How Dance Can Help Your Health

 Trying to get into shape isn’t always the easiest thing to do. You have probably tried sports like football, hockey, soccer, and many others, but simply find you’re no good, or are constantly getting injured. You could always go out for a nice jog, or hit the gym. This might be entertaining for a short period of time, but soon the novelty wears off and you grow bored. You’ve tried everything else so why not try dance?

Dance provides a fun and entertaining way of becoming physically active, while at the same time, given you’ve stretched and warmed up properly, is a relatively safe way to get some exercise.

Some people will tell you “dance isn’t a sport!” These people clearly do not realize all the things dance does for your body. Depending on the type of dance and your body weight, you could be burning anywhere between 300-500 calories an hour. For those that do not know, a downhill skier that weighs 155lbs, burns 422 calories an hour for moderate effort. If dance isn’t a sport you might as well stop calling skiing, basketball, football, soccer, baseball, and swimming sports.

Dance has many, many benefits that include:

Flexibility– Most dancers stretch before participating in a routine, or practicing. Most dances require the dancer to be able to move many of their muscles in all different ways; this obviously leads to increased flexibility in just about every part of your body.

Bone Strength– As you are moving during a routine the bones in your legs are strengthened which helps slow down bone loss, combined with medication, you may be able to fight off Osteoporosis.

Balance– Dance requires an extreme amount of balance, so if you find yourself on the ground more than on your feet, dance will help improve your sense of balance.

Helps Relieve Stress– Dancing, especially with a partner or group can relieve a great deal of stress. Not only do you get to workout and express yourself, but you can socialize with those around you and have good time.

Dance promotes many health benefits and should seriously be considered by many people. It is a way to express yourself, relieve stress, and get some exercise, all while fighting off things like osteoporosis, and many other bone and muscle related pain. However, always know the limit at which you can push your body, the importance of dance is to have fun, so try not to pull a muscle.