Is Ballroom Dancing good for your health? We’ve always had that suspicion. After all, we’ve argued for a long time that ballroom dancing was not only good for your physical well-being, but for your mental and emotion health, too. Well, now we have an article from www.healthfitnessrevolution.com that confirms our suspicion. Let us give you a rundown about the many health benefits discussed in that article.
Physical Benefits
When you social dance, you’re often spending between 3 and 5 minutes dancing non-stop. When the DJ plays your favorite Waltz followed by your favorite Salsa followed by your favorite Tango, that’s up to 15 minutes of nonstop movement! The result? That’s an aerobic workout, of course! Aerobic workouts are great for improving cardiovascular health, and therefore can help in the prevention of heart disease.
When you start learning the difficult techniques required to master dances such as Waltz or Samba, that’s going to do a number on those legs. So be prepared for sexy legs when you start dancing! After all, ballroom dancing requires a low impact, repetitive motion that is ideal for firming up your legs. Men can also expect to see muscular benefits. With the requirement to keep those elbows high, men will find increased tone in their backs, shoulders, and arms.
As your skills in dancing increase, so must your flexibility. Given that increased flexibility aids in the prevention of joint degeneration, that’s a really good thing! You will also have greater mobility and will be less prone to injuries. And so many of those benefits of flexibility can come just from getting out on that dance floor and having fun. No extra work required!
Why is ballroom dancing good for your health? Well, when you take those three physical health benefits into consideration, it’s easy to see. Those three reasons alone should convince you to get cha cha-ing across the dance floor, but let’s not stop there.
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Mental Benefits
Ballroom Dancing is extremely important for your mental and physical well-being.
There are complicated step patterns to remember. Then you have to count the music. Don’t forget to include your arms! Make eye contact with your partner. Watch out for the other couple speeding your way!
Wow, there is so much to think about when you’re ballroom dancing! Any form of dance is good for your brain, but ballroom dancing is by far the best. Why? Dancing requires you to synchronize movement and music. This, in turn, increases neuron activity in the brain. And increased neuron activity in the brain means greater prevention of diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. PET imagery used in studies of the brain have shown increased activity in areas all over the brain. These areas include:
- the motor cortex
- the somatosensory cortex
- the basal ganglia
- the cerebellum
The interconnectivity of these areas of the brain even aids in developing new neural activity. The most common places for new neurons to be developed as a result of dancing are in executive function, long-term memory, and spatial recognition. As a result, dance has been recognized as one of the leading supplemental therapies for patients of Parkinson’s.
But ballroom dancing adds one more element to this soup of benefits that other dance styles lack. This element is social connectivity. Ballroom dancing requires you to talk to people, learn their names, touch other people. All of that interaction increases neural activity in the brain even more. Therefore, this increases dance’s ability to prevent mental and nervous disorders.
Emotional Benefits
Ok, ok. Sometimes dancing can be frustrating. From the emotional point of view, is ballroom dancing good for your health? Well, the truth of it is, dancing is fun… most of the time! Science can prove that, too! Moving to music stimulates that brain’s reward centers, which in turn increases serotonin production. Serotonin and dopamine are the body’s “happy” hormones. More serotonin means more happiness, which in turn means better quality of life.
When we dance socially and interact with other people, this releases endorphins in the body that lowers stress levels. In our rat-race world, anything that lowers stress levels is worth doing! So don’t be nervous. Put on those dancing shoes and laugh at your mistakes. You’re not just learning a new skill. You are literally improving your emotional well-being.
Two Teenagers Pump Each Other Up at a Ballroom Dance Competition
Proven: Ballroom Dancing Good for Your Health
Between the physical, emotional, and mental benefits of ballroom dancing, there is finally proof! Ballroom dancing is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Don’t wait to start dancing. Do yourself, and your brain, a favor and start dancing today. Not sure how to get started? No worries! We have the thing for you. Click here to sign up for our group classes, or check out our calendar here!
I never knew that dancing can help boost your mood and your brain’s cognitive abilities! My uncle has always wanted to do activities that can get his mind away from his work-related stress. Perhaps enrolling in a dance company can help him enjoy dancing in the future!
It’s helpful to learn that ballroom dancing helps stimulate our brains’ serotonin production. My mom’s been hiding in her house for the past months. Ever since her second divorce, she stopped being herself, and my sister and I want to change that. We’ll talk to our mom about joining a dance class to meet new people and reduce her stress levels.