Dance for Your Health

Five Reasons to Dance for Your Health

Dance Research for Your Health

The next time you shimmy at home to your favorite song or head out for an evening of dancing with friends, consider this: Cutting a rug can be just as good for your body as it is for you social life. From your heart to your bones, dancing is an excellent way to get healthy and have fun.

Heart-Healthy Benefits

You don’t have to spend a lifetime as a dancer to reap the physical benefits of this weight-bearing exercise. Where can dancing have the biggest effect? Your heart. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, dancing can lower your risk of coronary heart disease and decrease blood pressure.

A recent study from the Lancisi Heart Institute in Ancona, Italy, suggests even more benefits from a whirl or two around the dance floor. Researchers found that men and women with mild to moderate heart failure could boost their bodies’ oxygen use through dancing. Those who participated in an exercise program that included dancing three times a week showed an 18 percent improvement in oxygen use – a sign of better overall heart health.

Flexibility and Bone Health

The effects of dancing go beyond your cardiovascular system. Many social dances such as salsa, swing, and ballroom also affect several other areas of the body. Salsa dancing, for example, is known to build stamina, and often serves as an effective weight-loss method. The swift moves of up-tempo swing dancing improve posture and increase flexibility, a must-have as joints begin to stiffen more easily with age.

Another key benefit of dancing is preserving bone density: Experts agree that busting a move on the dance floor strengthens muscle tissue essential to preserving your bones and helps prevent osteoporosis, a condition in which the bones become extremely weak and easily broken.


In fact, a 2004 Surgeon General’s report suggests that moderate physical activity such as dancing promotes bone health, and dancing is also one of five steps to better bone health listed by the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

Whether you’re picking up a childhood favorite again or taking up something new, it’s never too late to get started dancing. Dr. Margery Kalb, a psychologist and mother of two in New Your City, began with ballet. “I don’t like the gym,” she says. “It’s boring to me. Dancing, on the other hand, is creative and makes me feel connected to physical and mental well-being.” Eventually, devoting time to her two children forced Dr. Kalb to take a break from dancing – for 22 years. Today she’s dancing again and feels better than ever. Her advice for first timers or those getting back into the swing of things? “Find something you enjoy. It’s important to choose something that allows you to have fun and be happy,” she says. “You often forget you’re getting a workout.”

Note:
This article originally appeared in Spirit of Women Magazine, Winter 2009

Source Susana Ramos

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