How do rhythmic gymnasts stretch

Download Article Explore this Article parts. Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Part 1. Join a rhythmic gymnastics club in your area. Consider the distance from your home, cost of classes, and training schedule when choosing a club. Visit the club and make sure the equipment, including the mats, are in good condition and are cleaned often.

The gym should also have multiple coaches with rhythmic gymnastics training and experience that focus on safety above all else. If you are looking to compete seriously in rhythmic gymnastics, ensure the gym has advanced training tools, like a pit, trampoline, and tumble-track. Do an Internet search to find clubs in your area if you live outside the U. You can find a list of all the U. The cost of classes can vary widely.

Contact a few local gyms to see what classes cost in your area. Some schools offer rhythmic gymnastics programs.

This can help lower some of the costs for kids and adolescents. Generally, to practice, rhythmic gymnasts wear a black dance-style leotard with black leggings or shorts. No jewelry is permitted and your hair must be tied back neatly, usually in a bun. You can wear toe shoes also called half shoes which aid in turning or go barefoot for both practice and competition.

Practice your routine a few times in your competition outfit so you can work out any issues if necessary. Get the necessary supplies. When starting out, the gym will generally provide the apparatuses, but you should purchase your own if you plan to practice at home.

You may also want toe shoes, a variety of leotards, adhesive tape to decorate your apparatuses, and a ribbon roller. Choose a high-quality gym bag to carry all your equipment and supplies. Exercise outside of class. You should also stretch for 40 minutes every day to increase your flexibility. You can also swim , jog , or ride your bike. Eat healthy. Aim to eat lean proteins, such as chicken and fish, and lots of veggies, like eggplant, leafy greens, and carrots.

You can have small amounts of fruit, including berries and melons, and grains, like cereals or breads, too. Make sure you are drinking at least Part 2.

Try the ball. Gymnasts usually start with the ball as their first apparatus. A ball routine will include bouncing, throwing, and rolling. Practice rolling the ball from one hand, down your arm, across the back of your neck, and down the other arm. You can also throw the ball high up in the air and catch it with your legs or feet. Try throwing the ball and completing a trick, like a front walkover , then catching the ball.

It has a diameter of 18 to 20 cm 7. The ball can be any color. Use the rope. Leaps, skipping, swings, throws, circles, rotations, and figure eights are included in a rope routine. Practice doing turns or spins while jump roping , or twirl or toss the rope while doing tricks, like the splits. You could also do a cat or stag leap over the rope. One or two knots are tied on each end to aid in holding on to the rope, which must be either all or partially colored.

The ends of the rope will fit directly under each armpit if it is the right length. Practice with the hoop. A hoop routine includes rotations, rolling, swings, circles, throws, and passes of the body through and over the hoop.

Try to throw the hoop up in the air and do a trick, like a cartwheel , before catching it. You can also toss the hoop in front of you and dive through it or rotate the hoop around the ankle while doing a back walkover. The hoop should be between 51 to 90 cm 20 to Learn how to use the clubs.

Two clubs are used and may be juggled, tossed, or thrown. Swing them around and practice completing turns or tricks after you toss them up in the air. You can also toss and catch the clubs then move into a trick, like a dive roll or a handstand. The length of each club is from 40 to 50 cm Each club must weigh above g 0. The shape is similar to a bottle.

The neck and head may be covered with adhesive tape. Try out the ribbon. The ribbon is one of the most popular—and difficult—apparatuses. Practice making patterns with your ribbon, like spirals or zigzags, but be careful not to get a knot in it. You can also manipulate the ribbon while doing tricks, like pirouettes and penche. It may be any color, and it must weigh at least 35 g 1. The width of the ribbon should be 4 to 6 cm 1.

But what if you could train like a rhythmic gymnast? Or, better yet, with a rhythmic gymnast? Well, that's why Iryna Yemengulova founded Farfalla Fitness , a stretching method specially designed for dancers, created by Yemengulova herself, a former rhythmic gymnast. For all the deets on how you can achieve your FlexibilityGoals with the help of Farfalla, read on. Growing up, she wasn't one of those girls Blessed with natural flexibility. In fact, she was the opposite.

But it just so happened that she loved the class—and over time, became incredibly passionate about rhythmic gymnastics. She trained and competed in rhythmic gymnastics competitions across Europe and around the world. But by the age of 17, Yemengulova's rhythmic gymnastics career was over, as is typical for the sport. So, she came to the U. There was nothing similar," Yemengulova says.

But over time, she started to see the art form shift. They're starting to look much more similar. Yemengulova was inspired: She saw dancers mimicking elements of rhythmic gymnastics, but she also saw that something was just missing.

Now before you get ahead of yourself daydreaming of needle turns and oversplits, you need to understand one thing: Farfalla Fitness isn't just a stretching program.

It's a stretching and strengthening program. We don't do just one or the other," Yemengulova says. This focus on both stretching and strengthening comes from Yemengulova's rhythmic gymnastics background. When she was in training, back in Ukraine, they did two hours of total body flexibility and strength training, every single day.

This experience helped her understand that flexibility is nothing—if you don't have the strength to back it up. Which isn't to say that Farfalla Fitness won't help you achieve the needle turns and oversplits of your dreams—all it takes is one glance at the Farfalla Insta to see that those goals are well within reach.

But it means that you're going to be achieving those goals safely, over time. And, you'll be developing valuable knowledge of your own body's anatomy and alignment in the process. The purpose of our program is to give dancers a better way of understanding their bodies. In the age of COVID, no dance program is complete without a virtual component that we can try out at home.

For Farfalla Fitness, that's where Farfalla Go comes in—a completely digital version of the stretching and strengthening program that has made Farfalla so popular. To break it down: Farfalla Go is a subscription-based program that grants you access to virtual stretching and strengthening programs created by Yemengulova herself. Every program is a combination of cardio, total body flexibility, and total body strength.

There are Farfalla Go videos that help improve your turn out, videos to help you improve your leg extensions, jumps, turns—you name it, there's probably a video for it. Yemengulova even does weekly live lessons for all subscribers, so she can help her students with their form, and talk more about their progress. The call came after a lengthy audition process with Spielberg in the room, and the role, originated by Wilma Curley on Broadway in and later portrayed by Gina Trikonis in the film, was her biggest dream.

In fact, it's something Garcia-Lee says she manifested from the day plans for the movie were announced in January On top of her regular training, she would travel multiple hours each day to New York City and New Jersey for classes with Steps on Broadway and the Princeton Ballet School, respectively.

Her bedroom walls were lined with cutouts from the pages of Dance Spirit , which served as inspiration for her goals. Her mother, Terri Garcia, was a professional dancer in the s she even danced Francisca in the West Side Story tour in , and Garcia-Lee was eager to follow in her footsteps. Garcia-Lee went to high school at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where she studied first ballet and then drama.

As a sophomore, she was cast as Graziella in her school's production of West Side Story. The magic of performing Jerome Robbins' iconic choreography never left her. She's been banging on West Side Story 's door ever since. All the while, she held out hope that West Side Story would someday come her way. In , Garcia-Lee was considered for Graziella in the Broadway revival but didn't get the role after countless callbacks.

After that, two more productions didn't cast her as Graziella. For the Broadway revival, she was only offered the opportunity to audition for the role of Anybodys. She turned down both opportunities in favor of other projects—she would wait for Graziella. Despite the rejection, she was undeterred. So when Deadline published an article announcing the film remake, Garcia-Lee felt that playing Graziella was meant to be.

At the audition, the casting room was filled with many of her friends and fellow Broadway darlings, like Eloise Kropp Cats and Jonalyn Saxer Mean Girls. According to the film's choreographer, Justin Peck, Garcia-Lee quickly caught the eye of the creative team.

I could sense that from the first audition. At the same time, she was committed to the Broadway run of Moulin Rouge!

She spent much of the winter and early spring of trying to figure out how to do it all. She asked if she could miss some rehearsals and most preview performances including the all-important first preview performance so she could film her scenes in the movie.

I'll never forget Steven up on a ladder, then Steven halfway down the ladder, and then Steven on a rolling chair, Steven lying on the floor looking up at [the choreography] this way, Justin tweaking and tweaking. Rehearsals for the iconic "Dance at the Gym" scene lasted two weeks. Before the work began, Garcia-Lee says, she familiarized herself with Peck's work as much as she could to get a sense of his style. However, I loved the challenge of it. Once rehearsals wrapped, filming for "Dance at the Gym" lasted six days, and according to Garcia-Lee, her feet never hurt so badly in her entire life.

But that didn't stop her from soaking up the magic. Especially on the day she and her co-star Mike Faist Riff shot their duet. We lost ourselves in the art. We finally got to the end of [the take and] Mike and I fell to the floor. Steven ran over to us, dove on the floor with us and smothered us with love.

Standing diagonal rotation. Hip flexor stretches 8 repetitions per side, hold each position for 4 sec Purpose: To improve hip flexibility Stretch the front of one hip in a kneeling lunge position Lean your trunk backwards and to the side Progressions: Lift your rear knee and perform dynamic lunges 8 repetitions per side, hold each position for 4 sec.

Ankle and toe strength in splits 3 x 8—16 repetitions Purpose: To strengthen the ankle and foot Sit in the splits Keep your hips parallel Flex your ankle against an elastic Flex your foot and toes 3 x 8—16 repetitions.

Single-leg bridge 3 x 8—16 repetitions Purpose: To strength the gluteal and hamstrings muscles Lie on your back with one knee drawn into your chest Push through your opposite heel to lift your hips until your body is straight Maintain a neutral low back throughout the movement 3 x 8—16 repetitions.

Pelvic mobility 4 x 30—60 seconds Purpose: To improve awareness and control of your pelvic position Kneel on all fours Slowly roll your pelvis backwards and forwards Keep your upper back relaxed and still throughout the exercise 4 x 30—60 seconds. Shoulder overhead stretch 20 repetitions followed by a 20 seconds hold Purpose: To increase shoulder flexibility Kneel in front of a chair and place your elbow on the chair Bend your elbow fully, placing your palm on your shoulder blade Bend forward from the hips with a neutral spine Stretch your shoulder overhead by gently thrusting your chest towards the floor Repeat in small rhythmic movements, then hold a static stretch 20 repetitions followed by a 20 seconds hold.

Move your opposite leg in a large arc from front to back 2. Perform heel-raises on your standing foot 3. Perform single-leg squats 3 x 60 seconds. Fondue Repeat the series two times on each side Purpose: To improve ankle strength and stability Repeat the series two times on each side.

Squat jumps 3 x 8—16 repetitions Purpose: To improve knee and ankle stability Use an elastic band right beneath your knees Jump up as high as possible Land softly Keep your knee bent and aligned over your toes 3 x 8—16 repetitions.

Hip extension with elastic 3 x 8—16 repetitions Purpose: To improve hip and spinal control Start by kneeling on all fours with your spine in a neutral position Place an elastic around one foot Kick backwards until the hip is fully extended Move from the hip without moving your low back 3 x 8—16 repetitions. Supine plank 3 x 8—16 repetitions Purpose: To improve back strength and control Lie on your back with your feet on a high bench or box Lift your hips until your body is straight from shoulder to ankle Bend one hip, then let your knee fall out to the side Keep your hips parallel throughout the exercise 3 x 8—16 repetitions.

Supine pelvic control 3 x 10—30 repetitions Purpose: To improve abdominal strength and low back and hip control Start lying with your arms overhead and your hips and knees bent to 90 degrees Lower one leg at a time towards the floor Keep your low back gently against the floor throughout the exercise Progression: Perform with both legs or fasten an elastic around both feet 3 x 10—30 repetitions.

Squat with backwards bend 3 x 8—12 repetitions Purpose: To improve control of spinal extension Stand 50 cm from a wall with your heels parallel Perform a squat with while swinging your arms At the top, lean backwards to touch the wall with both hands Keep you eyes on your hands 3 x 8—12 repetitions.

Spring jumps Repeat the series three times Purpose: To improve jumping technique and performance Start with your feet hip width apart Perform 4 jumps with a pause, and 4 spring jumps with no pause Perform 4 hops on each leg, with and without a small bounce in-between Full extend your knees when in the air Repeat the series three times.

Bird dog on toes 3 x 40—60 seconds Purpose: To improve spinal control Kneel on all fours, then lift your knees off the mat Stretch out one arm and the opposite leg Do not move your spine throughout the exercise Can be simplified by lifting arm and leg independently 3 x 40—60 seconds. Upper back strength 3 x 8—16 repetitions Purpose: To strengthen your shoulders and upper back Lie on your belly with your arms stretched out overhead Tighten an elastic band until your hands are shoulder-width Lift your arms from the floor and squeeze your shoulder blades together Draw your elbows down until your hands are next to your shoulders 3 x 8—16 repetitions.

Rolling C 3 x 3—5 in each direction Purpose: To strengthen the abdominal and back muscles Lie on your back and lift your arms and legs so your body makes a long C shape Roll directly onto your front and make a reverse C position Continue rolling in the same direction without letting your hands or feet touch the ground 3 x 3—5 in each direction. Back extension and rotation control 3 x 8—12 repetitions Purpose: To improve control of spinal extension and rotation Stand 50cm from a wall with your heels parallel and your hands behind your head Rotate and extend your spine to take one elbow at a time towards the wall Keep your hips parallel and your pelvis still throughout the movement Keep your eyes on your leading elbow 3 x 8—12 repetitions.

Standing diagonal rotation 3 x 8—12 repetitions Purpose: To improve awareness and control of trunk rotation Stand with one foot forward, with your weight on the forward foot Move one hand downwards and across your body, rotating your trunk Change directions, moving your hand diagonally upwards and behind you Extend and rotate your trunk in the finish position Keep your eyes on your leading hand 3 x 8—12 repetitions.