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Credit: Pixabay
Today’s post is brought to you by Diana Smith.
It happens to most people. You hear that song you really like and you start moving, without even thinking about it. Your body just does it. Your arms, legs and even your head get thrown around in all directions. And it feels so good. And not only that, it also does good things to your body and mind. Here are some excuses for dancing your heart out.
Burn those calories and lose some weight
There’s a reason you end up sweaty every time you dance. Yes, you probably do it just for fun, but it’s actually a great choice of exercise. You can do it at home, where nobody’s watching, you can go to a dance studio or visit a club, but the result is the same – you will burn calories and lose weight. Dancing burns as many calories in an hour as moderate swimming or cycling. And just like those types of exercise, you get to choose the intensity of it and how hard you push yourself. But, how do you know if you’re dancing hard enough for it to count as cardio exercise? Well, if you’re sweating, your breathing is heavy and you can’t really go through a sentence without cutting words to breathe in, you’re doing it right. Dances like Salsa or Zumba will do the trick here.
Credit: Pixabay 
Credit: Pixabay
Improve your cardiovascular function
Just like any cardio exercise, dancing can help strengthen your heart muscle and improve your circulation. Plus, most forms of dancing are aerobic, which reduces the chance of cardiovascular diseases. This further means that it may also help lower the blood pressure in people with hypertension. Also, the weight you lose when dancing allows your heart to function more easily. Other than enhancing your heart health, dancing also improves your breathing and overall health. Again, this also depends on how intensely you dance and how much energy you put into it. Social dancing means more endurance workout, and if done over a longer period of time, it makes it more cardiovascular than some other dance forms, like ballet.
Dance for a better mood
Dancing is not only beneficial for your body, but for your mind as well. The reason we dance is to enjoy ourselves and have fun, shaking our stress away and moving away from depression with graceful and appealing body movements. You feel good about yourself when dancing, boosting your self-esteem and body image. Increased blood flow in the brain and the release of feel-good hormones are just some benefits of dancing. It also helps us bond with people we’re dancing with. Also, entering a dancing competition and winning some lovely dance medals will create a sense of achievement, thus strengthening our sense of self-worth.
Credit: Pixabay
Enhance your balance and flexibility
Since you’re moving and stretching in all directions while dancing, choosing whether to go slow or fast, low-impact or high-impact, the flexibility of your joints and your whole body will enhance. Dancing also improves coordination and balance, even with the elderly. Ballet will boost both your flexibility and balance, but so will belly-dancing, while square or tap dancing will do wonders for your coordination.
Credit: Pixabay 
Credit: Pixabay
Tone your muscles
Once you get into the groove, you’ll start feeling muscles you didn’t even know were there. If you’re ballroom dancing, your buttock muscles are activated, as well as the ones in the back of your thighs, but that’s not nearly all. When you dance, you move up and down, side to side, and all other directions in between, working your upper and lower body muscles. Dancing builds muscular endurance and strength, as well as body composition. Although you feel like it’s your legs and arms doing all the moving, your core muscles are also stimulated, meaning your abs and back muscles get their share of workout, too, especially with hip-hop or pole dancing.
There’s really no excuse for you not to dance. So, turn on the radio, play your favorite song and go for it. All you need is yourself, so waste no more time and stay healthy by dancing like there’s no tomorrow.
Credit: Pixabay
Diana Smith
