belly dancing as exercise?

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! :)

Replies

  • msvelvetheart
    msvelvetheart Posts: 28
    Anybodyyyyyyyyyyyy???
  • Nikki31104
    Nikki31104 Posts: 816 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    I luv Belly dancing!
  • dangerxbadger
    dangerxbadger Posts: 396 Member
    It is seriously great for core strength. A++
  • twinkiemon
    twinkiemon Posts: 216 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    theres a studio by my house that does belly dancing!!! I really want to try it too!
  • ScorpioMoonxX
    ScorpioMoonxX Posts: 5
    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
    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
    i might consider doing belly dancing classes... when i have less of a belly.
  • SlvrBluGoddess
    SlvrBluGoddess Posts: 239 Member
    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.
  • IvyWhispers
    IvyWhispers Posts: 51 Member
    I started belly dancing a month before Christmas...before I started working out properly...went home for Christmas my sister did her usual trick of poking me in stomach.....but this time looked amazed and asked where the abs had some from :')

    It's great for improving your core muscles and posture :') and so much fun too haha give it a go it's worth it. I got hooked instantly!
  • Ezzie
    Ezzie Posts: 665 Member
    No belly dancing classes locally but Zumba has some of the same shimmies and they DO work those muscles. I did not enjoy exercise until i tried zumba, have a silly grin on my face much of the time as its just plain fun! So belly, zumba, hip hop, whatever gets your body moving and you enjoy will pay off in pounds, muscle tone, muscle control, and HAPPINESS!
  • SlvrBluGoddess
    SlvrBluGoddess Posts: 239 Member
    i might consider doing belly dancing classes... when i have less of a belly.

    I was thinking that too... but then I decided there is no time like the pressent. Plus it works all the core muscles & burns calories... so it will help with getting less of a belly. Also, a lot of the troupes aren't the "skinny girls" we tend to think of as belly dancers. There are women of all sizes. :happy:
  • msvelvetheart
    msvelvetheart Posts: 28
    When you do belly dance it's like you can feel your belly going flatter and tighter while you're doing it! I tried it out in my home and was sweating after 15mins!
  • msvelvetheart
    msvelvetheart Posts: 28
    Did you know that the original belly dancers from ancient times in the Middle East had big bellies! They were curvy women and were praised for their curves. That's why it was names belly dancing as the belly 'dances' hehe. They were for of course just curvy which is quite common in middle eastern women. We all got big hips! Dunno if I could ever love mine tho :(
  • malyndad
    malyndad Posts: 30 Member
    I love to belly dance, I'm not really great at it, but it makes me feel incredible! And be prepared, you will ache in places you didn't know existed before!
  • Gwilson939
    Gwilson939 Posts: 37 Member
    I used to do it for fun and exercise.. it's great exercise and you don't have to have the perfect body for it either. I would always lose my coin scarf/belt because I don't have a butt!
    I don't do it anymore because I don't have much cartilage left in my knees and I need knee replacement, so it hurts when I do anything that stressed out my knees.

    If you don't have bad knees, give it a try, you won't be disappointed in the workout. It also puts you in touch with your body and your feminine side of your psyche. (sp?)
  • jamantha
    jamantha Posts: 118 Member
    I have been belly dancing for 2 and half years now and I love it. Not only is it great fun, it really does a good job of toning. I've been concentrating on better health and losing weight the past few months, and when I started doing some home exercise DVDs I found I could do all the abs work without much trouble - even though I still had an EXTREMELY ample layer of fat over the top, I had the muscles underneath, thanks to the dancing!

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