If you’re looking for ways to burn more calories and body fat and regular weight lifting just doesn’t interest you all that much, you should consider dancing.
I’m not talking about ballroom dancing, although it is not without merits, but more structured fitness formats such as aerobic dance classes, step classes, and modern style dancing. These can burn a ridiculously high amount of calories and may be the way for you to get a whole new body.
Why am I, the proud owner of two of the world’s most left feet, recommend dancing so much? Here are 6 good reasons:
Dancing Is Fun
I love weight lifting and cardio, but I know that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Some people want to get in shape, but they need to do it in other, more fun ways. Dancing is one of those ways.
For people who have always wanted to learn dancing, this can be the perfect way to burn calories and get in shape. Someone who may need to drag themselves to the gym will never miss a dance class. He or she will simply be having too much fun.
Dancing Gives You a Killer Body
Have you ever seen the body of a dancer? Whether male or female, dancers have a body to kill for. They are toned and firm, but never bulky. Their body is the essence of functional fitness. There’s little doubt that dancers are, on the whole, very attractive people. Their body just screams a healthy vitality that is almost irresistible. This kind of body shaping doesn’t happen often with gym workouts.
Dancing Moves Your Body In Totally Different Ways
One of the reasons why I like bodyweight workouts is that they allow you to do more elaborate and movement oriented workouts than those that you can do with dumbbells or other equipment. Dancing takes this to a higher level.
When you dance, your body moves in totally different ways. You train your body in a variety of complex movements, improve coordination, physical skill, and can get a whole new workout experience. You may also find that you feel more confident in your body, as if you’re aware of how much more capable it has become.
Dancing Can Burn A Ton Of Calories
Anyone who’s done an aerobic dance class will tell you that they finished their session sweating in a way which is rare when you do regular cardio or weight lifting workouts. Dance classes can be some of the hardest workouts that you can do. One of the reasons is that the steps involved in such a class can be rather complicated, at least in the beginning, so you simply work much harder than you would have imagined.
In the past I wrote about bodyweight cardio exercises and why they can be a great way to burn body fat. Dancing is the ultimate bodyweight cardio routine.
Balanced Workout
Dancing gives you a balanced workout experience, the kind that doesn’t favor one muscle over another. This can improve your posture, reduce risk of various injuries, improve flexibility, reduce back pain, and also improve the way you look. As symmetry is usually an attractive feature, a balanced workout can lead to a more attractive figure.
Note: Dr. Kareem Samhouri, author of the Double Edged Fat Loss plan, believes that muscle balancing is crucial for fat loss and talks about how such a workout plan leads to a more efficient nervous system and improves, what he calls, neuro fitness and fat loss.
Dancing Is Social
Joining a dance class has one additional benefit: it is a social activity. Once you become part of a group, you meet people, create new connections and, slowly but surely, become more committed to the lessons and your fellow participants. I’ve talked about finding an accountability buddy to help you lose weight. Being part of a workout group is an excellent way to create a stronger accountability. You will be more motivated to take regular part in these classes. You may even make some great friends in the process.
Final Word
Aerobic dancing is not just for women. Men can find these workouts very challenging too. You may find that you are great at weight lifting but downright awful at coordination and dancing. It’s good to train your body in a number of ways. Dancing can be one of them.
There are various kinds of dance classes: zumba, step classes, kickboxing (the aerobic kind, not the martial arts), and many others. Try out different styles until you find something you enjoy doing. Dancing can help you lose fat. Don’t disregard it.