Belly dance, a captivating art form with roots in Middle Eastern and North African cultures, has gained popularity worldwide. Beyond its artistic appeal and cultural significance as a way for women to get together and celebrate music and themselves, many are curious about its potential for weight loss. This article explores the effectiveness of belly dancing as a weight loss tool, separating fact from fiction and providing practical tips for incorporating it into a healthy lifestyle.
The Allure of Belly Dance
Belly dance is a system of movements that focuses on isolating certain muscles. It's a way for women to get together and celebrate music and themselves - it’s not about entertaining men. The dance is about the camaraderie of being with other women. It’s about the way it makes you feel: gorgeous and powerful and appreciated. Popular reality television shows like "Dancing with the Stars" and "So You Think You Can Dance," have recently created a lot of buzz about the fitness benefits of dancing. Sadafa, a belly dance instructor with over 20 years of experience, began dancing in college as a way to relieve stress. Sadafa teaches two different styles of belly dancing; one is primarily a solo style and the other involves group dancing. Both styles incorporate elements of Turkish, Arabic and Greek styles of belly dancing, she said. In her class, Sadafa starts by teaching basic moves, then speeding up the music and adding combinations of movements as students become more proficient. "I start putting in different types of music from different cultures. I've got Arabic music, Turkish music and Greek music - those are fun to dance to because they really get energetic," she said.
Understanding Belly Dance Movements
Belly dance is characterized by its intricate movements, which focus on isolating different parts of the body, particularly the hips, chest, and abdomen.
- Fluid Movements: Dancers use their hips to create flowing patterns, such as figure eights, infinity loops, and circles, typically interpreting the melodic lines of the music.
- Sharp Hip Movements: Quick hip movements, like bumps, are used to accentuate the music. These include hip drops, lifts, vertical hip movements, twists, and steps like the belady.
- Shimmies: Shimmies involve a continuous, rapid shaking of the hips or shoulders, adding texture to the dance.
- Abdominal Movements: The abdomen is engaged in movements like undulations and flutters.
- Steps and Turns: Dancers use steps and turns to navigate the dance space.
- Arm Movements: Arms and hands frame the body and accentuate hip and chest movements.
Bettye’s Basic Moves:
- Large Exterior Hip Circle: Stand with feet directly under hip bones, knees slightly bent, chest up, arms wide. Keeping upper body still, slowly slide hips to the right, then front, then left, then back.
- Knee Shimmy: Stand with feet a little apart, knees slightly bent. Push one knee back - don't lock it - then bend it again and straighten the opposite knee. Start slowly, building up speed, and alternate knees.
- Upper-Body Isolation: Stand as for knee shimmy. Tighten lower abs, from navel to top of hip. Slide upper body right, then left, then back to center. Slide chest forward and back. Repeat.
Belly Dancing and Calorie Burn
It’s a myth that belly dancing will give you the six-pack you’ve always wanted. It’s a myth that belly dancing will make your metabolism skyrocket, causing you to lose weight at an alarming rate. It’s important to note that belly dancing does not burn as many calories as many other exercises. While you may choose to belly dance for leisure, there are professional classes that use belly dancing for fitness. Such classes are structured and more intense to produce desired results. The average woman burns approximately 300 calories per hour belly dancing. That adds up to a pound of weight loss every two weeks (when practicing for an hour six times per week). However, the number of calories burned during belly dancing can vary depending on the intensity of the dance, the individual's weight, and their metabolism.
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Health Benefits of Belly Dancing
Belly dancing's benefits can be multifaceted, extending from physical to emotional well-being, Sadafa said. The various movements of belly dance help to improve flexibility, particularly in the hips, chest, and spine. Belly dance requires a strong and aligned posture, which can help to correct and improve overall posture and balance. The low-impact nature of belly dance makes it suitable for individuals of all ages and fitness levels. The rhythmic and repetitive nature of belly dance can be meditative. It helps to reduce stress and promote relaxation. Belly dance encourages body positivity and self-expression. Learning belly dance provides an opportunity to explore and appreciate different cultures.
Maximizing Weight Loss with Belly Dance
To effectively use belly dance for weight loss, it's essential to treat it as a workout. Ananke, an award-winning performance artist and certified belly dance instructor, offers several tips:
- Set a schedule: Your workouts will be most effective if you practice three to five times per week for at least a half-hour. Try building time to dance into your daily routine. If you always dance at the same time each day, such as an hour before you shower for work, it is more likely to become a habit.
- Warm it up, cool it down: A proper warm-up helps prevent injuries and maximizes your workout potential. Try some light dance moves using a reduced range of motion. After a few minutes switch to gentle standing stretches for the hips, obliques, glutes, and shoulders. After your workout, while muscles are still warm, is the best time for deep stretching. Add a cool-down to keep muscles long and limber, prevent soreness, and increase their flexibility.
- Press play and go: When your focus is fitness, it is important to keep moving at an active pace. Create a playlist that motivates you to move so that when it is time to workout you can press play and go. Keep a shimmy going in between songs to keep your heart rate up.
- Layer and travel: Layering movements and traveling incorporate the use of large muscle groups which is great for both toning and burning calories. Focus on moving about the room with circles, eights, and shimmies. Do not forget level changes, moving from a semi-squat up to the balls of the feet, for working the thighs and calves.
- Arms are key: Use large, sweeping movements that keep your arms above your heart for the greatest challenge.
- When in doubt, add weight: Zills can act as great arm weights, too. Try adding them into your routine and you will burn bonus calories while improving your prop work. If you are looking for even more of a challenge, try some light ankle weights to make traveling steps even more potent.
- Repetition is a good thing: For each song select just a few combos to practice and concentrate instead on improving form each time through.
- Get creative with power moves: Try adding a set of leg lifts, squats, lunges, push-ups off the wall, triceps dips off a chair, or standing crunches into your combos. Or use these moves to fill the time in between songs. This is a great way to add strength-building exercises to your cardio workout.
- Balance your fitness routine: Weight lifting, pilates, yoga, step, kickboxing, walking, and running complement belly dance well and increase your strength, endurance, flexibility, coordination, and balance.
The Importance of Diet
As the saying goes, you can not out-exercise a bad diet. To dance well your body needs to be fueled well. Focus on making healthy choices like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Avoid overly processed foods including refined sugars before your workout, as they tend to give you only a quick spike in energy before leaving you feeling tired. Drink plenty of fluids before, during, and after you dance. To build muscle, your body needs protein. The average woman needs 50 to 65 grams per day, and many active women do not eat enough. Try adding a protein-rich snack or meal before and after your workout. Healthy choices include nuts, seeds, eggs, chicken, lentils or beans, and Greek yogurt.
- Whole grains: These offer sustained energy and are high in fiber, which will help to make you feel full.
- Non-starchy vegetables: These are low in calories and carbohydrates, making them perfect for maintaining a healthy weight.
- Lean Protein: This type of food is great for building muscle mass and increasing metabolism. It also helps to keep you feeling full long after eating so you’re less likely to snack between meals.
- Healthy Fats: These are crucial for building healthy cells and boosting immunity, among other things.
- Fruits: Berries and other fruits with a low glycemic index (GI) are great for those who want to lose weight.
If it comes in a box or a wrapper, you’re better off not eating it. These types of food are typically high in chemicals and additives, which can put strain on your body over time and lead to weight gain. Your body will function optimally if you’re hydrated enough, so make sure to drink plenty of water every day. Try to aim for at least 8 glasses per day (64 ounces). If you find yourself feeling really hungry between meals, try snacking on a healthy alternative. Try planning out your weekly meals on a Sunday so you know what to buy at the grocery store. Getting enough sleep can also play a beneficial role in your overall health and ability to lose weight.
Integrating Belly Dance into Your Life
Attending a single one-hour belly dance class per week and then sitting on the couch watching television the other six nights per week will never help you lose weight. If you're serious about losing weight, make the commitment to get at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. This can take the form of attending belly dancing classes, troupe rehearsals, performances, or practicing in your living room. Of course, your exercise doesn't all have to be belly dancing. On some days, you can go for romantic walks with your partner, attend an aerobics class at the gym, walk your dog for an hour, or play catch in the back yard with one of your children. If weight loss is a priority for you, choose a belly dancing teacher or class format that keeps you moving continuously throughout the class period. When practicing at home, you'll obtain maximum weight loss benefit by using either drum solos, medium-speed, or fast music and incorporating a large number of moves that engage your legs and hips. You'll receive less weight loss benefit from practicing rib cage isolations to slow, undulating music, but these dance moves are beneficial in other ways (building core muscle strength) and therefore worth doing. In my "Belly Dance for Exercise classes", for the cardio segment of class I teach folkloric dance styles such as Lebanese debke, Turkish line dances, Khaliji (Persian Gulf), and Saidi dance styles. If aerobic exercise is important to you, I recommend looking for a belly dance teacher who knows these folkloric dance styles and incorporates them into her classes. I'm not a fan of "workout" classes such as Zumba that borrow some basic belly dance isolations (such as hip drops) and try to "rev them up" by doing them more vigorously.
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What You Can Expect
If you also reduce your daily caloric intake you can expect one to two pounds of weight loss per week with regular belly dance practice. It depends on your current weight, the intensity and frequency of your workouts, and whether or not you have added in additional exercise. Remember that doctors do not recommend more than two pounds of weight loss per week. In addition, you can also expect some light toning of the arms, abs, chest, thighs, and glutes. Belly dance is also great for improving coordination, flexibility, and balance.
The Mindset for Success
Don’t give up after a few days if you don’t notice an immediate change in your weight and shape. Building muscle is good for your health and it will help you to burn more fat. Use friends and family for support. Tell the people you love about your goals. It helps you feel more accountable for following through and they may be able to offer support in ways you do not anticipate. Write down a few notes every day. It’s been shown that keeping a record of what you eat encourages dieters to take smaller portions. A diary can also help you keep track of your progress, which is good to reference when you’re craving something you shouldn’t have.
Addressing Misconceptions
Unfortunately, there are misconceptions associated with belly dancing which might prevent individuals from getting involved, Sadafa said. She hopes members of the Hanscom community will put those aside and give the class a try. Belly dance is not about being provocative or wearing revealing costumes, she said. "I wear full length dresses. The point of a class, in my eyes, is to get people up dancing and enjoying exercise.
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