Why Dance Is Good For Fitness

Getting fit does not have to be the chore it’s often perceived to be. Instead, as people all around the globe are finding out each day, dancing is one of the best fitness workouts there is. Dancing offers upbeat and inventive exercise, that promotes a more healthy and active lifestyle. Sociable, energizing and life-affirming, dance has a whole host of body benefits, from aiding joint flexibility through to boosting mental wellbeing.

Here are our top 10 reasons why dance is such a great fitness activity.

Building muscular endurance

Tired of feeling… tired? Still exhausted when you wake up in the morning? Then dancing could provide the answer. Regular dance exercise improves the endurance of body muscles, allowing them to work harder for longer periods of time without feeling tired. Dancing also raises the body’s heart rate to heighten stamina. You’ll be jumping out of bed each morning in no time.

Dancing improves the body’s flexibility

A healthy body needs joints and muscles to be flexible; something that dance can really help with. Most dance styles involve a great range of motion and movement, allowing major muscle groups to be flexed and properly worked out. As a result, the dancer’s body should soon become more nimble.

Developing upper and lower body strength

Dancing may not initially appear the best way to build your bodily strength into that of a champion weight lifter. However, dance exercise still offers a fine way of boosting upper and lower body strength. Many dance styles require lifting, leaping and prancing — all of which require a muscular drive that builds up over time.

Dancing yourself to a happier mind

As well as making your body feel fitter and healthier, regular dancing exercise will also reduce mental tension and lead you on the path to a stress-free mind. Dance stimulates happiness endorphins in the brain to alleviate day-to-day worries and concerns. If nothing else, dance is cheaper than hiring a shrink.

Hate being a social leper? Try dancing

Dance classes offer great ways of meeting new people, allowing you to make friends and improve your social skills. Whether you’re already a vivacious party machine, or a perennial social leper, dancing could soon entail better self-confidence and new social opportunities.

Dance away the calories

Whether you’re salsa dancing, gliding across a ballroom floor or tapping your toes to some two-step rock, dance exercise offers an easy and enjoyable way to burn off unwanted calories. A half hour of dancing can burn between 200 and 400 calories so why not run away from that miserable treadmill training and dance along to the fitness beat?

Get stronger bones

If you want to protect and improve your bone density, then dance could hold the answer. Dancing can help with the prevention of bone problems such as osteoporosis, with dancing exercise allowing more calcium to be absorbed into the body’s bones.

It’s good for your mental health

If you find yourself slumping into middle-aged malaise, forgetting how many children you have and where you last left them, dancing could be the solution to make your mind feel younger and more alert. Dance improves the memory, as it forces participants to recall steps, patterns and elaborate routines to offer a mental workout for the mind.

Balancing the body

As well as improving the body’s flexibility and bone structure, dancing also boosts stabilising core muscles to balance the body and make muscles and tendons less susceptible to injury. Coordination and reflexes are also strengthened through regular dancing workouts.

Fact: dancing creates better blood

Dancing exercise controls cholesterol levels in the blood, as well as helping to set blood sugar levels. If you suffer from high blood pressure then dancing could well be the prime exercise for you.