let’s dive in! 🏊♀️
The effects of stretching on injury risk
From Afonso et. al’s 2021 Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis:
“The answer to “Can I stretch?” is yes—it probably will not increase injury risk.
But the answer to “do I have to stretch?” is “possibly no”—as the likelihood of decreasing the injury risk is contentious.”
So if you want to stretch after dancing, and it feels good, go for it! It’s a good time to work on your range of motion and flexibility. But decades of research suggests that it will likely not make much difference to your injury risk.
The effects of stretching on recovery
Both a Cochrane review (a type of rigorous and routinely updated Systematic Review) and a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis did not support stretching to aid recovery or lessen delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) in any clinically important way.
That means that it wasn’t meaningful enough to be impactful. So even if we do stretch, it won’t make a difference that we would actually benefit from. We’ll still be sore if we’ve trained in a way that’s new, or more difficult than usual!
The best way to not get sore? Train consistently, and progress gradually!
Did you learn something new about stretching?
My name is Siobhan Camille.
I’m an exercise scientist and a professional dancer.
I love helping dancers get better, stronger, and more resilient.
I offer the Dance Strong Challenge year-round to support dancers in getting stronger. Find out more here.
The RICE (or RICED; rest, ice, compression, elevation, diagnosis) method for injury management has been advised against in the research & academic settings since at least 2010. In early 2019 I wrote an article about a more up to date method, “do no H.A.R.M” (no heat, no alcohol, no reinjury, no massage). But there’s been even newer suggestions on how to remember to manage injuries!
What’s wrong with RICE?
RICE ignores that there are different phases of healing, and implies that passive modalities (rest, ice, compression, and elevation) are of utmost importance to healing. While we need rest in the very early phases of any injury, we know from decades of research that getting back to movement as early as possible is key to better recovery. And re-loading an injured area is what ultimately makes it stronger and restores it capacity – not resting it!
There has also been some research suggesting that icing could delay tissue repair because it could decrease inflammation.Inflammation is CRUCIAL in the early stages of tissue healing – this is what brings in all the white blood cells to clean things up! It is especially important to avoid taking anti-inflammatories in the first 48-72 hours after injury.Professional performers may also consider avoiding ice. Even if this blunts inflammation only slightly in comparison to anti-inflammatory drugs, professional dancers often need to return to work quickly. Anything that could speed recovery could therefore be worth considering.
In the first 1-3 days, minimise movement that could further cause injury, BUT rest should be minimised
E is for Elevate
Elevate the limb higher than the heart. There is weak evidence that this helps, but it won’t cause harm
A is for Avoid Anti-inflammatory Modalities
Definitely avoid anti-inflammatory drugs in the first few days. The use of ice is questioned and cautioned because it could also disrupt inflammation – which is crucial to healing!
C is for Compress
There is conflicting evidence, but taping or bandaging does seem to offer some benefits to our ability to function
E is for Educate
Health care providers should let you know that an active approach (actual rehab, not just things that feel good) is what you need to recover, and help you have realistic expectations for recovery
L is for Load
Putting weight on the injured part or doing strength exercises should be introduced early, as soon as symptoms allow. This promotes repair & remodeling of damaged tissue, and builds capacity – so you can do the things you used to!
O is for Optimism
Patients who are optimistic have better outcomes. From pain science we know that distress and negative feelings (or anything that makes us feel in danger) can increase pain. I know it can be hard, but trust that your body is adaptable!
V is for Vascularisation
Aerobic exercise (“cardio”) should be started a few days after injury to increase blood flow to injured areas. Early mobilisation and aerobic exercise improve function and reduces the need for painkillers.
E is for Exercise
Exercise is strongly supported for reducing the prevalence of recurrent injuries, and can help restore mobility, strength and proprioception after injury.
Did you learn something new about injury management?
My name is Siobhan Camille. I’m an exercise scientist and a professional dancer. I love helping dancers get better, stronger, and more resilient. If this was helpful for you, please feel free to share this article, or sign up to my newsletter to get posts like this in your inbox!
One of the biggest mistakes I see dancers make when it comes to training is ignoring the concept of progressive overload.
What the heck is progressive overload!?
Progressive overload refers to gradually (the key word here!) increasing the amount and/or difficulty of your training over time. In both the rehabilitation and athletic performance spheres, we use progressive overload to safely and effectively improve strength, mobility/flexibility, and conditioning status (cardiovascular fitness).
Learn more about progressive overload, and how to tell if you’re increasing your (dance) training load too quickly!
I see dancers make two big mistakes when it comes to progressive overload:
Not acknowledging (or perhaps understanding) where they currently are NOW.
I see so many dancers injure themselves (or just make themselves so sore that they NEVER want to train again!) because they set a goal that is too lofty for their current fitness levels. Lofty goals are fun, but you need to progress towards that goal over time. Just because someone else can run 5km right now, doesn’t mean you can right away, especially if you’ve never run before!
The next most common problem I see is:
Building up to a certain level…. And then never changing anything!
You don’t need to always aspire to stronger, faster, more flexible (although, I truly believe that stronger is better in lots of ways for our bodies – but that’s a discussion for another time). But our bodies are REALLY good at adapting to stressors. Exercise is a stressor. We need a certain amount of consistency for our body to adapt, but once the body is used to something, we need to change it up to keep ourselves seeing the same benefits of training. This can be as simple as changing the type of exercises you do every 4-6 weeks, or adding weight or resistance to the exercises you’re doing.
Progressive overload is not just important for our strength, conditioning and mobility work. It’s also important to consider when planning our dance practices.
Consider this common scenario:
You’re going to a belly dance festival for the first time in a long time (especially after the last 2.5 years of most things being online!). You’re usually dancing for 45 minutes, three times a week. But you’re so excited to dance again, and all the workshops look SO good (sound familiar?). So you’ve signed up for 8 hours of workshops this weekend!
Jumping from 2.25 hours of dance in a regular week to 8 hours (or 10.25 if you also did those standard regular classes) is a big jump in load for our bodies. This can be one of the reasons you might be more likely to sustain an injury at a dance festival – it’s a huge jump in loading that your body is not used to.
But don’t just take my word for it – let’s use a simple method to assess this jump in dance volume:
The acute-to-chronic training/workload ratio (ACWR)
Sounds complicated already, I know! But I promise it’s not, and for this simple method, you can even find a calculator online. I use a slightly more involved version of this method, but this basic method is a great way to get a snapshot of whether you’re increasing your dance and/or training volume too much.
The acute-to-chronic training/workload ratio (ACWR) compares your mileage (for activities like running, cycling, and swimming) or duration (for activities like dance) from the last week to your average weekly mileage/duration for the last four weeks. Week 4 is last week, Week 3 is the week before it, and so on.
When you do an ACWR calculation, you’ll end up with a number at the end. Here’s what the numbers signify:
<0.8 = danger zone; undertraining which can lead to injury risk (yes, we also don’t want to DROP our training amounts too much from week to week if we want to avoid injury!)
Week 1 = 135 mins (3 weeks before the festival: your standard 3 x 45 minute dance sessions)
Week 2 = 135 mins
Week 3 = 135 mins
Week 4 = 615 mins (The week of the festival: Your standard 3 x 45 minute dance sessions, plus your 8 hours of workshops at the festival!)
To calculate your ACWR, add up the minutes from each week:
(615 + 135 + 135 + 135) = 1020 mins
Then, divide that number by the number of weeks (this is standardly measured in 4 week blocks):
1020 / 4 = 255
Then, take the amount of load (in our example, in minutes) from the most recent week, and divide it by the average of the last four weeks (the number we just calculated above):
ACWR = 615 / 255 = 2.4
In this example, your ACWR would be 2.4 → You’re currently in the “danger zone,” the highest risk category for injury because of how fast, and how unevenly, the load has been ramped up.
This is just one of the reasons why we want to progressively overload all of our training – dance, strength, conditioning, mobility or otherwise. We want to progressively build up overtime to reduce our chances of injury.
Have you got any questions about progressive overload for me? Leave me a comment below!
Want to create the strength, mobility, and metabolic conditioning you need to be the dancer you dream of? Siobhan Camille writes personalised strength and conditioning programs for dancers, and regularly hosts online and in-person dance-specific workshops. Find out more about what Siobhan has to offer here, and sign up for semi-regular newsletter here to get all the knowledge delivered right to your inbox!
In addition to being the founder and director of Greenstone Belly Dance, Siobhan Camille is a Rehabilitative Exercise Specialist and Strength & Conditioning Coach. Siobhan Camille has an extensive background in exercise science with postgraduate level degrees in Exercise Prescription and Rehabilitation Science. She takes a particular interest in the safety, strength, and performance of dancers, and has conducted formal research on injury incidence in belly dancers. She draws on this background to emphasise safe dance technique and teaches her students how to find and activate muscles to create clear movement.
