Protecting your Achilles

In order to protect the Achilles tendon and avoid any problems there must be a balance between strength, endurance and flexibility. Dance demands a high level of flexibility and dancers work hard to maintain and improve this. Despite this, modern dance demands call for a large amount of strength, endurance, and power too. If there is too much emphasis on strength, the dancer risks injury from tendons being too tight. Too much emphasis on stretching, and loose tendons can become overstretched and at risk for injury. Jumps in particular are a breeding ground for lower leg injuries, in particular the Achilles tendon. Proper technique must be maintained when jumping as it puts a lot of stress on the tendon. Making sure your heels are returning to the ground properly after each jump helps to reduce these unpleasant injuries. This will also mean the tendon is prepared sufficiently for each jump as part of the Stress Reflex: when a muscle is stretched, there is an automatic neural response that causes the stretched muscle to contract and the opposing muscle to relax. Landing from a jump in dance class calls on the elastic nature of the tendons used in the stretch reflex which also contributes to force production in a jump. When the dancer lands they roll through the foot, placing the heel on the floor. This stretches the Achilles tendon initiating a stretch reflex that contracts the calf. The additional contraction from this reflex means that more force is available to give an increased height to the jump. Some dancing, however, does not always accommodate the stress reflex as much as other techniques do. When the tempo increases or a dancer does a lot of tap where the heels are always off the ground, more strain is placed on the tendon. It is even more important here to balance strength with flexibility of the lower leg. For a great range of accessories which include tendonitis ribbons & exercise bands check out Dancewear Central.