We also like to give you some tips for preparing for the online classes. Especially after so many weeks of staying at home it’s brave to continue online classes. This info might energize you to hang in there!!!!
To approach a normal class as closely as possible, please join the class with your Video ON, make sure your whole body is visible, so the teacher can see you, they love give feedback.
Please donate to HJS Online classes, if your financial situation allows for it. We know that this is a difficult time for dancers. Suggested donation: €3,50 per class. This money will be shared with the teachers.
Step 1: Show Up Early
Join through the link at the HJS Gofundmepage:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/hjs-open-classes-online
Join with your VIDEO ON.
We like to see who is joining. Also it is respectful to the teacher and fellow dancers. The teacher likes to see who is present, and they love to give you feedback.
Remember: any workout—even one done in your living room—is still a workout. If you’re about to do a 60-minute virtual class don’t just give yourself 45 minutes. You need to give yourself time to arrange your space, wear your danceclothes, get your water, and get your mind right before hitting play or joining that live stream. But you also need to give yourself time to get your body right too, and that brings us to…
Step 2: Warm Up
What about stretching? Conventional wisdom dictates that you should stretch your muscles before beginning your physical activity, but mounting research is telling us that may not be such a great idea. Stretching your cold, stiff muscle fibers before they’re warmed up can actually hurt them. And because we’re spending so much time at home, it’s likely our poor muscle fibers are tighter now than they’ve been in a long time.
If you’re following along with a live stream or on-demand workout, there will likely be some sort of instructor-led warm-up. That said, don’t assume that your virtual workout will provide exactly the kind of warm-up that you personally need. Without the trainer right there to keep you accountable and check your form, it’s super important to take steps to protect yourself and ensure you’re warmed up enough to begin.
Step 3: Now You Can Stretch
Properly stretching your muscles helps keep them long and flexible, improving your range of motion during the coming workout and protecting muscles and joints from potential injury like sprains and strains. But as important as stretching is, you can injure yourself just as easily doing it incorrectly as you can by skipping it entirely.
Enter your stretches slowly, and don’t overstretch to the point of pain. You should feel a satisfying pull, but if it hurts, you’ve gone too far. Combine static stretching—where you find your stretch and hold it for 30 seconds or more—with dynamic stretches like “cat-cow” where you move fluidly through a range of controlled motions. Feel free to concentrate on an area longer if you know you’re about to work that area out intensively or if you feel a lot of tightness there. And please, don’t bounce in your stretch—just stick with smooth, steady movements to avoid injuring yourself before you’ve even begun your workout.
Step 4: Class
During the class, pay attention to areas of tightness/sensitivity you noticed during your stretching session (or any new ones you discover. If you’re attending live stream classes at the studio you regularly go to, reach out to your instructor(s), and let them know what you’re experiencing. Just like in a regular class, they’ll be happy to chat with you after class.
Step 5: Cool Down
Once you’ve counted down the final seconds of your workout and completed your last rep, you may be (justifiably) tempted to lay on the floor in a sweaty heap for a while before getting up to shower and carry on with your day. But do that and you’ll miss a huge opportunity to improve your overall mobility and flexibility.
As soon as your workout is over, cool down with some walking to bring your heart rate down in a controlled manner. Once you’ve caught your breath, it’s time to stretch again—and this one’s at least as important as the first. Think about it: your muscles are about as warm as they’re ever going to get, which makes it the perfect opportunity to work on conditioning those muscles and joints. Stretching can help lengthen and soothe your pumped-up muscles, which are now in a more contracted state after your workout.
Plus, stretching is just a nice closing ritual for ending a workout. It allows you to decompress after the physical demands you just placed on your body and gives you a moment of calm reflection before changing gears.
Step 7: Stick with It
Just like working out, stretching only reveals its true potential when you do it consistently. If you’re inflexible now, you got that way over a long period of time—and that means it’s going to take time to improve it. You can’t expect a single high-quality stretch session to undo months or years of tightness. Stick with a good pre- and post-workout stretch routine, and one day you’ll notice those toes aren’t quite so far away, and your back doesn’t hurt so much when you do that one thing anymore.
Right now, a lot of people are re-evaluating what “normal” means for them, and many of them are finding ways to use this difficult time for self-improvement. Virtual, at-home workouts are a blessing, giving us ways to stay active and stay connected with our favorite studios and trainers (or try new ones!). But remember, you can protect yourself while you push yourself—you just might have to stretch yourself a bit.
Lovely that you take part, don’t forget to donate! We know everybody is in a difficult situation, good to know, that the funding goes to the teachers.
ENJOY!!
