I thought I would kick off the New Year with my most asked question in dance-

“How do I lift my leg in an extension only using the back of my leg and without using my quad?”

Answer: you don't.

It is hands down the most misinterpreted dance cue teachers everywhere are giving and students are left utterly confused.  Before you go pointing your fingers at your teacher, there is truth to what you are being told so let's just get down to some real talk about extensions, quads, hamstrings, and gravity.

Because extensions and grand battements are both lifts away from your center of gravity, the quad muscles must be used to in order to move your leg up.  Think about when you lift up a grocery bag, your bicep, the muscle at the front of your body, is the muscle that is used to lift.  In addition to lifting your leg, your quad muscles are also used to straighten your knee (see previous blog post.)  Extensions and grand battements are both a flexion (or bend) from the hip.  Hamstrings are generally the muscle that is getting stretched in an extension in order to maximize flexibility and, in the supporting leg, the hamstring is only providing stability.  When we talk about using your hamstrings to lift your leg we actually talking about using your turnout to rotate your leg and create the extension and hip flexion from the base of your iliopsoas, or as you might know it (drum roll please), your HIP FLEXORS .  

The iliopsoas is actually made up of 3 muscles whose job is to 1. flex the hip, 2. bend the spine, and 3. rotate your hips outward

The cue to use your hamstrings or back of your legs to lift your leg is purely meant to help dancers use imagery to create a more rotated leg (aka pull the heel forward to expose inner thighs so the iliopsoas can engage more).  

The problem that does exist, and more appropriate to address, is gripping the quads.  When your quads "grip" it will actually decrease your flexibility as there will be so much tension in the muscle it won't be able to achieve the "lift" you are wanting.  This happens when you are ONLY using your quad muscle and not engaging your iliopsoas.  When your iliopsoas is engaged and working it's job to crease the hip and stabilize your spine, the quads can release a little as they now have a "helper".  Because your hip flexors are attached at the front of your pelvis it makes sense that the more turnout you have the more exposed these muscle are and the more accessible they are to helping in your extensions and grand battements.  The quad will still be Number One in lifting your leg but, because you have other muscles trained to kick in, it won't be as inclined to "grip".

Whew, I hope you are feeling a little bit of relief now knowing that it is OK and NORMAL to use your quad.  I know I was when I first figured all this out.  Years and years of thinking I had no clue what I was doing...*sigh*...anyway...

What now?  Well, it's time to strengthen your hip flexors, duh.  The best place to start is by doing grand battements on the floor.  Because you are not standing you can focus on hip flexors vs. quads as we have removed some of the "lifting" action and the floor will add the stability so you can primarily focus on the working leg.  THE SLOWER THE BETTER HERE.  I recommend a few reps of slow controlled battements focusing also on maintaining turnout in both legs.  Notice here too that the supporting side (or non working side) will also be using the iliopsoas muscles for STABILITY while the working side will be using the same muscles for FLEXION and TURNOUT.  BOOM!  Once you are feeling confident in this exercise you can do the same exercise sitting with your legs stretched out in front.  Rotate your legs and sit tall on your sitting bones then slowly lift one leg (range of motion will be much smaller) and lower.  Make sure you are pressing the supporting leg down into the floor.

Another great exercise to do uses a light resistance band.  (As mentioned in previous blogs, you can get these anywhere these days from Amazon.com to Target or Walmart and they are a great, inexpensive tool to have for so many different exercises)  Stand in a parallel position and tie the band around your ankles leaving enough slack in your band that you can pull the band out about 8 inches.  Put one part of the band under your supporting leg and the other side around your ankle of the working let.  Keep your working leg out in front with a flexed foot and maintain a parallel position.  Make sure you hold onto a barre or something for stability. Slowly lift your knee up towards the ceiling and then lower your heel back down.  You can also do this exercise in a rotated position to the front and to the side.  It is important in the exercise to bend your knee so that the majority of the work is your hip flexor.  

You can watch the full demonstration videos on my YouTube channel (video below).

 

From now on when you hear that cue in class use your imagery and knowledge to engage the correct muscles and create longer, higher legs!

Better extensions and grand battements in 2018!!!!!!  Email me your questions to lizborom@gmail.com.

Take Care of You, Dancers!
Liz