Hey guys! So glad you could make it back here today! Since I was seven years old, dance has been apart of my life. I have always loved the creative freedom that dance has granted me, but it also brings a unique way to exercise. I think one of the most important things when working out is making sure to cross train. We never want to become too comfortable with our exercises and cross training keeps us from this familiarity. Dancing contributes to an increase in stamina and muscle definition.

Dance is an excellent form of cardio. Many dance workouts like Zumba have branched out of the traditional dance forms. As we know cardio contributes to heart health. Cardio helps with the burning of calories and helps increase your metabolism. Dance classes are an easy place to push and challenge yourself. It can benefit your mood and attitude. Dance, just like other forms of cardio, contributes to your mental health. Dancing allows for social interaction and brings along community. There is a good bit of camaraderie in a dance class that comes from cheering on the other dancers.

Dance does a great job of defining muscles, while more traditional exercise builds more bulk. Ballet barre defines small intricate muscles that are often hard to pin-point, and targets areas that normal weight lifting ignores. In ballet muscles are often long and lean. A workout that would be similar to ballet would be a light-weight high repetition session. Women in ballet have very feminine and desirable muscle definition. Dancing most often focuses on legs, which is why it is important for dancers to cross train as well.

There are many different styles of dance for people to explore and discover. The more traditional forms are ballet, modern, and contemporary. Some other styles of dance are jazz, hip-hop, and ballroom. Whether you are more classic or you want to pop-and-lock, never be afraid to dance it out. It’s easy to get stuck into your normal workout bubble, so my encouragement to you is to get outside of your comfort zone. Try something new and dance like nobody is watching.