Love to Dance? Use it for cardio workouts and to stay fit

Bored of the treadmill and tired of lifting weights, turn up the music and try out dance based fitness/workout. If you have always watched & appreciated dancing from the sidelines, here’s an opportunity for you to transform from an ignorant dancer to an expert. You can learn all forms of dancing under one roof at these dance & fitness studios, not just for fun but also to keep yourself fit. The talented & friendly instructors make dancing easy & fun for the beginners.

Dance is no longer reserved for clubs, parties or weddings; it is now regularly pursued as a fitness routine. You can use any form of dance to focus on aspects like cardio, body conditioning and body control. It is also a good way to build stamina and keep the heart and mind healthy, happy and stress-free.

Few activities stimulate the brain the way dancing does, it releases the happy hormones and gives a natural high, in addition to increasing the body’s metabolism and blood flow. Small wonder then that dance is becoming popular as an exercise regime.

Gym workouts are pure physical exercises, which require labour and strength, and are good for muscle building. There is no connection whatsoever with the mental, spiritual and creative faculties. Also, injury risk is high in gyms. When it comes to cardio-based fitness, dance is unbeatable.

The beauty of dance is that there are many forms to choose from, even for fitness purposes. From zumba to belly dancing and jazz, the different forms are finding takers across age groups—and each style has its own benefits.

For an all-body workout and stamina building, zumba can be effective. Most studies have found zumba to be a better calorie-burner than cardio kickboxing, step aerobics and power yoga.

Bollywood-style dance may not be the best way to fight flab, however but it focuses on the entire body. Students take time understanding the steps before trying them out, hence the less number of calories. But it is still popular because of the entertainment quotient and is also a good way to stay fit.

Bhangra is a good bet for shaping up legs and shoulders.

Dances like salsa are technical and require dancers to stay on the ball of the foot, resulting in stronger calves. The intense hip motion helps work on the abdomen and obliques. Power has to be generated from the core muscles and the resistance offered by the partner helps tone the arms.

If you want to strengthen the abdomen muscles, you can opt for Egyptian belly dancing. Belly dancing is slowly gaining momentum as a fitness routine. Not only does it improve flexibility and endurance, but it also helps reduce pains during menstruation. A study published in the Israeli Journal Of Family Practice had suggested that belly dancing is “a safe and pleasant form of physical exercise” that helps in weight loss and increases women’s general health.

But can dance replace a gym workout?

Fitness experts acknowledge the benefits of dance, but several maintain that no workout is complete without weight training. To burn calories, the body needs to be in the fat-burning zone, which means a continuous workout of 40-50 minutes. This doesn’t happen in dance, except in the case of zumba, or aerobics. Bhangra can also be helpful, but only when weight training is involved. No workout can be complete without weights. Dancing is good for flexibility, body control and agility, but body toning can only happen with weight training.

Nevertheless, for those who get bored with working out at the gym, group classes of zumba, aqua aerobics, etc., are a fun way to lose weight and to stay fit. Dance as an exercise can be performed at any age, but the form depends on the person’s fitness level. Before taking up the class, one should consult the doctor to know his/her health status. People with knee or back problems should not pick up dancing without a full body check-up.

‘Folk Fitness’ workout, combines Indian folk music and folk dance

Folk Fitness’s workout regime combines Indian folk music and folk dance. The company has trained hundreds of instructors till now and intend to create thousands of instructor jobs in the next few years.

New forms of exercises get invented every now and then, and while dancing has been used for fitness for a long time, this company’s workout regime is based on Indian folk music and folk dance.

Folk Fitness was formed with the motive to make it India’s biggest fitness product for the world. Folk Fitness has received accreditation from National Academy of Sports & Medicine, Aerobics & Fitness Association of America and Fitness & Sports Sciences Association. Driven by passion for dance and fitness, Folk Fitness is an apt alternative to any conventional work out.

Some of the folk styles incorporated in this routine include:

Koli (folk dance style from Maharashtra): This from results in the strengthening of the upper body, as well as the lower body.

Garba (one of the most popular folk dances from Gujarat): This style involves plenty of bending that help in the strengthening of the lower back. It is also very useful for the core muscles. Swinging of the arms helps the shoulders. A lot of clap movements involve wrist and forearm movements, thereby strengthening the hands.

Bihu (dance form from Assam): This form does wonders to your body as squeezing of the abdomen helps in the strengthening of the core and simultaneously works on the hamstrings.

Bhangra (popular folk dance from Punjab): We all love this dance form which is exciting and full of vigour. This dance form works great on the shoulders, hamstrings, and the quadriceps, too. Dancers of bhangra carry each other on their shoulders; which can serve as a weight training exercise to an extent.

Tailor-made fitness regimes for children (Nanhe), young (Yuva) and old (Pranam), combining Indian Folk dance and cardio workout, is also available.

Fitness trainer is an amazing pull-up dancer

While most can’t even dance on land, this fitness trainer dances on air, while holding on to the pull up bar.

Her video, which became popular on YouTube, also wowed Ellen, who invited her to her show to show off her amazing skills.

So how difficult it is do this?

Very easy…but before that you should be able to do 100 push ups, 100 squats, 100 sit ups, followed by 10 km run 🙂

Game for it?

B-boying Dance Workout

Youngsters are taking to Bboying big-time, especially in metro cities. B-boying, also known as breaking & popularly called breakdancing, originated way back in the early seventies and since then it has spread worldwide. It has undergone some transformation and now involves some incredible stunt-dancing & vividly stylish dance moves. And television, movies, and social networking websites are only making it more popular. An important indicator of youth culture and street life, the style can be seen in several advertisements & music videos.

Most dance teachers, who used to perform this dance in public spaces and open parks, were often chased by the police who thought they were making a ruckus. So most of them now train/coach quietly inside schools.

Bboy workout improves flexibility, enhances body strength, improves your endurance level and can also help you lose weight. However, it’s not about power moves and gymnastic movements, and though it involves stunts, you don’t need to have a gymnastic background to be able to do it. If you enjoy dancing, regular B-boying practice can help you quickly get back in shape.

Bollywood-Inspired Workout

Bollywood-style routines are a craze around the world, and fitness studios want to ride that wave. As a result, Bollywood-inspired workouts are gaining in popularity. These sequences are done on music inspired by Bollywood, so you basically have some creative choreography on heart-pumping beats.

If you saw the video carefully, you would notice that the instructor used a few yoga poses as well. Indeed a great way to stay in shape. And the steps are not that difficult.

Most of these exercises are basically high to low-intensity dance sequences, plus some muscle isolation routines, that can help tone your body and also burn serious calories.

While it is fun, just make sure that you exercise at the intensity level that you’re comfortable with; lower your intensity if necessary. Feel free to take a break to recover (by marching) when necessary. Avoid stopping abruptly, in case you’re tired.

Masala Bhangra: Mix Fitness with Fun

Here’s another dance-inspired cardio workout that burns fat and tones the entire body. If you don’t enjoy the traditional workout routine, Masala Bhangra is something that could excite you.

For readers who’re not from India, “Masala in Hindi means spicy, and Bhangra is a folk dance of Punjabi’s from north India. So, Masala Bhangra’s a traditional folk dance blended with the exhilaration of Bollywood.

Masala Bhangra Workout is an exercise dance routine that blends the traditional high-energy Bhangra dance steps with Bollywood dance moves, set in an easy to follow fitness format.

The workout consists of traditional Indian dance moves set to energetic music with traditional drum beats. It’s a full-body cardio workout that burns hundreds of calories.

The benefit is that it combines dance (which is fun) with cardiovascular fitness, and is suitable for participants of all ages and fitness levels.

Masala Bhangra allows you to channelize your masculine side with Bhangra, and your feminine grace with Bollywood.