Sometimes it can be challenging to find an exercise that works for you. Some people like exercise classes that feature fun and exciting routines like spinning workouts or Zumba exercises. However, some people believe exercise classes lack the fundamentals needed to be a couple’s exercise. For those people that want to exercise together either as a fun outing or an intense workout, ballroom dancing is just the exercise you’re looking for. Ballroom dancing has been known to improve health for those that participate in it. But what are the health benefits of ballroom dancing?
Here are the top eight advantages of ballroom dancing that everyone can benefit from:
1. It’s exciting
You’ll find that even Zumba cannot compare to the thrilling nature of ballroom dancing. When the music starts your body instantly wants to move along, and you’ll probably not even realize you’re working out at all. In fact, it’s likely that when your dancing you’ll have a smile on your face because it’s so much fun. Unlike those boring gym routines, ballroom dancing can effectively work out your body while you express yourself. That’s right you get to express yourself too!
Most of the time dancers portray a character who is telling a story through the music and the specific dance movements. When you dance, you can express your feelings about an event or situation that has happened in your life. Sometimes people choose to focus on an event or a situation that has negativity or positively affected a person. Ballroom dancing is therefore exciting due to its expressive nature and its fun routines.
2. Enhances tone muscles
It’s commonly known that ballroom dancing can tone muscles, however the method in which ballroom dancing tones muscles is unorthodox. By withstanding a partner’s strength, the other person in return gains strength and muscle. In fact, by performing quick turns and spinning in a dancing routine, both partners are likely to tone their muscles because they’re resisting each other strength.
3. Low impact exercise
Unlike running which can injure the muscles and joints, ballroom dancing is a low impact exercise, and therefore, is considered less harmful for the joints. In fact, ballroom dancing is suggested to people who are recovering from knee injuries. Since ballroom dancing can safeguard bone density as well as avert osteoporosis, it’s the perfect exercise to use for physical therapy. In addition, since ballroom dancing is a low impact exercise, it’s excellent for older adults. Many older adults have benefited from ballroom dancing due to less pain in their joins and improvement in muscle strength.
4. Flexibility
While muscle toning can be beneficial to a person’s health, however, the best advantage of ballroom dancing is increased flexibility. If you’ve been to a ballroom class, then you’ve probably experienced performing a warm-up activity at the beginning of the class. Performing a warm-up activity at the beginning of class allows the muscles to be adequately stretched before any muscles are worked out. Stretching muscles is essential as it prevents injuries and allows you to dance fluently. In fact, the movement of ballroom dancing all together provides the body with plenty of stretching movements which increase flexibility.
5. Improves brain health
While some people disagree with ballroom dancing abilities to enhance cognitive function, others agree with the statement entirely. In fact, due to the need for memorization and strategic placement of steps ballroom dancing has been known to enhance cognitive function especially in older adults. Older adults have seen an increase in brain health not only for ballroom dancing’s enhancing cognitive abilities but because of its social element. Ballroom dancing does, in fact, require two people if you want to participate in the exercise. Pairing up with someone can come with wonderous benefits. For example, you can meet someone who has the same interest as you and even meet new people. People who socialize more are known to have better mental health than those who rarely interact with other people. Therefore, ballroom dancing can improve brain health in various ways.
6. Fat burner
Ballroom dancing is known to make anyone work up a sweat, but it also makes you burn a lot of calories doing so. Depending on the length of time you spend dancing and how intense you dance you can burn up to 400 calories. Some people burn as many calories running or biking; therefore, dancing is just as an effective exercise as any. In fact, ballroom dancing even increases your metabolism, so you lose weight faster, isn’t that amazing?
7. Improves heart health
While participating in any exercise can improve your heart health ballroom dancing has extra benefit some people might not know about. For example, ballroom dancing can enhance the heart muscles strength as well as work towards decreasing obesity. Ballroom dancing is the perfect exercise if you don’t love exercising, to begin with. With the many features of ballroom dancing, you’ll won’t even realize you’re working out. In fact, it’s likely with each spin and every twist you won’t notice that you’re increasing your lung volume or reducing the chance of type two diabetes.
8. Increases endurance
By participating in ballroom dancing, you can increase your endurance too. In fact, if you slowly increase the amount of time you dance you’ll find that you can dance for extended periods of time with little to no exhaustion. Therefore, you’ll increase your endurance which will result in more extended and more intense dance sessions. When you participate in a longer dance session, you’ll find that you’ll burn more calories, tone muscles efficiently, and enhance your health.
Not only is ballroom dancing fun but it’s also an intense workout if you want it to be. Ballroom dancing can differ from easy-going to intense depending on your mood or your style of working out. Also, there are many health benefits of ballroom dancing like flexibility and improving the strength of the heart muscles. Such befits can declare ballroom dancing as an exercise everyone should try. Go to a ballroom studio or try a ballroom dancing class today!
