Dancing can be many things: An expression of art, a fun hobby, a representation of culture, and a great form of exercise.
Dancing is the ultimate workout! Not only does dancing involve engaging all of your muscles and limbs, it also gets your heart pumping. Plus, dancing can be a whole lot of fun.
A workout you can look forward to? Sign me up!
Here are some research-backed ways dancing can improve your health.
1.Dance Boosts Cardiovascular Health
Like other aerobic exercise, dancing is great for improving cardiovascular function. A study published in 2016 in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine found that people who engaged in moderate-intensity dancing (defined in the study as enough to make you out of breath or sweaty) were 46 percent less likely to develop heart disease than non-dancers over 10 years of follow-up.
This study also notes the social aspect of dancing, and the relaxation that comes with it, could be partly responsible for its health benefits.
2.Dancing Builds Core Strength
Dance requires balance and helps build core strength, which helps promote good posture and prevent muscle injuries and back pain, according to Mayo Clinic. Dance helps you train the deep muscles in your body, which you would not work otherwise. You are also engaging your abs, which are an essential part to balancing.
3.Dance Promotes Flexibility
In addition to building strength, many forms of dance stretch the limbs of the body, which improves flexibility. Both the improved strength and flexibility contribute to improved balance, which can help to avoid falls and reduce the risk of injury in other aspects of life. Flexibility also means improved mobility, which means that any type of daily activity will be more enjoyable.
4.Dance Can Help with Weight Loss
Dancing is a form of both aerobic and anaerobic exercise, which is a great calorie burner. Jumping and twirling movements are great aerobic training, while holding positions of balance can turn on the anaerobic energy system. Depending on the style of dance 30 minutes of dancing can burn between 90 and 252 calories, according to Harvard Medical School.
This type of high-intensity calorie burning can help support weight loss if you’re trying to shed pounds.
5.Dancing is Good for Bone Health
As a form of weight-bearing activity, unlike a stationary bike or swimming, dancing can help maintain bone density says the National Osteoporosis Foundation. High-impact and weight-bearing exercises, including dance, help you effectively maintain and even build new bone mass. Some research suggests for older adults with osteoporosis, dancing can help reverse some of the damage of that chronic condition.
6.Dancing May Help Prevent Memory Loss
Dance often requires learning moves and routines (choreography).
“There’s actually some very good evidence that social dancing can reduce the risk of cognitive decline as we get older”, says Carolyn Fredericks, MD, a neurologist at Yale Medicine. Out of all the physical activities, including walking, bicycling, stair climbing, swimming, and group exercise classes, dancing was the only activity associated with a lower risk of dementia.
“We always recommend that older adults seek out cardiovascular exercise, social engagement, and cognitive challenge – social dancing gets all three of these,” Dr. Fredericks says.
7.Dance is Good for Mental Health
Research shows that dance can help decrease anxiety, increase self-esteem, and improve psychological well-being.
Certain types of dance have even been used as treatment for depression. The psychotherapeutic use of movement to promote emotional, social, cognitive, and physical integration of the individual, for the purpose of improving health and well-being – was effective in treating depression.
8.Dance Can Help Us Feel More Socially Connected
Social connectedness and interaction is a really important part of mental and physical health. Research shows that feeling lonely or socially isolated can have a myriad of negative health effects.
Dancing is sharing, and when you take a class surrounded by other people, you know you all have something in common. You are not here to compete, you are here to enjoy, and there is an amazing feeling that comes with that. Go take a class, and feel the energy of the room.
Source Article by everydayhealth.com
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