If the last time you danced was at a Jazzercise class while wearing fuzzy leg warmers, it's high time you hit the dance floor.
Thanks to the popularity of TV shows such as Dancing With the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance?, getting your groove on has become more popular than ever—which is music to the ears of women like Diane Fisher of Lodi, CA, who first tried the S Factor, a striptease-based workout, 8 months ago and became so hooked she installed a pole in her kitchen.
Before trying it, Fisher, 45, thought dancing was simply a light form of real exercise. Now she attributes her more defined backside to dance: "My butt used to just melt into my thighs. Now there's a distinct separation." Such results aren't unusual. Studies show that professional ballroom dancers are capable of burning 260 calories per hour—a burn rate equivalent to a fast walk. Even for nonprofessional dancers, boogying makes for a better heart rate and improved overall physical fitness and muscle tone, similar to a walk-jog training program, according to a study of 35 people done at the Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island.
Here's a rundown of the hottest dance-based fitness classes to inspire you to get up and bust a move.
Cardio Salsa
What It Is: A low-impact but high-intensity workout combining precise, fast-paced Latin choreography—merengue, mambo, cha-cha, samba—with traditional aerobic dance steps (such as the grapevine), repeated lunges, and arm raises. Much of the action is centered on the glutes and core; plenty of booty shaking and side-to-side hip rocking results in a sculpted rear view.
And because salsa is so festive and popular, "you can easily take what you learn in class into a nightclub later that night," says Marc Santa Maria, dance instructor and regional fitness director at Crunch gyms in New York City.
Where: Crunch gyms nationwide; Peachtree Center Athletic Club in Atlanta.
DVD: Crunch:Cardio Salsa; Dance Fitness for Beginners with Joby 'Brava': Havana Heat Workout and Latin Dance Instruction; and Latin Grooves: Latin Dance Workout
Celebrity Fan: Marc Anthony
Masala Bhangra
What It Is: This challenging cardio workout, based on the traditional folk dance of India, involves a choreographed series of hops, foot stomping, and hip gyrations accompanied by hip-hop infused bhangra music and live drumming. Most moves are performed while vigorously shaking the arms at 45-degree angles to the sides of the body and doing multiple, rapid-fire shoulder raises. The payoff: sinewy arms (good-bye, bat wings) and sculpted shoulders.
"It's a very celebratory dance," explains longtime fitness instructor Sarina Jain, who created the Masala Bhangra workout. "To get dancers in a festive mood, I tell them to pretend they're getting ready for a wedding." To that end, dancers shout "Balle, balle!" ("Woo hoo!") while waving a little scarf in each hand.
Where: Crunch gyms nationwide. Other Indian-inspired classes are taught under names such as Bhangra Aerobics. Check out The Fitness Factory for classes.
DVD: Masala Bhangra Workout, volumes 1-4
Vegas Jazz
What It Is: A moderately challenging, sleek and showy version of traditional jazz dance with a focus on maintaining stick-straight posture. (How else do you think those Las Vegas showgirls keep on their elaborate headdresses?) Dancers are encouraged to pretend they're starring in their own Vegas show-"Jazz hands, people!"-as they rehearse short sequences of jazz staples like high line kicks and ball steps, to classic tunes such as Peggy Lee's "Fever." The moves are then linked to make up a complete performance.
The abs, back, butt, and legs take the brunt of this workout, "because dancers must keep their whole core engaged to perform all the kicks," says Robin Powell, a former Vegas showgirl who teaches Vegas Jazz at the Sports Club/LA in New York City. Plus, thanks to all the posture work, you walk out of the studio feeling at least 2 inches taller.
Where: The Sports Club/LA nationwide; or try Broadway Dance at Crunch gyms nationwide.
DVD: Musical Theatre Dance Video, Centralhome
Cardio Capoeira
What It Is: A form of martial arts disguised as dance that once allowed Brazilian slaves to train for combat without detection by their captors. Today, this ultrachallenging sweat session involves heavy sparring (that is, dancing) that can be done either solo or with a partner. Additionally, it requires a lot of kicking, spinning, and—yes—cartwheels.
"There's nothing like the childlike joy students experience after perfecting their first cartwheel," says native Brazilian Edna Lima, the first woman to earn the rank of capoeira mestra (master).
In this workout, the buttocks, quadriceps, and hamstrings are guaranteed to really burn thanks to multiple repetitions of the ginga (JIN-ga), a deep, side-to-side lunge linking one capoeira movement to the next.
Where: Chelsea Dance Studios, New York City; Fitness First Health Clubs, Washington, D.C. area; check out www.abadacapoeira.com for more locations.
DVD: Cardio Capoeira
Celebrity Fan: Halle Berry
Belly Dance
What It Is: An ancient Middle Eastern dance that was once performed as a fertility ritual. The emphasis of this high-intensity workout is, obviously, on the belly—specifically holding the abs steady while vigorously shaking and rocking the hips.
"Wiggling the hips is a very natural movement for women," says belly dancing guru Suhaila Salimpour. But fitness-based belly dancing isn't confined to simply shaking the junk in the trunk: Jazz and ballet moves such as relevé, plié, and pirouettes are added to flesh out the dance combinations and tone the entire body.
Where: Suhaila Salimpour School of Dance in El Cerrito, CA; Crunch gyms nationwide.
DVD: Bellydance for Beginners with Suhaila: Fitness Fusion Series
Celebrity Fan: Margaret Cho
Cardio Striptease
What It Is: Part burlesque, part yoga, and part gymnastics, cardio striptease is a slower-paced, moderately challenging workout that encourages dancers to tap into their most seductive selves. Forget following concise steps. "It's about how beautifully and fully you do each movement," says dance instructor Sheila Kelley of the S Factor in Los Angeles, and author of The S Factor: Strip Workouts for Every Woman.
"The aim is to turn the body into liquid," meaning dancers never hold a pose but slowly undulate from one sultry move to the next. Those slow-motion hip and butt circles tighten and tone the hips, buttocks, thighs, calves, and abs, while all the languid back bending, twisting, and slow crouching boosts flexibility.
Where: The S Factor in Los Angeles and San Francisco; Strip Tease Aerobics at Mitch's Market Street Gym in Westchester, PA.
DVD: The S Factor, volumes 1-3; Carmen Electra's Aerobic Striptease; Jeff Costa's Cardio Striptease Workout, volumes 1-2
URL: http://health.msn.com/weight-loss/wedding-weight-loss/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100170677
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