Assessment
Give Dance a Whirl
Along with cardio benefits, research shows that dancing may help improve balance and quality of life
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Besides giving you a great cardio boost, dance improves balance, coordination and flexibility. It’s also a weight-bearing exercise, like jogging, walking, skiing, climbing stairs or skipping rope. These impact-producing activities all help you build new bone and slow bone loss, especially in the legs, hips and lower spine.
Ballroom dancing (think waltz, tango, foxtrot, salsa, cha-cha and swing) is a fun way to be social while working all the major muscle groups and improving your stamina.
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A small study of 41 mostly inactive adults, average age 71, compared the results of 12 weeks of folk dance training to the same amount of balance training. Participants in both groups saw benefits, including better mobility and lower blood pressure. But the results, published in Scientific Reports in 2023, found that dancing was better at improving insulin resistance, a condition in which your body stops responding well to the hormone insulin, resulting in high blood sugar. Insulin resistance is also associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment.
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