It may seem too good to be true, but you can have an incredible workout just by putting on some tunes and dancing! Dance workouts are unique in how they work out your muscles and brain and can have benefits that your typical day at the gym might not.
Keep Your Mood Up
When we see people dancing we automatically think that they are happy, but dancing itself can make you feel! Dancing releases dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins all of the chemicals that make us feel good. Plenty of people have found that working out regularly has helped them fight depressive moods or even just brighten up bad days. That is even more true when that workout is dancing. It has been found to be so effective that a therapy called Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) was created based on the understanding of dance as a form of language.
Dancing is naturally a social exercise as well. If you want to up your enjoyment, join a class, or start dancing with your partner. Dancing together deepens your social connections and those social connections also help you stay positive even during hard times. Dancing can be a workout that keeps you upbeat every day.
Stay Focused
Working through different dance routines that involve multiple steps, arm movements, and different rhythms don’t just give your body a workout, it helps you build your grey matter as well! If you are worried about how you’ll look or keeping up with the instructor, start with a dance workout dvd that you can pause and rewind before moving up. Getting to practice the moves improves your brain function in regards to memory and focus. The process of dancing creates new neural connections in your brain which leads to a stronger brain that has better long-term memory retention. Studies have found this connection to be so strong it can even help lower a person’s chance of dementia as they age.
A Real Total-Body Workout
If you don’t want to spend all of your time working out, it’s important to be intentional with your workouts. Using dance-based workouts gives you a total—body workout which can keep you healthy and save time. We talked about how dancing works out your brain, but it also works out another part of your body often ignored that’s critical to your life, your skeleton! The intensity of dance workouts helps build new bone tissue which makes your bones stronger and more rigid and keeps them from being more likely to break or suffer damage throughout your life.
What dance workouts can do for strength
Dance workouts may not involve free weights, but they do involve your body weight. By constantly moving your body in different ways throughout your workout you are using your own body weight to build up your muscles. Dancing is known to strengthen your muscles throughout your entire body helping you tone up and even giving you better posture!
The wide range of motions involved in a dancing exercise helps you strengthen your large and small muscles throughout your entire body. Unlike exercises like running, dancing’s variety of movements uses flexibility and balance to activate entire areas of your body for exercise. This method of exercise lets you develop broad areas throughout your body without
What dance workouts can do for cardio
While sometimes people are surprised by dancing being good for strength exercise, we typically expect it to be good for cardio. And you wouldn’t be wrong to think that! Doing routine dance exercises raises your heart rate and helps you lose weight and build stamina.
Summary
In conclusion, you don’t need fancy equipment or a dance background to get in a good dance workout. Turn on the tunes, follow an instructor, and enjoy a total body workout that will make you healthier in body and brain!