FOOD AND HEALTH: Ballroom Dancing--Good Exercise to a Better Health
Have you ever heard of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers? Well, they popularized ballroom dancing in the 1930's. But as any fad, it faded through time, but then rose again in mid 1980's and from that time lingered on and off, yet developing into a much bigger scale. At that time, many rich middle-aged women wore their sparkletty clothes and hired good-looking D.I.s (dance instructors) to escort them to ballroom dancing venues to display their grace, together with their "bling-blings" with the most important accessory, the D.I. But these rich matrons soon found out that this ballroom dancing is not only a social function but also a form of exercise. With all the sweat and the fat dripping in their "haute-couture" clothes and adding the sparkle to their "bling-blings", how can they not find out?
Ballroom dancing refers to a set of partner dances, enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, according to Wikipedia. The term "ballroom dancing" was derived from the world "ball" which originates from the Latin word "ballare", meaning "to dance". Today, ballroom dancing has also emerged to become a dance sport with various dance competitions organized by the World Dance Council.
Tango, waltz, foxtrot, samba, salsa, swing, cha-cha, etc. are the names of various dances danced in ballroom which are, today, popularized by the t.v. show "Dancing with the Stars". But the great benefit of this ballroom dancing to individuals is that it is a great workout. According to various sources, dancing for 30 minutes continuously would burn you 200 to 400 calories, the same as walking and swimming. Wow! Dance is also a weight-bearing activity which builds bones and most beneficial to menopausal women or women prone to osteoporosis. Also, mostly the movement in ballroom dancing is backwards, unlike when you jog or use a treadmill, the movement is forward. Therefore, ballroom dancing works the back of your thighs and buttocks as well. Plus the core muscles that it also works out are your abs and back. It is also a great way to unwind or relieve stress or pressures form work.
When I saw my friend in the mall whom I haven't seen for almost a year so fit and so trim, she explained to me that it was because she does ballroom dancing with her husband at home with the help of an instructor. How romantic! Of course, I researched about it to be able to share it in this post. In the Philippines, you can find various ballroom dance studios which can instruct you with basic and advanced ballroom dancing and it would cost you Php5,000 for a 12-hour session with flexible schedules, so they say. But you can also form your own group with a minimum of 3 students and pay Php500 for a 2-3 hour session. Of course, the more people there are in a group, the lesser the fee per session.
So, what are you waiting for. Let's dance!!!
Posts
2 comments:
I got inspired when I saw the movie "Shall We Dance" with Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez, kaya lang hubby is so lazy when I suggested to study ballroom dancing, d na raw kaya ng tuhod nya.:P
oh my dear...ang mahal naman...hehehhee....dko kaya ang price...how romantic kaya pag si hubby mo ang ka pakner mo...d yung DI...ehehehe!
Post a Comment