How do ballroom dancers stay in shape

Before beginning any exercise routine, make sure to consult with a doctor and work with an expert to determine what your body can safely handle. The frame is a key element used by both partners to create the upper body shape in ballroom dancing. In the Latin, Rhythm and Smooth dances the frame is slightly further away from the partner but moves dynamically at all times. In the Ballroom dances, the frame holds the partner with elevated arms and open chest. A number of key muscles are used to create and maintain a strong frame.

Core muscles include the abdominal muscles Rectus Abdominis and Transversus Abdominis. Pull your belly button in towards the spine and lift the rib cage to engage the core. The Pectoralis Majors are the muscles that cover the upper area of the rib cage.

These are critical for maintaining good posture and for stretching effectively in the Ballroom dances. The Trapezius muscles connect the back of the neck to your shoulder blades.

The Latissimus Dorsi muscles connect the shoulder blades to your hips. These are used to keep your arms in position when they are raised up. When these are strong, you can hold your arms level with less effort or fatigue, and you can keep your shoulders from rising up or hunching forward. In Latin, Rhythm and Smooth, you will engage the Lats as you extend your arms to the sides, as the action begins in the back and then extends to the elbow and finally to the hand.

Shoulder muscles include the Deltoids, Infraspinatus and Teres, which all work together to help you elevate your arms while keeping your shoulders level.

Be careful with the latter as you can easily damage your shoulders by exceeding the weight they can handle. Use very light weights to determine what they can handle to avoid rotator cuff injury. Also, make sure you work both the front, middle and back parts of the shoulder for balanced shoulder ability.

Many people just do one shoulder exercise which only works one part of this complex muscle. These include the following:. The Quadriceps are actually a reference to a bundle of several vertical muscles that run down the front of your legs. These include the Vastus Lateralis, Vastus Medialis, Rectus Femoris and others that work together to create forward and back leg action.

These muscles are necessary to lift or bend the knee. Hamstrings is a common name for another bundle of muscles that run down the back of the upper leg. As the Quads in front engage, the Hamstrings assist as partners to balance the use of your leg for walking, running or bending the knee. Leg Curls are good for the Hamstrings.

Officially referred to as the Gastrocnemius, the Calf Muscles are vital for creating rise and fall action and for proper leg action in the Latin and Rhythm dances.

Well developed calves not only look great, but will make your actions look light and easy, especially in fast dances like Quickstep and Jive. The calves are the main tools for allowing you to push away from the standing leg while creating a grounded look that pushes down into the floor to keep you stable. To exercise the calf muscles, do Calf Raises which can easily be done on any staircase just by placing the heels past the edge of the stair and lifting yourself up and down.

Sign in. Forgot your password? Get help. Password recovery. Dance Comp Review. The Teaching Method in Ballroom Dancing. Why Solo Dance Practice Sucks. Dancing while Deployed with the Navy. Dance Instructor Upgrade. There were 2 assessment days. On Day 1, indicators of fitness heart rate, VO2, etc. On Day 2, the in-field assessment was conducted.

VO2 and HR were directly assessed during simulated dance sequences and blood lactate BL was measured after the dancers completed the sequences. Costumes were worn, 5 dances were performed each for with second breaks, and HR and VO2 were telemetered during the dance. BL samples were taken at rest after each dance and at the end of the sequence. In subsequent days, BL samples were taken during rest after Waltz on Day 1, Waltz and Tango on Day 2, and so on for 5 days and all 5 dances.

For Latin, the values were 90 to 97 and 92 to 98 for men and women, respectively. These findings were consistent with those of Blanksby and Reidy The blood lactate data are perhaps the most illuminating aspect of the Bria et al. The data indicated. The images below show the accumulation of BL and changes in BL for ballroom and Latin dances, respectively.

The white bars display the difference between resting BL and post-dance BL. The black bars demonstrate the change in BL from the previous dance. Differences in dance-specific intensity between ballroom above and Latin below are clearly seen in these graphs.

Based on these data, it appears that ballroom and Latin dancing differ with respect to the competencies needed to perform each successfully. The ballroom sequence appears to require the ability to increase or decrease intensity gradually throughout the series of dances as evidenced by changes in BL production , whereas the Latin sequence requires the ability to perform immediately at a high intensity and maintain this intensity throughout the series of dances.

Collectively, these results demonstrate that, based on the accumulation of blood lactate an indicator of glycolytic metabolism during exercise , DanceSport has significant anaerobic demands and the training methods should be developed accordingly. Blanksby, B. Heart rate and estimated energy expenditure during ballroom dancing. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 22, Bria, S. Physiological characteristics of elite sport-dancers. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 51, Oxygen consumption was in excess of 2.

Collectively, these data suggest that DanceSport is consistent with the concept of high-intensity exercise, and performance of DanceSport at a high level depends on efficiency in the anaerobic energy systems.