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Bill Brown
Sep 19, 2018

Dancing Isn’t Just Fun — It’s Really Good for Your Health

A woman dancing to her iPod.

 

It’s time to get your groove on.

Dancing has a way of taking your cares away. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Electric Slide, the Macarena or your own crazy moves. Who hasn’t gotten lost in an upbeat song as they jumped around?

But not only does it feel good to the soul, dancing also has some major health perks. Research shows dancing can improve your mental health by boosting your overall happiness. If you’re looking for a reason to shake it off today, check out some of the benefits below. Dance party, anyone?

Dancing is a great cardio workout.

Like any good, low-impact cardio workout, dancing can improve cardiovascular health, increase stamina, strengthen bones and muscles and stave off illnesses. Aside from perks associated any cardio , dancing has an edge with benefits that can’t be achieved by other low-impact exercises. Dancing can give you more than traditional cardio.

There are five components of fitness: cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, muscular endurance, body composition and muscular strength. An activity like running on the treadmill may improve cardiovascular endurance and body composition. An activity like dancing can actually target those two as well as muscular endurance and flexibility. And that’s on top of improved balance, agility, coordination, power, reactivity and speed.

We’re not talking slow dances here. To count as true cardio aim for an exertion level somewhere between a 5 and a 7 on a scale where 1 is resting and 10 is the hardest thing you can do. Try the talk test. You shouldn’t be so out of breath that you can’t speak, but your words should be a little choppy and your breath heavy.

It’s fun.

If exercise is not an enjoyable experience, we’re not going to do it. The bottom line is that dancing is fun in the way a monotonous treadmill run probably never will be. Plus, busting a move can trigger the release of feel good hormones like serotonin and endorphins.

Fitness expert Tracey Mallet explains you be more likely to stick with a fitness routine if it’s fun, but you’ll also want to do it for longer. “This will push you to move for a longer period of time than typical exercise, purely because it’s fun and not the dreaded word ‘exercise. Dance inspires people to get in shape with something they love to do, which doesn’t feel like dreaded exercise or a bad chore, but fun and exhilarating.”

It can be a social activity.

As much as we all love to dance when there’s nobody watching, there’s something irresistible about dancing with other people, whether it’s with a partner or a class-full of fellow booty shakers.

Group fitness is seeing a surge in popularity because of Zumba. Working out in a class can help to up the difficulty level and increase accountability.

Anyone can dance.

Nervous about dancing in front of people? Start out in your own living room, moving to a song you just can’t resist. “There is a dancer in all of us,” Mallett said. When we move our body to the music, we naturally smile and want to keep moving.

Don’t let two left feet keep you from joining in on the fun. “Don’t get intimidated because you feel like you’re not a good dancer. Who cares?” Mallett stressed. “It’s about you moving your body in your way not like the rest of the people in the class. Zone out and focus on how great you feel and that no one is judging your abilities.”

It can keep your brain sharp.

We’ve all heard by now that lifestyle habits like aiming for better sleep can help to keep your brain sharp. But, according to one study, so can dancing.

The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest that getting footloose on a regular basis is linked with a 76 percent reduction in dementia risk — about as much as playing board games or a musical instrument. Other physical activities, such as bicycling, walking and doing housework, weren’t associated with any decreased risk.

It’s gentle on the body.

The wide variety of moves that we bust out when boogying down can actually be a lifesaver for your body, as you’re avoiding the wear and tear of repetitive motions.

“It’s not so repetitive as we’re constantly combining exercises together in different combinations and developing fun innovative moves that you typically would not find in low-impact cardio aerobic classes,” Mallett said.

Unlike more traditional cardio, which is very structured and vigorous, dancing is more free and allows you to adjust the tempo when your body needs a break.  Dancing is less traumatic on the body. You don’t have to worry about going hard, you can always slow down.

Dancing can improve your balance.

Each year, one out of every three adults over the age of 65 will fall, according to the Centers for Disease Control. One thing that could help? Strapping on your dancing shoes.

A research review found that dancing, as well as carrying objects while walking, can help to improve balance and ultimately reduce dangerous falls. “It is well worth the elderly putting their favorite music on at home and having a little jig,” study researcher Tracey Howe told The Telegraph.

So go ahead, dance like there’s nobody watching. It’s for your health.

Article by: Lindsay Holmes at HuffPost

The Arena District Athletic Club is more than just a gym, it’s a premier fitness facility located in the heart of the Arena District in downtown Columbus. We provide convenience and quality, featuring top-of-the-line equipment, top-notch personal trainers, spa-like locker rooms and a wide variety of free group fitness classes daily including Cardio, Spinning, Barre Fusion, Yoga, Boot Camp and more. We offer free 2-hour parking and convenient contract-free memberships, to fit your healthy lifestyle needs. Don’t just join, belong.

 

 

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