Dance For Fitness

Just discovered this website which has a wide range of dance related clothing and accessories so we are posting this here for our readers.

I’m sharing this very informative and interesting piece from the NHS website which promotes

Dance for Fitness, and is as follows:

From hip-hop to the foxtrot, dance fever is sweeping the nation, fuelled
by popular TV shows such as Strictly Come Dancing and Britain’s Got Talent.

Dance is the UK’s fastest growing art form. More than 4.8 million people
regularly attend community dance groups each year in England alone.

Whether you like to jump or jive, tap or tango, shake your belly or your
booty, dancing is one of the most enjoyable ways to get some exercise.

Regular dancing is great for losing weight, maintaining strong bones,
improving posture and muscle strength, increasing balance and co-ordination and
beating stress.

One of the best things about dancing is that while you’re having fun moving to music and meeting new people, you’re getting all the health benefits of a good workout.

This guide will help you get started in dancing, introduce you to some
of the most popular dance styles taught in the UK and help you find a dance
class in your area.

How many calories a 60kg (9.5 stone) person burns in 30 minutes:

• aerobic dancing: 195 calories
• fast walking (4 miles per hour): 150 calories
• running (6 miles per hour): 300 calories
• swimming (slow crawl): 240 calories
• cycling (12-14 miles per hour): 240 calories
• tennis (singles): 240 calories

Source: At least five a week, Department of Health, 2004

Before you start

Most accredited dance schools hold beginners courses and welcome people
with disabilities. Schools are friendly and a great way to socialise. If you
don’t want to go on your own, get a friend to go with you.

Classes can cost as little as £5 to £10 for a 90-minute session. If the first
class you try falls short of your expectations, don’t be put off. It’s worth
trying a few different classes until you find the right one for you.

Wear comfortable clothing that gives you freedom of movement and shoes
appropriate to the dance style. Some classes, such as ballet, tap or jazz, may
require specialist footwear depending on your level. Avoid wearing jewellery,
such as earrings, rings and necklaces, which can scratch you or get caught in
clothing.

Find a dance class

• The easiest way to get into dancing is to contact a dance agency in your region on the
  Dance UK website, to find dance classes near you.
• Find
  your nearest school or teacher accredited by the Council for
  Dance Education and Training (CDET), the national standards body of the
  professional dance industry.
• Locate a dance class in your area using the Dance
  Champions directory, which contains information on times, dates,
  accessibility, location, cost, childcare and more.
• Search Youth Dance England’s youth dance directory to find youth dance
  groups and companies, school teachers and dance events near you.
• London Dance, set up by the Arts Council England and Sadler’s Wells
  Theatre, has a directory of dance classes offered across
  London.
• If you can’t wait to get your dancing shoes on, visit Change4Life’s
  Let’s dance section for free online dance
  routines, games and ideas for all the family.

Dance styles

Not sure which dance style you’d like to try? Below is a quick guide to
some of the most popular dance styles taught throughout the UK.

Recommended physical activity
levels

• Children aged under 5 years should do 180 minutes every
  day
• Young people (5-18 years) should do 60 minutes every
  day
• Adults (19-64 years) should do 150 minutes every week
• Older adults (65+ years) should do 150 minutes every
  week

Ceroc

Ceroc is a simplified version of jive and quite similar to swing but without
the complicated footwork. Ceroc, short for the French phrase “C’est
rock”, evolved from jive, which was introduced by American GIs stationed
in France during the Second World War. It’s fun and easy to learn, which
explains why it’s the largest and fastest growing partner dance in the UK.

For more information, including classes near you, visit Ceroc.

Street dance

Street dance describes urban dance styles that evolved in the street,
school yards and nightclubs, including hip-hop, popping, locking, krumping and
breaking. These dances are practised competitively as well as being an art form
and a form of physical exercise.

For more information, including classes near you, visit Streetdance UK.

Ballet

The first ballet school, the Académie Royale de Danse, was established in France
in 1661. Today there are three main forms of ballet: classical, neoclassical
and contemporary. Ballet’s conventional steps, grace and fluidity of movement
are a great foundation for dance in general.

For more information, including classes near you, visit the Royal Academy
of Dance or the British Ballet Organization.

Contemporary

Unlike dances such as ballet, contemporary dance is not associated with
specific techniques. In contemporary dance, people attempt to explore the
natural energy and emotions of their bodies to produce dances that are often
very personal.

For more information, including classes near you, contact your regional dance agency on the Dance
UK website.

Salsa

Salsa dancing is a fun and flirtatious form of partner dancing, fusing steamy
Afro-Caribbean and Latin styles into simple and lively movements. The word
“salsa” is Spanish for “sauce” (usually hot and spicy), which is an appropriate
description for a dance that is energetic, passionate and sexy. The basic steps
are easy to learn and you’ll salsa your way across the dance floor before you
know it.

For more information, including classes near you, visit Salsa Jive UK.

Ballroom

Ballroom dancing has made a comeback in recent years, partly thanks to TV
shows such as Strictly Come Dancing and Strictly Dance Fever. There are many
styles of ballroom dancing from around the world, such as the waltz, tango and
foxtrot, and each has specific step patterns. It is essential for both
partners, the leader as well as the follower, to know the steps so they can
dance together.

For more information, including classes near you, visit the British Dance Council.

Zumba

Zumba is a popular fitness programme inspired by Latin dance. The word
“Zumba” comes from a Colombian word that means to move fast and have
fun. Using upbeat Latin music together with cardiovascular exercise, Zumba is
aerobic dancing that is great fun and easy to learn.

For more information, including classes near you, visit Zumbaclasses.org.uk.

Flamenco

From Andalucia in Spain, this is the dance of swirling skirts, castanets
and breathtakingly fast heel stomping. Flamenco’s musical and dance traditions
are centuries old, blending gypsy, Moorish and Andalucian influences. Flamenco
is a solo dance characterised by hand clapping, percussive footwork and
intricate hand, arm and body movements.

For more information, including classes near you, visit the Spanish
Dance Society.

Tap

Tap dance uses shoes with small metal plates on the soles to make the dance
itself part of the music. Tap evolved in America and had its roots in African
dance, Irish dance and clog dancing. Tap is as popular today as it was in the
heyday of the great Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly musicals, and companies like
Tap Dogs demonstrate how contemporary it can be.

For more information, including classes near you, visit the tap
section on the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD)
website.

Bollywood

Bollywood dancing stems from the Indian film industry and is now popular
throughout the world. It is known for being upbeat and often helping to tell a
story or show emotions. Bollywood dance blends classical Indian dance forms,
with its intricate hand gestures and footwork, with modern western styles,
including hip-hop and jazz.

For more information, including classes near you, visit the South
Asian Dance Alliance.

Modern jazz

Jazz dancing is energetic and fun, consisting of unique moves, fancy
footwork, big leaps and quick turns. Jazz dance evolved alongside jazz music
and was popularised in ballrooms across the US by the big bands of the swing
era. Jazz dance offers a full body workout, developing dance ability,
flexibility, strength and rhythm.

For more information, including classes near you, contact your regional dance agency on the Dance
UK website.

Many thanks to the NHS for this brilliant article!

Wow! where did August and the summer go?
I’ve been beavering away creating the Zumba Dance for Fitness and Weight Loss Beginners Guide and the time has just flown by.
The weather is wetter, colder, windier and it’s already starting to feel like the winter’s coming.

After our summer excesses we should start looking to get into shape for the winter, and dare I say it, Christmes!!
So summer dance for fitness turns into winter dance for fitness and weight loss!

Zumba is a good fitness and weight loss programme all year round so I’ve put together a guide for beginners as well as those who would like to know more about Zumba origins and the workout programmes. The guide takes you through all you need to know about the Zumba fitness and weight loss regime and includes some, hopefully, useful resources and links at the end. I would love to know what you think of this guide as I am thinking of producing some more on different dance styles and your feed back, comments and suggestions would be very much appreciated.
All these guides will be free to download from this blog site.

I’ve started with a guide to Zumba because this is the fastest growing dance fitness programme around the world, including the UK, and is suitable for all ages and people of different physical ability and conditioning. I may cover ballroom or pole dancing or something else next so please let me know what you would prefer to see.

Thanks for following this blog and send me a message if you are interested in the Zumba Dance for Fitness and Weight Loss – a Beginners Guide.

A problem that we have with exercise and weight loss programs is that they eventually get boring. The workout is too repetitive that sometimes it turns bland and exercise turns into something less appealing. Playing some music is actually one thing that people do to make the exercise more fun. Music actually helps you add a rhythm to your workout making it more exciting. That’s why there are gyms that play music and why dance is an exercise some people are using.

Have you ever noticed how dancers get really sweaty when they dance? Dance is a great cardio workout and it gets you to work your whole body in a variety of ways. Because dance allows you to do a lot, it has been used to inspire many workouts. You can take cardio to the next level with aerobic dancing. This allows you to use your lower body a lot as well as your heart.
Zumba is one of the many fun dance exercises you can do. It is a combination of some Latin dances like the salsa and meringue.

You can actually get both a a cardio and resistance exercise with some dance styles. One of those dances is the ballroom dance because it uses your whole body and it has a wide range of dances you can do. It’s a great exercise for everyone because it has different paces and levels of difficulty. Many older people are familiar with some of the dances so they use ballroom dancing as their exercise. Hip hop dancing is another two-in-one dance workout. This may be the most difficult dance to use because it demands a balanced and strong body. Other dances like Latin and Bollywood dances have been infused with hip hop to make it more appealing to a wider audience. A lot of dancers who dance this genre don’t really need to go to the gym a lot.

Dancing is actually a fun way for you to lose weight and you don’t have to be really good at it. It is very important that you know the right moves so you can get the right results like with any exercise. The problem with not knowing the right steps is that you can get injured and dancing leads to many types of injuries from scratches to fractures. There are dancers who even break their bones when they execute a wrong move when they dance.

Exercise is very important to keep our body healthy and in shape but it can get bland at times. It is up to you if you want to start dancing to a better body or adding some rhythm to your workout with some music. Finding a way to make working out fun for you will keep you motivated to keep doing it.

For those of you who also want to look great while dancing for fitness we recommend you take a look at

Welcome to Dance for Fitness. This 100% Free Blog has been created to help all those people who want to get fit or lose weight by doing it the fun way! Traditional methods of keep fit and losing weight can be monotonous and demand total long term committment before any results are achieved, but by doing it the fun way of dance results come quicker and there is also pleasure and enjoyment in the process.