Healthy Minute: Cha-Cha-Cha Your Way To Good Health

Ballroom dancing is a perfect combination of physical activity, social interaction, and mental stimulation, and it can bring so much to your life. It’s a great workout; has documented physical and mental health benefits; can enhance your social life and self-confidence; reduces stress and depression; promotes relaxation; is a wonderful outlet for self-expression and creativity; and it’s FUN!! With all these reasons to start dancing – we challenge you to find a good reason NOT to.

BALLROOM DANCE IS A GREAT WORK-OUT!

Burn Fat / Lose Weight / Increase Metabolism.

Ballroom dancing is a low-impact aerobic activity that burns fat and can boost your metabolism. In just thirty minutes of dance, you can burn between 200-400 calories – that’s roughly the same amount as running or cycling! Burning an extra 300 calories a day can help you lose between ½-1 pound a week (and THAT can add up quickly).

Increase Flexibility.

Increased flexibility will help your dance abilities, decrease joint pain and muscle soreness after exercise, and improve core strength and balance.

Increase Muscle Strength & Endurance.

Ballroom dancing contributes to the build-up of muscle strength because the act of dancing forces a dancer’s muscles to resist against their own body weight. The use of quick steps, lifts, twists and turns, will help you develop more muscle strength in your arms, legs and core as your lessons continue.
Great for all ages! Ballroom dance is a fun activity for everyone – from children to senior citizens, which is another reason it’s such an effective form of exercise.

PHYSICAL HEALTH

Ballroom dance can decrease blood pressure and cholesterol, improve cardiovascular health, strengthen weight-bearing bones, help prevent or slow bone loss related to osteoporosis, lower the risks of obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, and promote increased lung capacity. It can help speed up recovery after orthopedic surgery since it’s a lower impact exercise than jogging or biking. The posture and fast movements required in ballroom dance help enhance balance and stability, especially among older people (which can help prevent falls and stumbles). Ballroom dance can even help sharpen your intellectual and mental abilities.

MENTAL HEALTH

Research has found that ballroom dancing improves mental acuity throughout a dancer’s life – and that there are also substantial benefits to those who start ballroom dance as adults.

Ballroom dancing can help enhance memory, alertness, awareness, focus, and concentration. It can prevent the onset of dementia and significantly improve spatial memory in elderly patients. Participating in an activity like ballroom dance helps create more intricate neural pathways, which can ward off weakening synapses that often come with old age.

CONFIDENCE

Every opportunity to dance – whether during a lesson or a social event, whether with your significant other or a new dance partner – will help improve your comfort level, confidence and communication skills on the dance floor. As your dance technique improves and you feel more at ease with other people, your sense of accomplishment, motivation and confidence will continue to increase. And even better… you will notice these new attributes taking root in other areas of your life as well.

STRESS & DEPRESSION

In today’s fast-paced world, we sometimes forget to take a moment for ourselves. Dance lessons provide an enjoyable escape from your normal daily routine, plus a chance to relax, relieve stress, and concentrate just on yourself. There’s also a growing body of evidence to indicate that dancing has a positive effect on the treatment and prevention of depression.

If you are someone who wants to join a ballroom class located in Grantsburg. Please Contact Grantsburg Community Education coordinator Rebekah Stavne at 715-463-4701 www.gk12.net/grantsburg/ced.

Submitted by: Casey Corty, Ballroom Dance Instructor at Grantsburg Community Education