There are many health benefits to any form of dance although depending on the type of dance they can be stronger or weaker. Cuban salsa in particular is a very fast and complicated dance form so a lot of the health benefits are more prevalent in Cuban salsa dances compared to say slower and simpler dance forms. Some of the benefits to dancing are shown in the following list
- Losing Weight. It is estimated that dancing burns between 5 to 10 calories per minute depending on various factors as discussed in the previous post “The Salsa Diet”.
- Lubricated Joints. Dancing regularly keeps joints lubricated which can help to prevent arthritis.
- Strong Bones. Dancing improves bone strength and aids in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.
- Fitness. It has been shown that at an advanced level of dancing the breathing and muscle exertion rates of dancers are equivalent to those of athletes such as runners, swimmers or cyclists. A study at the University of Hertfordshire which compared ballet dancers with swimmers found the dancers to score higher than the swimmers in seven out of ten areas of fitness.
- Core Strength. Dancing helps us to improve our balance, posture and reflexes by strengthening our stabilising muscles which makes us less likely to get injuries in daily life.
- Keeping In Shape. Dancing exercises your body and allows for increased circulation. It improves your stamina, the heart, the lungs and increases endurance and motor fitness.
- Coordination. The central and peripheral nervous systems are kept in shape by the connections formed between our body and our mind through dancing, helping us improve our coordination.
- Well-being. Dancing can improve general and psychological well-being, by giving us greater self-confidence and self-esteem as well as better social skills
- Mental Health. Dancing requires a lot of different factors to be learned or committed to memory. Particularly in Cuban salsa there is a huge amount of steps, patterns and moves that need to be learned as well as the signals and the names of these moves so that they can be followed in a Rueda. For non-Spanish speakers the effect is even more prevalent as they have to learn completely new words in a foreign language to advance. This improves your memory and keeps your mind quick and alert.
- Cholesterol. Dancing aids in blood sugar control which is great for diabetics. It also improves lipid control which raises good cholesterol (HDL) and lowers bad cholesterol (LDL).
- Emotional Well-being. Dancing makes us feel social and happy by elevating the endorphin levels which helps us deal with stress and depression and any related illnesses.
