I used to say I did not need any warm-up stretches while my partner, who is seven years older than I am, was stretching. Those days are gone. Warm-ups are very important for both young and old. Fortunately I learned that without any hard lesson.

What kind of stretches do you use?

jj

Stretching cold muscles is probably just as dangerous as diving right in to dancing.

You need to warm the muscles up before stretching them. And stretching itself is unlikely to do that. You need, in effect, some moderately intense exercise, first. At which point maybe you should just dance a bit, without pushing things.

In one of our Seminars there was a Ballet dancer who was part of the lectures, He said one excercise that must be done is standing with the outside of the foot on the floor and gently stretch the ankle sideways. He went on to say that one day he didn't bother. Leapt in the air and didn't dance for nine months. Maybe that was all Misty May needed to prevent that injury.

A few minutes of moderately brisk walking suffices to warm up leg muscles.

jj

With wintertime coming on, I find this to be a problem: Going from a warm house to a cold outdoors, then from there into a warm car, from there outside again, then into a semi-warm building- having to warm up and stretch, dance the night away, but THEN, as soon as you step outside "ow, ow, ow!" It just assaults the muscles, and you don't get pleasant feeling back until half-past your Chili 5-way No Onion at Steak N' Shake.

Partner used to snicker at my fuzzy pink leg-warmers (Shrek 3 anyone?) and stripey warm-up wear, but now he's the one pirating stretching-exercises DVDs.

Repeated, sudden, and semi-extreme temperature changes always get my fatted calves.

My husband ruptured his Achilles tendon and absolutely it takes a full year of recovery. The ankle after coming out of a cast is stretched back to its original position very slowly using an elevated shoe.

We do dance competitively but even after many years it still hurts him and he cannot put in hours of practice at a time like we use to.

In the Standard Style of Ballroom dancing how important is it to keep the knee pointing on the same line as the toe is pointing. If this isn't done does it put a strain on the knees. This was spoken about on our Dancing With The Stars by one of the judges.

Jan567, had your husband been using antibiotics before his injury?

jj

I always stretch my Achilles tendons as best (and as safely) as I can -- usually pressing my foot up against a wall and slowly pushing the leg toward the wall to get a good stretch of that tendon. My wife and I do a lot of fitness yoga as well, so most of those stretches and poses aren't a bad idea before heading over to the studio.
I saw the replay of Misty's injury and, knowing what a great athlete she is and that she surely stretched her muscles a bit before starting her rehearsal, it looked to be one of those fluke landings -- on a hard surface with the heel hitting first and the rest of the leg bent slightly forward. The perfect storm for an Achilles injury, if you will. She was practicing the Lindy with tennis shoes on. Again, a setup for potential injury. She probably felt "free-wheeling" in her tennis shoes, which she is in far more than dance shoes on a regular basis, and probably went a bit overboard in excitement and exuberance in doing this fast dance. It was a sad turn of events for her and Max, who also is one of the more popular dancers on the show.