BELLY DANCE AND FITNESS - CORE STRENGTH

There are many ways to improve our fitness - and belly dance is one of them!

Don't believe me?

If you find yourself a good belly dance teacher you'll be tested and challenged in various ways whilst improving your fitness, stamina, endurance and your over all well being.

Belly dance is also a great way to cross train with other sports and fitness regimes. Why? because when executed properly belly dance requires the use of muscular contractions which strengthens and tones our muscles. A prime example of this is cross training running with belly dance. Runners tend to have weak glutes, but a belly dancer who trains properly will never have weak glutes as glute contractions are used in many belly dance techniques. So it could be said that a Runner can build better running technique through cross training with belly dance!

Building a stronger core through belly dance:

During my classes I like to get my students to do the "shimmie plank", this particular simple but effective excercise really works in strengthening the core.

And a strong core = not only a stronger, safer, graceful more able dancer, but it also strengthens your back.  And so a strong core is essential in aiding injury prevention not just when dancing but also in life in general! A strong core also aids in having a good posture, and since belly dance is all about using our muscles - we can stregnthen these postural muscles through dancing including our pelvic floor - which is a deep postural muscle.

( For more info see my post on belly dance and posture)

A strong core in belly dance also means that we can achieve the more advanced  "super moves" more easily and safely - such as laybacks, zippers, floor work, backbends and balancing acts including dancing with a sword.

In my belly dance classes we not only focus on learning the art of belly dance, we also focus on improving our fitness through specially designed excercises to ensure a thorough and holistic workout that not only feeds our minds but also improves our physical form.

If you are someone that loves a challenge and loves to sweat it out then try my new Belly Dance Insanity workout class launching January 2014!

Click here for details!

https://melissabellydance.com/belly-dance-insanity-boot-camp-workout/