Benefits of dance

Articles

lives of people

• Dance is the fastest growing of all the

• Each year, nearly five million people take

• In a recent Physical Education School and

• A survey of over 50,000 Year 9 pupils in

• stronger bones and reduced risk of

• improved balance and enhanced spatial

• increased energy expenditure can help

• improved general and psychological

• reduced social isolation and exclusion

Nov. 13, 2006.

Marilynn Marchione, Associated Press Chicago

 -Italian researchers have come up with a novel way for cardiac rehabilitation patients to exercise their damaged hearts without having to squeeze into spandex or gyrate in a gym: Waltzing and more recently a small study group in England found that Salsa dancing helped reduce depression as well The dance proved to be just as effective as bicycle and treadmill training for improving exercise capacity in a study of 110 heart-failure patients. Dancers also reported slightly more improvement in sleep, mood and the ability to do hobbies, do housework and have more sex than the others. "This may be a more effective way of getting people to exercise, and may be more fun than running on a treadmill," said Dr. Robert Bonow, cardiology chief at Northwestern University School of Medicine. "Maybe we should try that here. I'm not sure we can get Americans to waltz, but they can certainly dance.'' Exercise is crucial after people suffer heart problems, but getting people to stick with it is tough. As many as 70 per cent drop out of traditional programs, said Dr. Romualdo Belardinelli, director of cardiac rehabilitation at Lancisi Heart Institute in Ancona, Italy. "We have to find something that may capture the patients' interest," he said yesterday at an American Heart Association meeting in Chicago, where he presented results of his study. They chose waltzing because it is "internationally known" and is quite aerobic, as the study ultimately verified, he said. The same researchers showed earlier that waltzing could help heart attack sufferers regain strength. The new study involved 89 men and 11 women, average age 59, with heart failure.

There’s more...

 06 Sep 2006 Ballroom Dancing A Good Aerobic Workout

 According to a new Mexican study ballroom dancing is as good an aerobic workout as more conventional forms of exercise. Reporting his findings to the World Congress of Cardiology in Barcelona , Spain, Dr. Hermes Ilarraza of the National Institute of Cardiology said, “The benefits of physical training in patients with heart disease are well established. However, exercise compliance is often inadequate because patients find exercise boring. People like to dance so we thought it would be an attractive option.” Ilarraza explained that in his study he followed a group of 40 heart disease patients. He reported that all the patients were committed into doing half an hour of exercise a day, five days a week for five weeks. He explained that half of them undertook exercises in the form of a dance routine that was choreographed by a professional dancer who also was suffering from heart disease, while the others exercised on stationary bikes. Ilarraza concluded that he found that the dance group’s exercise capacity increased by 28%, almost as much as the 31% increase for the cycling group. And still more…that confirms the health benefits of dancing... Studies confirms ballroom dancing is good for health and happiness

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June 20th, 2005

Ballroom dance fans have always known that their favorite activity is great for health and happiness. In the last few years, many prominent medical research centers have announced clinical studies highlighting the benefits of a regular program of ballroom dance both for fitness and battling Alzheimers Dancing is more fun than running on a treadmill….So listen to your doctor, and come join us for some great exercise and have fun getting healthy!