belly dancing as exercise?

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msvelvetheart
msvelvetheart Posts: 28
in Fitness and Exercise
I love whenever I go on holiday somewhere in the middle east and there's belly dancers. the music just makes you want to get up and join in. If there were classes anywhere near me here in England I would so go!

not only is it fun but I always hear about how great it is for exercise and is a big calorie burner as well as muscle toning. does anyone know if this is true? ill have to try it out at home! :)
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  • msvelvetheart
    msvelvetheart Posts: 28
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    Anybodyyyyyyyyyyyy???
  • Nikki31104
    Nikki31104 Posts: 816 Member
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    My boss does tons of belly dancing. She is pretty skinny. She has never said much about her core strength but she did say her upper body strength was terrible. But I think any kind of movement is great.
  • msvelvetheart
    msvelvetheart Posts: 28
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    Yea I wouldn't expect it to work out upper body much but I do know it's good for the wobbly stomach haha. Also for thighs :)
  • TeachTheGirl
    TeachTheGirl Posts: 2,091 Member
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    I have a friend who is a bellydancer and she loves it. =)

    I'd like to try it myself eventually. Aside from the calorie burn, I think it would be fun to learn!
  • msvelvetheart
    msvelvetheart Posts: 28
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    It's good for flattening that tummy and getting rid of that last tough bit of blubber I think :D
  • Katrob9
    Katrob9 Posts: 431 Member
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    I do belly dancing and it is a lot of fun but a great workout. It is all about control in your muscles so not just flapping about! I did a 4 hour workshop today and boy do I know about it :)
  • LYNN8SUPERSTAR
    LYNN8SUPERSTAR Posts: 43
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    I luv Belly dancing!
  • dangerxbadger
    dangerxbadger Posts: 396 Member
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    It is seriously great for core strength. A++
  • twinkiemon
    twinkiemon Posts: 216 Member
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    I did a class a while back and at first when we were learning all the steps it didn't seem like much of a workout, but once we actually put the steps together and danced, I was definitely sweating. If you have the patience to learn the steps slowly once you put them all together you can make a pretty good workout of it.
  • bluskies01
    bluskies01 Posts: 72 Member
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    I have some Belly Dancing workout VHS tapes. :) I need to get a VCR so I can use them again. It didn't really teach you how to do a proper dance, just incorporate some of the moves. But it was kinda fun, definitely not as boring as some videos I've tried.

    Oh neat I found them on youtube:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbSgl57__1E
  • shutterbug282
    shutterbug282 Posts: 588 Member
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    I love Belly Dancing it's a lot of fun!
    I have really bad upper body strength, and some of the moves I found pretty tough. :) It's really great for core strength too. :)
  • AhlaWahda
    AhlaWahda Posts: 189 Member
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    Hi!
    I've been belly dancing for a few years and it really is a great way to work your body.
    You learn how to control every part of your body and move in ways you wouldn't normally move.
    It's a great way to work out your muscles and also for cardio. :-)
  • weffie11
    weffie11 Posts: 91
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    I've just got a DVD - the Bellydancing twins - it's supposed to be quite good but I haven't tried it yet.
  • zillah73
    zillah73 Posts: 505 Member
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    Bellydance is a great workout and it is something you can either do in a class with a group, or try at home with DVDs. I have these DVDs an they are great.

    http://www.goddesslife.com/dvd-bellydance-collection
  • JeniPie2017
    JeniPie2017 Posts: 6 Member
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    I danced professionally for awhile, and it is great overall tone and flexibility workout. My teacher is Hadia, world famous dancer ad teacher trainer. Google her website, she is awesome. Once you start, you are hooked for life. Get a group of friends or even one chum, play the DVDs and have soooo much fun!!!
  • nc805397
    nc805397 Posts: 223 Member
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    theres a studio by my house that does belly dancing!!! I really want to try it too!
  • ScorpioMoonxX
    ScorpioMoonxX Posts: 5
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    I think it is. It burns calories and darn if I don't want to have a shape like Shakira. :happy: Bellydance and hip hop dancing helped me lose 25lbs just a few months ago. Shimmy those love handles right off!
  • Xhell_on_heelsX
    Xhell_on_heelsX Posts: 299
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    I belly danced for three years..just got back into it..YES!! It is an amazing workout and just plain fun..I would take it over any other exercise :)
  • da_bears10089
    da_bears10089 Posts: 1,791 Member
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    i might consider doing belly dancing classes... when i have less of a belly.
  • SlvrBluGoddess
    SlvrBluGoddess Posts: 239 Member
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    I'm taking a class in belly dancing - one to two hours a week. It's FUN too.... a lot of expression.

    Yeah, it burns calories and works pretty much all your muscles (depenidng upon what style you're doing). For example, last night I had class - per MFP I burned around 600 calories in 90 minutes.

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