Strong & Juicy Hip Work Using Contraction & Release
Harness the principle of contraction and release for bigger, juicier hip work for dance! Plus a great tip if you experience low back tension when you shimmy!
Over the last few weeks I’ve been posting about releasing your hip flexors - (if you missed them have a look here and here)
One of the best things is to work your hip extensors (mainly glutes and hamstrings) - using exercises like Hip Bridges. If you are tight in the Flexors it may be quite challenging at first, but the stronger your Extensors get, the more the Flexors will release.
Today I wanted to talk about how this principle of contraction and release can be harnessed to bring depth and connection to your dance hip work!
I like to explain this by starting with our single hips up and down - when I’m going at a slow and steady pace I’m really thinking about pulling the hip up towards the ribcage and getting a nice deep squeeze on that side of the body. This will get the opposing muscles on the other side to release, which then gives more space for the contraction - and therefore a bigger, juicier movement!
When I go faster and start getting to shimmy speed, it's the opposite. I'm not thinking about a contraction at all! My favourite way to Shimmy is what I call a “Released Shimmy” - I’m thinking about relaxing as much as possible with the hips and sending the energy downwards.
There is contraction happening of course, lots and lots of tiny ones, plus the stability required in the upper body to stop everything jiggling, but if I think about that I tend to find everything tenses up, and then nothing is moving!
My final tip is for you if you are experiencing any lower back discomfort when you are practising your hip work and shimmies.
There’s so much going on in the body with a simple hip lift, we can’t isolate it to a single muscle group or joint action. However, I do like to visualise working with the muscles in the front of the torso. These muscles can do a lot of work in keeping us upright throughout the day and then when we then come to dance practice and do a lot of hip work, it’s no wonder that the tension builds up!
I find that by focussing the work on the front of the body, we will help to keep the lower back as relaxed as possible. It has the added benefit of making the movements more visible on the front of the body!
Please give these a try and let me know how they work for you in the comments. I had some tech issues when doing the Live video and only manged to get it on Instagram. Check it out here for helpful visuals and to follow along with me!