4 Excercise Benefits of Ballroom Dancing

The exercise benefits of ballroom dancing have been well-documented. It only boils down to common sense when you consider that with all the turning, stepping and maneuvering in ballroom dancing, you stand to burn a lot of calories in a session with your partner. The exercise benefits of ballroom dancing apply to all age groups, which is another attractive reason to take it up as a form of working out. Ballroom dancing is not typically seen as an exercise first and foremost, which contributes to the fun of this kind of physical activity. Here are several exercise benefits you'll gain from ballroom dancing with a partner.

1. Flexibility

Flexibility is a key exercise benefit of ballroom dancing. While women are generally more flexible than men just by nature, both sexes can benefit from ballroom dancing's provision of more flexibility. When you join a ballroom dancing class, you will find that it will likely begin with quite a few stretching exercises just to protect against injury, as well as to prepare your body to be able to do the dance steps with greater ease. Flexibility is something you come to gain more of as you do the actual dance steps. The reason for this is that many of these dance steps automatically call for moves that necessitate a lot of stretching and bending.

2. Strength

You get to develop more strength as you increase the time you spend ballroom dancing with your partner. The manner in which ballroom dancing contributes tostrength buildup is by forcing a dancer's muscles to resist against their own body weight. For example, ballroom dancing involves the use of quick turns, spinning and strutting. Male dancers in particular get to really build up their leg muscle strengthduring the times when they must lift their female partners high above their heads. All these force-intensive actions require strength from your leg muscles, so your leg muscles are built up more and more just by doing the regular dance moves.

3. Endurance

A good way to define endurance is the capability of your muscles to work harder for longer and longer stretches of time without succumbing to fatigue. The intensity that you're required to put into ballroom dancing makes this form of exercise a particularly potent means of building up your endurance. Each time you dance with a partner and work on your quick steps, lifts or twists and turns, you are conditioning yourself to be able to do these with less and less fatigue.

4. Mental Health

Since ballroom dancing is a communal activity, it has positive effects on your mental health. Studies back up what is common knowledge: Being around other people builds up your social ties, and socializing contributes to a positive outlook as well as a higher sense of self-confidence. Joining a ballroom dance class is one such way to accomplish this.