Dancing your way into great physical shape

Lizabeth Rice
Director of Marketing & New Student Development at La Danse Cleveland

We all know that there are a million ways to lose weight. Everyone has a great book, workout video or personal trainer. It's not about how to lose weight but how to maintain the hard work you’ve invested in getting your body where it needs to be physically. Besides or in addition to the hours in the gym and hours on treadmills, there is another way to start and maintain the way you look and feel.

We all know that one of the main reasons many people don't stick with exercise is that it's often not that interesting or fun and can become easily boring, so we want to introduce you to the wonderful world of Dance. What if you could dance your way into a better physical shape and health? You can!

Two new studies suggest that you can do just that: Dance your way to physical shape and mental wellness. Improving your athletic skills—balance, strength, and agility—gives you a competitive edge and scores you a sizzling physique.

Presented recently at the American College of Sports Medicine, a meeting in Seattle, one study found that salsa dancing could improve cardiovascular fitness, and the other found that less vigorous ballroom dances such as the foxtrot or tango -- although not as much of a workout as salsa -- can add 2,000 steps or so to a person's daily walking total.

"As a ballroom teacher/manager and studio owner, I’ve experienced incredible changes throughout my life from dancing which has helped my physical and mental well being. Dancing is a fun and creative way to exercise it gives you a full body workout and an amazing toning of the body. Steps and patterns are designed to give you incredible amounts of combinations of rhythms that help maintain your brain power"

"The average age of the 27 studied participants was 53, and most -- 22 -- were women. The once-a-week, two-hour classes were led by an instructor and included dances such as the tango, foxtrot and cha-cha.

The classes replaced what was usually sedentary time for the participants and added about 2,000 steps to their daily total, the researchers said. Experts recommend 10,000 steps a day for good health.

"Ten thousand steps per day is the recommendation, but how many people are actually getting that?" Two thousand steps is still good, and every little bit helps, not to mention all the calories you will lose during a 45 minute class: on average 400 to 600 calories. You will have to spend about an hour on treadmill to lose the same amount, how boring is that?"

Different dances, such as the salsa, would provide a much greater aerobic workout.
Salsa was the focus of the other study, in which Italian researchers measured heart rate and oxygen consumption in dancers who were doing a typical salsa during lessons or salsa dancing at a nightclub.

The study included 11 pairs of dancers who were, on average, 36 years old. Maximum heart rate increased between 58 and 75 percent for those doing any of the three dances, and oxygen consumption went up between 41 percent and 56 percent, depending on the dance. Nightclub salsa dancing appeared to be the most aerobic of the three dances, though all increased heart rate [http://health.msn.com/fitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100239925] and oxygen consumption, the study found.

Salsa is a spirited dance with this form of dance you are clearly getting a workout. All three types of salsa in the study, practiced frequently, will have a positive impact on health and fitness.

Dancing is inspiring and one of the greatest ways of expressing yourself. From my knowledge - once you learn how to dance you can take this wherever you go, weddings, night clubs, charity events or social gatherings. You can exercise in the happiest moments of your life. How about that? So if you want to know the secret to being consistent with your workout, try dancing!