Dancing Your Way to Fitness

 Dancing Your Way to Fitness

How to stop freaking out about exercise and start losing yourself to the music.

Dancing is seen as either something you’re good at, or something at which you fail miserably. And yet nearly everyone does it, whether drunk dance in a club or actually joining a dance club. But is dancing the future replacement of the much-feared gym session and the best way to tackle health issues in the U.K?

Many people fear going to the gym and there are many reasons for this. What if you’re using the equipment in the wrong way? You don’t want people to see you struggling and sweating in-between pull-ups. What if it’s busy and people are using all the weight machines? Will I look good in my outfit? Wil I even go after spending all that money on a membership? All these concerns about taking a trip to the gym are irrelevant when you can dance way to your favourite music in the kitchen or buy a Zumba DVD and do it from home.

With the increase in dance inspired exercise classes such as Zumba and Boxercise, maybe the future of fitness is swaying towards the world of dance. A substantial amount of people fear going to the gym and there are many reasons for this? It’s expensive and I probably won’t end up going as much as I should do. What if it’s busy and people are using all of the weight machines? People staring and judging you as you try to work out how to use the machinery. All these concerns about taking a trip to the gym are irrelevant when you can buy a Zumba DVD and do it from home.

Both methods could be just as effective as going to the gym, minus all the monetary issues and concerns you have about exercising in public. If you feel like you won’t be productive at home, you could go to a dance class in your local gym, suddenly exercise doesn’t seem too much of a chore. Listening to pumping club music or current pop tracks distracts you from the fact that you are working out and suddenly you’re enjoying exercise. A couple of weeks later your fitness has improved, you’ve gained muscle, you’ve lost weight, and it will come as a surprise that it was all due to you having a good time.

There are so many different styles of dance and dance type exercise: Jazz, Hip Hop, Tap, Ballet, Zumba and many more to get involved with. This eliminates the idea that exercise will become ‘regimented’. Also, dancing has a social aspect to it. Going to a class would mean that you would meet new people and widen your social circle. The overall experience will be more interesting and will therefore make you more motivated to go. In addition to this, it also improves your posture. According to an article published on Bupa’s website, by physiotherapist Lucy Rath, “Dancing is a great way to raise your heart rate. You can burn over 400 calories in an hour. It also makes your muscles work hard, which helps to maintain and improve strength”, further showing the useful benefits of dance on the body.

I realise that when I am not in a period of going to dance classes, I put on a lot of weight. That’s when I realised the importance of dance, and how it had become apart of my lifestyle choices. It’s not my metabolism that is stopping me from getting bigger, it is my lack of exercise.

For me, it’s always just been a fun hobby, but I would say an hour of dance a week equals to an hour at the gym, difference is you don’t have random people staring at you whilst you work up a sweat at the machines. You can do it from the comfort of your home or join a local club and meet new people. It’s a social way to exercise and a healthy way to channel your inner Beyoncé. You won’t even realise you’re exercising and within a few weeks or months you’ll start seeing the results.