Benefits of Ballroom Dance Explained
Many people take ballroom dance lessons to learn a new hobby and meet new people. Learning to dance includes many benefits beyond just getting out of the house a few nights a week. The obvious advantages include those to your health, but dance promotes intellectual and social wellbeing too.
Ballroom dancing builds a better body starting with the fundamentals of exercise. Because you’re moving and active, dancing helps build strength and flexibility. While it seems purely fun, dancing helps build strength in the legs through its intricate moves and steps. Though you may not be lifting your partner in the air, partner dancing can be a workout for the arms as well. Flexibility is increased as your range of motion increases with practice. Many beginner ballroom dancers often notice a difference in flexibility as they expand their dance repertoire.
Ballroom dancing can also improve cardiovascular and bone health. For everyone from vigorous salsa dancers to those learning a slow waltz, getting yourself moving increases your heart rate and can lead to lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol. The movements of many types of dances also strengthen weight-bearing bones and can even help prevent or slow bone loss related to osteoporosis.
Physical benefits are not the only advantages of ballroom dance. The constant mental activity that goes along with learning and performing a new dance can help sharpen your intellectual and mental abilities. A New England Journal of Medicine report studied adults 75 and older for 21 years and found that dance was one of the only activities that improved cardiovascular fitness as well as reducing the risk of cognitive impairments like dementia. Using your brain for activities like learning and performing helps create more intricate neural pathways that ward off weakening synapses that often comes with old age.
Physical exercise in any form promotes a healthier self-image. After any good workout, endorphins produce a feel-good mood. The same is true for ballroom dancing. Unlike other sports, though, ballroom dance has a social component that other types of physical activity don’t. You can feel the camaraderie when you learn dances within group lessons, laugh with a partner during a private lesson, or make new friends at an open house party. These benefits alone can help reduce stress and encourage a feeling of overall wellbeing.
It’s easy to get caught up in the fun of ballroom dance and forget how beneficial it is to your overall health. Since more people are being drawn to dance, the knowledge we have about its benefits is becoming more widely known. Increased evidence shows that dancing is one of the few overall workouts—exercising your mind, body, and soul.
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