Add Dancing To Your Fitness Routine To Stay In Shape

Periodically we allow FitSW users to submit guest blog posts.  Today’s guest blog post is by Wendy D who discusses adding dancing to a fitness routine:

We all want to be fit and healthy. We may not get it right 100% of the time, but we watch what we eat. It’s not too hard to drink plenty of water, and we get our rest. But there is one area that holds us back, and that is exercise. Exercise is a very important part of your fitness routine. But it is hard to fit something into your busy schedule that you really don’t want to do.

When we are inactive, our muscles suffer. You can be small in size, and still be unfit, if your muscles are underdeveloped. Your bones will respond to the demands you put on it. But, if you do not exercise enough, your bones weaken. With age, they grow brittle and osteoarthritis can set in. This is painful and life-altering.

Reasons people avoid exercise

Some people love to exercise. You see runners in the parks, people playing tennis, basketball, and jogging. Others easily find a reason not to do so. For them, exercising is time consuming, boring, difficult to learn and get used to or they just say that it costs too much money for the items you need.

Let’s look at these reasons, realistically.

It’s time consuming – According to the Mayo Clinic, you only need to exercise 30 minutes per day to maintain your fitness level, and a little more if you want to lose a few pounds. Truthfully, how many of us have waited 30 minutes for our specialty drink at Starbucks?

It’s boring – If the exercise you have chosen is boring, it is not your thing. Keep looking, find an exercise you enjoy, and add that to your fitness routine. (We will talk more about this later.)

It’s difficult to learn – While some things are harder to learn than others, nothing that you really want to learn is too difficult.  Again, if you do not enjoy the exercise enough to work for it, it is just not what you are looking for.

It cost too much money – It is rare to find any activity that does not cost something. You have to weigh the pros and the cons.  

Dance in your Fitness Routine

You may have never danced, but that is okay. Most people who join a dance class have not. There are many forms of dance, so you are sure to find one that you like.  Dance class is usually once per week, so it is not too time consuming and can fit nicely into a fitness routine. But the best thing, is you can turn on your favorite CD and dance your heart out at home.

Expenses

The expense you will incur will be very reasonable. You might need a leotard or tights. If you are learning hip-hop the instructor will tell you. There is a fee for joining the class, and there is one item that is a must for every dancer. You must wear the right shoes.

Hip-hop (and other dancers) dance in sneakers. If you decide to take up dancing, Just for Kix has high quality sneakers for dance  More formal dancers wear ballet shoes. Footwear is important, for two reasons:

• A dancers shoe may look like something you see at the local department store, but they are not. Shoes can help protect you from injury. They fit differently, and they are secure. Imagine the pain you would feel if you did a spin and jump, and your shoes were stuck to the floor. Your body is in motion and when the shoe moves, it is not going to be in the correct position. This could cause injury.
• The second reason is that street shoes can damage the dance floor. You may not see the tiny scratches and surface damage your shoes are causing but sometime someone can hit those spots and could get hurt. 

Take some friends and go check out a local dance facility. Dance is one of the most effective and productive exercise you will ever find.