The Health Benefits of Ballroom Dancing

Ballroom dancing is not only a fun and social activity, it can also contribute to your physical and mental wellbeing.

Mental Health

When you’re in a class and thinking of all those steps, fitting them to music and coordinating with a partner, there isn't much room to be thinking about all the stresses and strains of the world outside. This makes Ballroom Dancing an amazing stress buster and depression deterrent.

In a 2016 study published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, it was concluded that ballroom dancing can help prevent the onset of dementia. It was revealed that “dance improved one of the cognitive domains (spatial memory),” which is vital for learning dance (Dafna Merom, et al., 2016). A lifestyle highly infused with partnered dancing produces strong mental health benefits. Concentrating on moving your body to the beat of the music instantaneously puts you in a positive headspace.

Bones and Joints

Since dancing is a weight-resisting activity, it can help protect bone density and prevent osteoporosis. It can also help speed up knee recovery after surgery, since it’s a lower impact exercise than jogging or biking.

Flexibility

Flexibility is a major benefit of ballroom dancing. Women may already be a bit more flexible than their male partners- but both parties’ cash in on this appealing health benefit.

Ballroom dancing itself contains plenty of stretching and bending. Therefore, the more you dance, the more flexible you will become.

Burn Fat

Dancing is a low-impact aerobic activity that can boost your metabolism. In just thirty minutes of dancing, you can burn anywhere between 200-400 calories.

That’s roughly the same amount burned by running or cycling. Burning an extra 300 calories a day can help you lose between 0.5-1 pound a week. While that may not sound too drastic, 1 pound a week will soon add up!

Heart and Lungs

Engaging in just about any cardiovascular or aerobic activity can help improve your heart health, lower obesity and type 2 diabetes risk, and also promote lung capacity.

These full body-conditioning benefits can be elevated by engaging in dance for at least half an hour, four days a week. While that may sound like a big commitment to make, it’s one that your body will thank you for it in the long run!

Endurance

Dancing an effective way to improve general endurance. As you dance more, your muscles will be working harder and for a longer period of time.

In time, you will find yourself being able to go on with little to no fatigue. Every time you practice your dance moves, you are also training your body to go on for longer periods of time with less succumbing.

Social Connectivity

Joining a ballroom dance class will expose you to a sea of new people who may potentially share common interests with you. Instead of spending your evenings glued to your television screen, you can engage in uplifting conversations and strengthen your social connections by trying this partnered activity.

It’s been proven that being more social can help improve self-esteem, lower stress levels, an increased sense of purpose, and promote a positive outlook on life.