Sports fitness dance

Sports fitness dance is one of the entry-level sports that best meets the needs of the general public at the moment - it can be started from scratch, the fat-burning efficiency is up to standard, the added emotional value is much higher than conventional aerobics, and the risk of sports injuries is only 1/3 of running. Whether you want to lose weight, move your muscles, or decompress after get off work, you can find a suitable category.

When I first came into contact with fitness dance in 2019, I was stuck in the plateau of lifting irons. The thought of going to the gym to deadlift and do sets made me anxious. My friend dragged me to a Zumba experience class in a community. I thought that my lack of coordination with my hands and feet would make the whole process awkward. People in the room were dancing all over the place, and the coach was still on the stage laughing and shouting, "It doesn't matter if you dance wrong, it counts if you twist it happily." After dancing for 45 minutes, most of my clothes were wet. I didn't feel that I had stayed up at all. All I could think about was that the BGM just now was still circulating.

Of course, some people think that this is an "ineffective exercise", saying that it cannot build muscles and is a waste of time. I first saw this in a video by a blogger who specializes in strength training. He said that the resistance load of fitness dance is not enough, and it is useless to rely solely on dancing to build muscle and shape. There is indeed an example of this around me. My colleague Xiao Zhou did Pamela aerobic dance for three months and lost 8 pounds, but the problem of false hip width did not improve at all. Later, he added 10 minutes of side hip activation training after each dance, and obvious line changes were seen in a month and a half. However, there are some instructors who do functional fitness dance who disagree with this statement. I took one of their internal testing classes last year. Many of the movements included turning with one leg supported and tightening the core to do waves. It looked like dancing, but in fact, every step required controlling the core force. My core was so sore the next day that I didn’t dare to laugh loudly. To put it bluntly, the resistance movements were disassembled into dance steps. It is completely sufficient for lazy people who don’t want to do aerobic and strength training separately.

Oh, yes, "The Lancet Psychiatry" published relevant research two years ago. Rhythmic body movements (including various fitness dances) are 32% more likely to reduce the risk of anxiety and depression than regular aerobics such as running and cycling. I really understand this. I used to work overtime for half a month on a project. It was almost 10 o'clock every day when I got home. I didn't want to do any strength training, so I turned on the projector and found a 15-minute Chinese-style fitness dance and followed it. Even if the movements were messy, I was sweating after the dance, and the feeling of congestion in my chest disappeared immediately. It was much better to relieve stress than lying in bed and scrolling on my phone.

However, I would also like to remind everyone not to fall into traps. Don’t believe those sweaty fitness dances on the Internet that “lose 10 pounds in 7 days”. Many of them deliberately add a lot of continuous jumping movements, just to make you sweat more and create the illusion of “quick results”. People with old knee injuries or a large body weight may feel pain for several days after jumping twice. My mother has been through this trap before. She followed the Douyin live broadcast to do the kind of exercise that shouts "sweat and burn fat". After three days of dancing, her knees swelled. Later, she switched to low-impact Cha Cha aerobics. There is no jumping movement, just twisting the waist, turning the hips, and stepping on the feet. She has been dancing for almost a year now and has not lost much weight. However, during the physical examination, her blood lipids and blood pressure were much more stable than before. She can still hum old songs while dancing. She is very happy.

When choosing, you don’t have to worry about which genre is high-end and which is low-end. Just choose based on your needs: if you want to burn more fat, choose Zumba or Les Mills SH’BAM. The movements are simple and repetitive, and you don’t have to remember them. A 45-minute class can consume 400-600 calories, which is similar to jogging for 5 kilometers.； If you have bad joints, choose low-impact aerobic jazz or Chinese-style fitness dance. There are few jumping movements and keep the heart rate at 60%-70% of the maximum heart rate (probably the level where you are a little breathless but can still speak complete sentences). It also fully meets the standards for moderate-intensity exercise. ； If you want to adjust your posture at the same time, many fitness dances that are combined with ballet are also very popular now. Changing the movement of the barre to a standing one can improve the rounded shoulders and hunchback, which is much easier to persist than forcing yourself to practice swan arms for 10 minutes every day.

I have always reserved a place for fitness dance in my current fitness plan. I dance for half an hour two days a week and treat it as relaxation. To be honest, there is nothing high or low about exercise. Many people are confused about whether this exercise is useful or whether that exercise is an IQ tax. In fact, the one that makes you willing to change clothes and move, and can stick to it, is the most suitable for you.