Dancing Exercises Are A Great Way To Get Fit
Seeing the ratings of Britain's Strictly Come Dancing, or Dancing With The Stars , spending energy on the dance floor has become very popular. Dance as exercise might be just the fun activity that we all needs to stick with the cardio workouts known to be so very good for your health.
Two recent studies, one out of Italy, the other conducted in the United Kingdom, suggest this might be the way to go, and both were presented at the most recent annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in Seattle.
The results of the Italian research found that salsa dancing improved aerobic fitness, while the UK work found that the less strenuous, but still fun, fox trot or tango added two thousand steps to our daily walking total.
Ten thousand steps are recommended by experts for good health, but every little bit helps, specially as you get older.
The Italian researchers analysed lively salsa dancing, takin heart readings and oxygen levels in dancers who were doing either lessons, dancing at a night club or doing a group dance known as the rueda de casino.
The average age of the participants was 36 years old, and eleven pairs of dancer were involved.
The maximum heart rate of the dancers went up 58-75% and their oxygen levels went up 41-56%, depending on where the subjects danced.
Those dancing at the nightclub was the most strenueous of the three locations, though all increased heart rate and oxygen intake and levels.
Gian Pietro Emerenziani, the Study author, from the University of the Studies of Rome in Italy, comments that Salsa is an spirited dance, and all three styles of salsa in the study if practiced regularly, will have a positive affect on wellbeing and fitness.
Also, a team of UK researchers conducted a study of the effects of dancing by offering a 12-week series of ballroom dancing lessons to a group of non-active adults.
The 27 subjects had an average age of 53; most, 22, were females. They attended lessons once a week for two hours. The dances included the tango, fox trot and cha-cha.
"Learning to dance can be a fun, social, local and friendly way to enjoy low-intensity physical activity and skill learning", explains the author of the second of the two studies, Stephen Cobley who is a senior lecturer at Leeds Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom.
This means you dont have to go to the gym or get all hot and sweaty to get the aerobic benefit of a workout.
It helps strengthen bones and muscles without hurting joints, it tones your body, helps with posture and balance, improves your stamina and flexibility, reduces stress, wards off potential problems like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoporosis and even depression.
As you shuffle your feet, you want to keep half an eye on your heart rate, so that youre sure the dancing is intense enough.
Also don't take away the benefits of the dance session by consuming high calorie drinks or snacks.
However, before you just straight into it, be sure that you've had a word with you family doctor about what type of activity is right for you, especially if you have been inactive for some while.
There are many dancing option, including: square dancing, swing dancing, line dancing, folk dancing, ballroom dancing, belly dancing, salsa, flamenco, jazz, modern, clogging and contra - They can be great for your health, not to mention your social life.
Next - just head on over to the Daily Health Bulletin for more information on using dance as exercise or dance as exercise as an alternative to other exercise, plus for alimited time get 5 free fantastic health reports.