If you think that exercise has to be grueling to be beneficial, then you need to think again. Have you ever noticed what the body of a dancer looks like? They are tight, slim, and toned. Try dancing workouts to get into shape.

There are a variety of dancing classes you can take that will promote a healthy heart, mind, and body. Each class gives you a total body workout while making it fun and interesting for everyone. Here are some of the dancing workouts you can get involved with.

1. Zumba – This dance craze is sweeping gyms all across the country. Zumba is a mix of Latin dances like salsa, cumbia, and merengue, along with hip-hop, and swing moves. The class uses upbeat music to get you sweating and your heart pumping. The moves work the entire body especially the abs and you don’t notice because you are having so much fun.

2. Hip-Hop Dancing – It keeps all of those dancers on stage in shape. The moves center on shaking your butt and moving those hips from side to side. Switching your hops requires strong abs muscles which become even leaner and stronger with the moves. You’ll sweat and enjoy some great music.

3. Belly Dancing – This workout is geared towards the midsection and the hips. It is hard to get only your waist to move, but over time you’ll get the hang of it. And, you get to wear those cute dangling bead outfits too. Belly dancing workouts shape the waist while moving the arms raises your heart rate.

4. Bhangra Dancing - This is an Indian form of dancing that takes the body through a series of slimming routines. Masala Bhangra workouts provide a cardiovascular workout that is fun for everyone.

Use a combination of dance workout routines to get your body into shape doing something that you already like to do. In the process, you will learn some new dance moves that you can show off anywhere you want to take your new body.

Dancing fitness is deceiving. Just because you are having fun doesn’t mean you aren’t working. You may not get the moves down pat all at once, but with consistency, you’ll get it right. Once you perfect the moves, you can easily add some flair and attitude that further challenges your body.

Dancing workouts can be done at home with DVDs or in a class at a gym or studio. You burn an enormous amount of calories with each hour of dancing that you do. Dancing gives you the platform to lose weight (if that is your goal) and get into shape.

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Salsa Dancing Burns Calories

Experts agree that dancing salsa can burn up to 10 calories per minute. But best of all, salsa dancing is easy to do. It’s an excellent workout exercise that combines aerobic and anaerobic training.

Let me explain the difference between the two… Aerobic – Specifically refers to the use of the same large muscle group, rhythmically, for a period of 15 to 20 minutes or longer while maintaining 60-80% of your maximum heart rate. Basically it’s doing an activity for a long period of time at low intensity. Activities using aerobic exercise include jogging, swimming, walking, biking and cross-country skiing. Anaerobic – Anaerobic activity refers to activities that are short in duration and high in intensity. Some anaerobic activities include: weight lifting, sprinting, racquetball, downhill skiing, softball, soccer and football. Its high intensity and works the muscles quickly and rigorously. Aerobic refers to air or oxygen. To easily remember the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise just think that since aerobic is air or oxygen, that these types of activities should allow you to speak while performing the activity without gasping for air. If you are gasping for air during your activity you are most likely working anaerobically – which means faster, harder and at a higher intensity.

The continual movement of the salsa dance style steadily burns calories but also tones the body – most specifically the legs. But not only does it tone the body but it also adds strength to muscles without the high impact of most other exercises like weight training or running.

Salsa is also an excellent exercise choice because it combines individual dance routines that can also be paired up with a partner. Actually, salsa dancing can be practiced alone and then adding a partner for added excitement. The social charm that partnered salsa dancing has is very appealing.

A night of dancing is an excellent workout. If you are just learning to salsa dance you most likely will be working anaerobically. But as you advance to quicker salsa movements that are more complex like the professional salsa dancers twirling through the air with jumps and intense spins requiring strength, you will most likely be working your body anaerobically. This means that your muscles are working at a high intensity level.

In general, salsa dancing is an excellent workout. You’ll get fit, more toned and look better but also have fun while you’re doing it! Start joining the salsa craze now by visiting www.salsadancedvd.com.

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The Health Benefits of Dancing – Including Specific Benefits of Different Dances

If you secretly sashay across your living room when you’re home alone or long to cha-cha with your significant other, you’re in luck. Not only is dancing an exceptional way to let loose and have fun, but it also provides some terrific benefits for your health.

In fact, Mayo Clinic researchers reported that social dancing helps to:

• Reduce stress
• Increase energy
• Improve strength
• Increase muscle tone and coordination

And whether you like to kick up your heals to hip hop, classical or country, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) says that dancing can:

• Lower your risk of coronary heart disease
• Decrease blood pressure
• Help you manage your weight
• Strengthen the bones of your legs and hips

Dancing is a unique form of exercise because it provides the heart-healthy benefits of an aerobic exercise while also allowing you to engage in a social activity. This is especially stimulating to the mind, and one 21-year study published in the New England Journal of Medicine even found dancing can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia in the elderly.

In the study, participants over the age of 75 who engaged in reading, dancing and playing musical instruments and board games once a week had a 7 percent lower risk of dementia compared to those who did not. Those who engaged in these activities at least 11 days a month had a 63 percent lower risk!

Interestingly, dancing was the only physical activity out of 11 in the study that was associated with a lower risk of dementia. Said Joe Verghese, a neurologist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a lead researcher of the study, “This is perhaps because dance music engages the dancer’s mind.”

Verghese says dancing may be a triple benefit for the brain. Not only does the physical aspect of dancing increase blood flow to the brain, but also the social aspect of the activity leads to less stress, depression and loneliness. Further, dancing requires memorizing steps and working with a partner, both of which provide mental challenges that are crucial for brain health.

How Good of a Workout is Dancing, Really?

The amount of benefit you get from dancing depends on, like most exercises, the type of dancing you’re doing, how strenuous it is, the duration and your skill level.

Says exercise physiologist Catherine Cram, MS, of Comprehensive Fitness Consulting in Middleton, Wisconsin, “Once someone gets to the point where they’re getting their heart rate up, they’re actually getting a terrific workout. Dance is a weight-bearing activity, which builds bones. It’s also “wonderful” for your upper body and strength.”

Plus, dancing requires using muscles that you may not even know you had.

“If you’re dancing the foxtrot, you’re taking long, sweeping steps backwards. That’s very different than walking forward on a treadmill or taking a jog around the neighborhood … Ballroom dancing works the backs of the thighs and buttock muscles differently from many other types of exercise,” says Ken Richards, professional dancer and spokesman for USA Dance, the national governing body of DanceSport (competitive ballroom dancing).

Specific Benefits of Different Dances

If you’re looking for specific health results, here’s a breakdown of the benefits of some popular dances. Just remember that any type of dancing is better than no dancing at all!

Belly Dancing

• Improved posture and muscle toning
• Maintains flexibility
• Helps prevent lower back problems
• Tones and firms arms and shoulders
• Helps with weight loss
• Helps prepare women for childbirth
• Reduces stress

Dancing Off Those Calories

How many calories will you burn while dancing? That depends on the type of dancing. Here’s a range of some of the most popular varieties, based on a 150-pound person, per hour:

• Swing dancing: 235 calories/hour
• Ballroom dancing: 265
• Square dancing: 280
• Ballet: 300
• Belly dancing: 380
• Salsa dancing: 420+
• Aerobic dancing: 540+

Ballroom Dancing

• Conditions the body
• Helps keep the heart in shape
• Builds and increases stamina
• Develops the circulatory system
• Strengthens and tones legs and body
• Increases flexibility and balance
• Helps with weight loss
• Relieves stress

Salsa Dancing

• Builds endurance and stamina
• Helps with weight loss
• Relieves stress
• Helps you release toxins via sweating
• May help lower blood pressure and improve cholesterol levels
• Can lead to a reduced heart rate over time

Square Dancing

• Provides cardiovascular conditioning
• May lead to a slower heart rate, lower blood pressure and an improved cholesterol profile
• Strengthens bones
• Helps you develop strong social ties
• Loosens and tones muscles

Physical benefits aside, dancing has a way of brightening up a person’s day, says ballroom owner and operator Karen Tebeau.

“A lot of times, when people come into the studio, it’s because there’s been a change in their life: a divorce or they’ve been through a period of depression. They (continue) coming in, and you see a big change. After a while, they’re walking in with a sunny expression. You know it’s the dancing that’s doing that,” she says.

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