In my opinion – yes! Dancing is a great way to exercise.
Firstly, it’s a whole-body workout which targets a number of muscles as well as exercising your heart and lungs. You burn a few calories depending on how long you dance for and how energetically you do it and how often. A professional ballerina doesn’t have an ounce of fat on her but that’s because she spends her whole life dancing!
Secondly, it’s fun! There are so many different dance styles to choose from. You can dance in a social environment, you can dance in a class or you can dance at home.
Dancing is known to release endorphins, especially when combined with music that you enjoy. People often experience an emotional release when dancing which makes them feel happy.
So, all in all, I’d say dancing is a good way to exercise! And if you’re stuck at home this is a perfect way to exercise.
Here are some different types you can try:
Belly Dancing
Belly Dancing is especially great for the legs, hips and stomach – moving those hips in a circle and doing all sorts of things with the belly muscles.
Ballet
This has to be my favourite!
There are many videos on YouTube that do some form of ballet but the best I came across was Lazy Dancer Tips by professional dancer, Alessia.
There are a lot of free videos on her website which have been organised into week-long workout plans, along with a paid membership plan if you want more structured exercise plans.
Here is one that you can do. It’s for beginners but I think anyone can benefit from this.
Barre Workout
You may prefer a less-ballet style workout. This barre workout by Suzanne Bowen is good. Suzanne offers a large variety of workout videos from 5 minutes to 60 minutes with a monthly payment membership. The cost of the workout membership is a lot less than a gym membership and you don’t have to leave home to do them!
Here is a quick preview of one of her exercise videos:
Ballroom & Latin Dancing
Have you ever wanted to look like you know what you’re doing at a wedding or a party? You know, when the salsa type music comes on and you just sit there because you don’t want to look foolish?
Well now you can learn to salsa, cha-cha, rumba, waltz and many more and you can be one of those that makes it look easy and fun.
At Passion4Dancing.com there are a number of free videos to get you started or an affordable membership plan which covers all types of dance.
Freestyle Dancing
By this I mean – just put some music on and dance! Do what you like, how you like (close the curtains if you feel embarrassed). I often do this on a Friday at the end of the day. For half an hour I put on my favourite playlist of dance-type music and just let it go!