Working with Hypermobility

I mentioned in my previous post a connection between joint hypermobility and poor proprioception. There are a lot of studies about this connection (just Google “hypermobility” and “proprioception” and you’ll have plenty of options) but I want to talk today about what this means practically.

I am a dancer and I teach a lot of dancers, many of whom (including myself) have one or many hypermobile joints, meaning joints that have more mobility than the norm. While dancers often consider this a bonus, as it may increase their observable flexibility, the reality is that joints that are hypermobile are harder to sense (through proprioception) and therefore harder to control. When you combine that with various verbal cues that encourage lengthening or joint distraction, you have even less proprioception. If you have ever been in a dance class, you have probably heard at least one of the following: “lengthen out of the hip socket,” “feel a lengthening of the spine,” “reach the arms away from the body,” and so on. Each of these potentially create more joint space and therefore less proprioception for those hypermobile joints.

When I find myself working with a dancer (or anyone) who has some joint hypermobility, I have found the most success when giving cues (or adding resistance) in a way that provides some joint compression, increasing the proprioception of that joint and allowing for stronger, more controlled movement.