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If you’re looking for a new way to jazz up your fitness routine, why not try dancing? With the popularity of TV dance shows these days, there’s never been a better time to put on your dancing shoes. Why should celebrities have all the fun? Even though you’ve probably danced a little here and there, you may not have considered it to be "real" exercise because it’s so enjoyable. This element of fun is exactly what makes dancing such a great way to get in shape—if you like it, you’ll do it more often. Experts recommend 60 minutes of exercise each day and dancing can be a heart-healthy aerobic workout. If you pick up the pace, you can burn as many calories as walking, swimming or riding a bicycle. Besides being fun, each dance step you take counts toward your "daily 10,000" (the amount of steps experts recommend taking each day for general health). In one study, researchers attached pedometers to square dancers and found that their steps covered nearly five miles in a single evening of dancing. Reason to Put on Your Dancing Shoes Treadmills and exercise bikes are great ways to get in shape, but your body can quickly get used to the technique—meaning you begin to see fewer results over time. Dancing, however, is multi-directional and forces your muscles to move in new ways. If you’re doing the foxtrot, you’re taking long, graceful steps backwards, for example—a move you’d never make running on a treadmill. By working your muscles in new ways, dancing can help you get over or prevent that dreaded plateau (when you stop getting results from your fitness routine). And while it’s easy to zone out on the treadmill for thirty minutes without paying attention to the sensations in your body, dancing is different because it stimulates your mind during the entire session. You have to pay attention to your steps at all times and anticipate your next move, which keeps you connected to your body the entire time, without getting bored. This mental connection may be just what you need to stay sharp into your senior years too. A 21-year study of senior citizens, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that frequent dancing offered the greatest protection against dementia—a phenomenal 76% reduction in risk as compared to other physical activities like golf. Not only does dancing increase blood flow to the brain, the social aspect of dance reduces stress, depression and loneliness. The need to memorize steps and work in sync with a partner also provides a mental challenge that keeps the mind active. Continued › |
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Fitness Articles › Focused FitnessDancing Like the Stars!Dance Your Way to Health & Fitness-- By Leanne Beattie, Health & Fitness WriterSparkPeople advertisers help keep the site free! Learn more
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Leanne Beattie
A freelance writer, marketing consultant and life coach, Leanne often writes about health and nutrition. See all of Leanne's articles. |
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Member Comments
What I want to know.. the calorie burn 380 for belly dancing and 400 for salsa/zumba... It's for a 150 pound person... So if you're 200 pounds, do you burn more? - 3/21/2011 10:01:36 AM
which dance steps you do next!! The round dances are cued in between the square dance tips. In a round dance, you could dance a waltz followed by a two step, then the next round could be a rumba followed by a cha cha. The variety is limitless!! Hubby and I both round and square dance and have been known to be on the dance floor up to three hours!!! - 5/6/2009 3:10:50 PM
But so anyway I'm huge now and want to dance again (even if I do look silly!) but we have carpeting all over the house. Can anyone recommend specific brands of wide-width dance shoes, low heeled, that would have the leather sole suitable for sliding around on carpet? If I "dance" with my walking shoes on carpet, ewww that creates TOOO much heat and blisters the bottoms of my feet.
Thanks! - 3/10/2009 7:57:57 PM