Dancing is an excellent form of exercise because nearly anyone can do it, it is adaptable to all fitness levels and it is fun. Dancing has been shown to strengthen your heart and lungs, reduce your risk for chronic disease, increase your flexibility, enhance confidence, induce weight loss and even improve your social outlook. When your goal is to tighten and strengthen your core muscles, dance is a good option.
Zumba
Zumba is a Latin-based dance craze that can be done with DVDs at home or in a class-setting. The four basic rhythms used in Zumba are meringue, salsa, reggaeton and cumbia. All four types require intense hip movements that engage your abdominal muscles repeatedly over the course of the class. Zumba disguises abdominal exercises by incorporating them into fun and sometimes outrageous dance routines, providing a great calorie-burning, cardiovascular workout. You work your core without having to think about it.
Belly Dancing
Belly dancing deeply works all abdominal muscles, including your deep transverse abdominals, according to the author of "Belly Dancing For Fitness," Rania Androniki Bossonis. She also claims that belly dancing for only 10 minutes per day will provide you with a tight, sexy stomach. Include belly dancing with your other cardiovascular exercise for a total of at least 30 minutes per day, five days per week to meet the minimum guidelines set by the American College of Sports Medicine.
Pole Dancing
The idea of pole dancing still causes many to blush, but it has become a legitimate form of dance and is considered one of the best forms of total body exercise available. When spinning or climbing on the pole, you are strongly working your upper body, but many other moves target abdominal muscles. During inverted moves where you are upside-down on the pole, gravity is working against your core, requiring your mid-section to work hard to keep you balanced. Less advanced moves utilize core muscles as well, enabling beginners to get a good stomach workout, too.
Aerial Dance
Aerial dance, or trapeze work, is an unusual dance form with roots in circus performing. There are very few studios that teach aerial dancing, but it might be worth finding a class because the moves provide an intense abdominal workout combined with total body exercise. Professional performances include shows 350 feet in the air, sometimes from skyscrapers or mountain tops, but classes are taught in the safe setting of studios, just a couple of feet off the ground.
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