Health Benefits of Salsa Dancing

What is Salsa Dancing?           

                                                                            

What is Salsa? Salsa is a dance for Salsa music created by Spanish-speaking people from the Caribbean. Salsa dancing mixes African and European dance influences through the music and dance fusions that are the roots of Salsa: Son, Guaguancó, Rumba, Boogaloo, Pachanga, Guaracha, Plena, Bomba. Salsa is normally a lead & follow (freestyle) partner dance, although there are other recognized forms.

Benefits of Dancing Salsa.
For centuries, Music and Dancing has been a part of different cultures and societies. They are the main ingredients in celebrations and entertainment. Salsa dancing, and dancing in general, also have numerous and incredible health benefits.


These health benefits are now worth taking a look at, especially with the major obesity epidemic many Western cultures and societies are facing today.

Dancing is not only a way to have fun and let loose, but it also provides some outstanding health benefits. Mayo Clinic researchers in the United States reported social dancing having the following health benefits: an increase in coordination & muscle tone, an improvement in strength, an increase in energy levels, and stress reduction. People who dance all night long burn more calories than the ones swimming or riding a bicycle. Salsa dancing is not only trendy, but it is also one of the best cardiovascular exercises in existence, shredding about 10 calories a minute or 420 calories an hour. A Dutch study compared a Salsa dance class with a good tennis match.

Whether one chooses to dance Hip Hop, Country, or Salsa, the American Heart, Lung and Blood Institute says that dancing can strengthen the bones of legs and hips, help people manage their weight, decrease blood pressure, and lower the risk of coronary heart disease. Social dancing is a unique exercise because it provides the heart-healthy bonuses of an aerobic exercise while allowing the dancers to engage in social activities. The amount of benefits of dancing are directly linked with the type of dance, the duration, the skill level of the dancers, and how strenuous the dance is. Salsa dancing can lead to a reduced heart rate over time, may help lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, helps the dancers to release toxins through sweating, relieves stress, helps with weight loss, and builds endurance & stamina.

Dancing those dreaded Calories Away (amount of calories shed per hour compared)
The amount of calories a person burns depends on the type of dance he or she dances. A 150-pound person will burn 235 calories per hour when dancing Swing Dance. A Ballroom dancer having the same the same weight will burn 265, a Square dancer will burn 280, a Ballet dancer 300, a Belly dancer 380, a Salsa dancer 420+, and an Aerobic or Zumba dancer will burn 540+ calories per hour.

Mental Benefits of Salsa Dancing
Social activities are very stimulating to the mind. One 21-year old study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine even found dancing potentially reduces the risk of elderly persons getting dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease. The study of several 75 year-olds engaging in 11 recreational activities had only dancing as physical exercise that was associated with a lower risk of dementia. A neurologist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a lead researcher of the study, Joe Verghese, said, "This is perhaps because dance music engages the dancer's mind." Verghese also mentioned dancing potentially having a triple benefit for the brain: the increase of blood flow to the brain, the increase social aspects such as less stress, depression or loneliness, and mental challenges to the brain by remembering dance steps.

In summary, the health benefits of Salsa dancing;
Salsa dancing has people as young as 4 years old, or to a very mature age, enjoying this wonderful pastime. To dance is a natural human activity comes with many benefits, as follows:

• The best and easiest way to meet someone you are interested in
• Thorough way to exercise your body
• Develop co-ordination of mind and muscle
• Encourages good poise, regardless of age
• Tones up the body and gives that "great-to-be-alive" feeling
• Teaches participants the social graces
• Helps to keep you youthful and up-to-date
• Is one of the few hobbies that couples or friends can do together
• Is a great social asset
• Promotes confidence and self-assurance
• Is the most rewarding way to spend your leisure time
• Improve your health
• Learn a new skill
• A great way to relax
• Better than going to the gym
• Improve your flexibility
• Lose weight

• Its so much fun!                                                                     

With its sexy moves and physicality, dancing salsa benefits body and mind. Now research highlights even more interesting reasons to take salsa classes.


Salsa dancing can be a hot, sweaty way to spend a fun evening. It might even get a person a spot on television’s popular “So You Think You Can Dance?” competition. Apart from its sheer enjoyment salsa dance moves can relieve stress, sharpen mental acuity, and, thanks to new findings, perhaps even delay dementia and stave off breast cancer among older women.

A testimony from a Salsero,
"Going to private salsa lessons has really improved my technique and more importantly confidence. I'd highly recommend it!"


John Smith

So, Salsa dancing therefore plays a good role in keeping us all healthy.

culled from: http://www.danzalatina.co.nz/dancing-salsa.html, www.ehow.com/how_5026124_understand-health-benefits-salsa.html, www.lovesalsa.co.uk/home/the-benefits-of-salsa, http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/the-amazing-benefits-of-salsa-dancing-421617.html.