Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard

You don’t need to lift weights or join a fitness class to stay fit. There are creative ways of staying fit. Say dancing, recognized as a fitness workout, it promotes a healthier lifestyle, instils energy, and gives you confidence.

In this article, we will teach you some easy dance steps for beginners. Starting out from the benefits to how fitness and dancing ally, Kathryn will make us wear her dancing shoes, and teach us how to tick on any beat we want.

Benefits of Dancing

Learning how to dance has a spectrum of benefits. It just doesn’t make you physically fit and improves your cardiovascular health, but also has an immense impact on your mental well-being.

Dancing has a lot of physical and mental benefits even if you’re doing it at a beginners level. As well as being a cardiovascular aerobic excercise and burning a high amount of calories, it improves your posture, muscle tone, flexibility and core strength. It’s great for improving your memory and improving your mood too, dancing (like most exercise) releases endorphins and it’s a great way to work out because it’s really fun.

We will see how dancing can impact on your fitness, mental-wellbeing and social life.

1. Burns Fat

Any physical workout to some extent will help you burn fat and lose weight. But if you can do that while dancing to a beat, then why not. A study at the Journal of Physiological Anthropology shows that dancing helps weight-loss as much as aerobic workouts such as cycling and jogging do.

2. Flexibility

Cardio workouts are great for improving cardiovascular health and increasing endurance. However, dancing allows increased flexibility and reduces stiffness. Dancing makes you twist and turn, stretching the body parts which you usually won’t flex. It can help you ease the joint pains and post-exercise soreness.

3. Strength

Believe it or not, dancing does strengthen your muscles and build endurance. A study in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity showed better balance through the strengthening of muscles. Dancing requires faster movements and upright posture, which results in better control of your body.

Quick steps and various angled movements develop muscle strength providing a full body workout. Regular dancing results in building endurance allowing your muscles to function for longer without fatigue.

4. Confidence

Learning a new skill or getting better at anything boosts your confidence. Learning how to dance is an even better source of improving self-esteem, as it carries multiple attractive elements. Whether you are rocking a dance floor or part of a dance group, knowing how to dance is perceived to be quite engaging by the audience.

Knowing even a few dance steps and being able to perform them in public is one of the most effective confidence builders. We can second that by this study at The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition which found that even weekly dancing can leave you with an increased level of euphoria and happier mood.

5. Creativity

Creativity allows your mind to wander and build something of your own with given information. While dancing, your creative juices can start to flow if you learn the basics, practice and look to improvise your moves.

That in itself is a form of intelligence which lets you explore yourself. Getting creative with dancing is something amazing to watch, and you can express your real self once you start getting your steps right.

A study at Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience suggests that allowing yourself to be creative can expand your brain and create new neurons. Dancing is the perfect way to express yourself and flourish your creativity.

6. Memory

Several studies suggest that physical activity reduces the risk of mental problems later in life. Most of them are related to our long-term and short-term memories.

Dancing not just slows the aging of the brain, but also helps boost memory and reverse the volume loss in the hippocampus. Hippocampus, what controls your memory in the brain, tends to shrink with age leading to mental problems such as dementia.

7. Stress & Depression

Working out is a great way to relieve stress. Dancing it out is even a better way to reduce stress. Imagine blasting your favorite music, shaking to the beat, and shredding fat. Except that you need to know how to do it? Knowing a few dance steps is a great way to start your new hobby.

Once you get the hang of it, you won’t ever want to stop dancing, because it is that addictive and compelling. Several studies have shown people who dance often have fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety. A study at Journal of Applied Gerontology suggests that music and dancing can significantly bring down stress levels.

8. Social

Dancing is great for health. Dancing with a partner or partners is even healthier. A dance class is one of the best ways to make new friends. Imagine the bond when you start dancing with your classmates. Dancing with other people also spills the benefits of social engagement with people of similar interests.

Anybody Can Dance

Dancing is easier than you think. Some people have a natural knack for it, but through building steps, dancing can be learned. This is what Kathryn wants to establish for beginners who have never attempted dancing, to people who want to dance, but are shy and less confident dancing. Watch this video for more.

5 Easy Dance Steps for Beginners (GIF)

The following steps are kept easy-to-follow yet fun. They are designed and chosen by Kathryn to build one's confidence towards dancing and tapping their interests in dancing.

Even if you don’t have a natural talent for dancing, skills can always be learnt and improved with practice. Professional dancing takes years and years of dedication and practices so even though some choreography and movement will be out of reach for beginners that doesn’t mean you can’t still participate, improve and enjoy dancing to great music.

Step 1 - Forward Walk

Four walks forward and strike a strong pose.

Step 2 - Kick Step

Kick step digs with a little hop x 4, Two on each leg.

Step 3 - Jump and Cross

Jump legs out apart in second, Jump them back in and cross one foot over the other x 4, Two with each leg in front.

Step 4 - Spin Turn

Cross the right foot over the left, and spin round to the front, taking two steps back out to legs in second.

Step 5 - Body Ripple Backwards

Two single body ripples to each side, then a double. Repeat x 2

Dance & Fitness

So far, we have spoken about how dancing helps your fitness. Looking from the other side, it is also essential to stay fit through workouts and exercise if you want to be a better dancer.

You need to regularly workout so that you don’t injure yourself dancing. Injury can be caused for several reasons; weaker muscles, poor balance, less stamina, and limited endurance. If you are getting into dancing, make sure you build fitness through some workout plan. Do you know Pilates workout was popularized by dancers? Here is a 30-minute Pilates workout at home.

As a dancer I have to keep fit for my job, there’s so much competition and I’m constantly auditioning for jobs so I need to be physically fit and on top of my game to get work. It’s also not just about being physically fit for me, mental health is such a big aspect of it. If I work out in the morning or I’m rehearsing for a job and dancing most of the day I have a much more productive and positive day.

About Kathryn

Kathryn studied musical theatre at Bird College in London for three years, her strongest styles of dance being jazz, lyrical and commercial. Before moving to Dubai she worked professionally in London dancing and modeling for 7 years gaining experience in music videos, commercials, television shows, and stage productions.

Kathryn has danced on commercials and for brands such as Burberry, L’Oreal, Charlotte Tilbury, Dyson. She worked with artists Rihanna, Steps, The Vamps, Jay Sean, Ellie Goulding, Storm Queen and has performed at the MTV awards, Children in Need, the Mobo awards, and the National Television awards.

She has loved working in Dubai these last few years, she’s had the opportunity to work for Rolex, YSL, perform for Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum at the Endurance Cup and perform at The Dubai World cup closing ceremony.

I'm so excited to be a brand ambassador for Squat Wolf. The quality of the products are amazing, and they look so good which makes perfect work out clothes for rehearsals.