Have You Tried This New, Funky Dance Craze Workout?

When it comes to losing weight and boosting your fitness, dancing the night away improves your wellness and wellbeing like no other exercise on earth. Not only is it very good at getting your heart rate pumping and get you working up a sweat, but it’s also loads of fun.

 

There is a new dance craze called the 2Fly class, which is a 90s inspired dance class that has been rolling out all over America in the last year or so. Choreography routines take a strong influence from hip hop, with legs sliding from side to side, and hands brushing imaginary crumbs off their shoulders. Hopping and brushing at the same time leads to wide smiles and a heart rate that is most certainly elevating.

 

The soundtrack for this class is things like TLC and Kriss Kross, plus others from the New Jack Swing Era and the classes last for 45 minutes. Although borrowing music and styles from a bygone era, the class is more than just a trip down memory lane. This aerobic workout also tones up your muscles and makes you strong and lean. The calves and quads get a good workout from this and the Robocop move targets the arms and chest muscles. Then all the squatting that goes on in the Hammer Dance gives you a taught, toned bum and hamstrings.

 

If you take part in one of these workouts you will undoubtedly feel all of the muscles working, as they are muscle groups that often don’t get exercised during day to day life.

 

Half of this dance craze is about the attitude – in order to get the most out of your workout you really have to lose yourself in the music and not worry about looking silly or anything like that.

Categories: class, dance, dance craze, fitness, Heart Rate, muscles, nbsp, Workout

Lose Weight With The Dancing With The Stars Workout

Many people love to watch reality TV shows that see people dancing. One of the world’s most popular is Dancing With The Stars, which sees celebrities competing in a dancing competition to see who can jive their way to victory. For some reason people really love to watch famous people attempting to learn dance moves and perform them in front of a live audience, even if they aren’t particularly good. While many people are bemused by the popularity of the show, there can be no doubt that these sorts of dancing shows have re-popularised dancing to a very strong extent and more people than ever are taking up dancing classes or using dancing as part of their weekly workout regime.

 

If you are someone who thinks that dancing would be a great way to stay in shape, we’ve got a fantastic exercise regime for you. It’s the perfect way to get your body moving and make the calories slip away while doing something that you genuinely enjoy. And what’s more, it comes direct from Cheryl Burke, one of the dancing pros on Dancing With The Stars. But before you get started on the workout itself, it is important to get in the right state for it, both physically and mentally. Indeed, most of us are not naturally flexible – and that even goes for Cheryl.

 

“I am not one of those girls who can just land in a split – I need to warm up to be flexible,” she says. And it’s very likely that it is the same for you. So she recommends going through a warm-up routine before you try to do any of the demanding dance move that the routine asks of you. So spend eight minutes stretching and getting your body ready for the workout – it may seem like a waste of valuable time but you will definitely reap the benefits in the end of being able to perform the dance moves with far more agility and skill.

 

First off you should start with the ABC leg raise. To perform this move you should stand up straight, then extend your right leg with your toes pointed, then use your foot to ‘write’ the first three letters of the alphabet in lower case. Take a 30-second rest and then repeat the motion except writing the letters as upper case instead. You should then repeat the whole process with your left leg. The follow this move with other stretches including your thighs, groin and quads.

 

So now let’s get down to business with some dance moves to get you into it. One of the most popular dance routines is salsa. This is an energetic routine that burns off loads of calories while also being a lot of fun to perform. “The salsa is based on 3 counts, making it one of the easiest dances to learn,” Burke says. You should perform the salsa routine four times a week for 30 minutes each.

 

To learn a salsa routine it is strongly recommended that you visit a professional dance class in order to be shown the moves and how to perform them correctly. If you attempt to do them without really knowing them properly you risk injuring yourself and causing more harm than good in your attempt to lose weight. Once you know the routine you can really get into it and improve on it over time. As with most things, the more effort you put in, the more you will get out of it and not only will you know how to perform the dance impressively, you’ll also burn off more calories every time you do it.

Categories: dance, dance moves, Dancing, Dancing With The Stars, Lose weight, people, perform, Routine, salsa routine, Slim

Twerk Like Miley Cyrus: Get Fit and Have Lots of Fun!

Miley Cyrus has been in the news a lot recently, and mostly for all the wrong reasons. The young starlet is trying to shake off her squeaky clean Hannah Montana image, but critics are questioning the effect that this is having on the wellness and wellbeing of her young fans. The phrase ‘outrageous’ has been used frequently, alongside the word ‘scandalous’.

 

It may be that Miley Cyrus’s embarrassing performance is nothing to be proud of, but this does not change the fact that her weight and fitness are enviable to those who are trying to get into shape. Not only did the singer dance around in an energetic manner during her VMA performance, she also stripped down completely for her latest music video, looking toned and slender.

 

Twerking (the bottom-shaking dance that Miley has become famous for) is actually really difficult and take some incredible leg power to keep going for more than 20 seconds at a time.

 

If you want to twerk like Miley Cyrus, you need to get your legs a lot stronger. The best way to do that is with a leg press machine. The machine focuses on your quads, which are the muscles at the front of your thighs, and it also tackles your glutes (bottom). Doing a few sets of around 20 – 25 reps of a medium weight.

 

It’s also a good idea to do some plié squats – these are done by dancers throughout the world as they help to focus on burning away the muscle that are at the inside of your thighs. These are the muscles that help to control the hips, and when your hips are in tip top condition you can shimmy like a top superstar performer. Do a few sets of plié squats every day and you will see a big difference.

Categories: cyrus, dance, miley, miley cyrus, nbsp, performance, pli squats, twerk

Using Dancing to Lose Weight and Boost Your Fitness

People gain weight for a variety of reasons, including emotional difficulties or excess weight gain during pregnancy. Pregnancy is a particularly difficult one to recover from as many women think that their bodies will simply recover on their own, and they don’t put in the hard work or fitness regimes that are generally required to recoup wellness and wellbeing and facilitate weight loss.

 

Whilst gaining weight during pregnancy is normal, it does take a concerted effort to lose it again. Losing weight with young children around can be a real challenge, as anyone who has ever tried to implement a fitness regime with a young child in tow can attest to! Whatever you do, your young child will want to join in and will likely end up being more of a hindrance than a help.

 

Young children struggle to maintain concentration long enough to do yoga or strengthening moves, so one way forward that allows you to both exercise together is to crank up some music and both dance around like crazy. You and your child will likely be exhausted and having a great time within minutes.

 

The best thing about dancing with your young child is that the crazier your dance moves are, the more that your child will enjoy them and the more of a workout you will get. You may feel al little silly at first, but when you stick with it you will realise that this fun dancing has really become a great workout.

 

Avoid prescriptive exercise or workout DVDs, as young children find it difficult to follow these. Instead, simply choose some up tempo music and really let loose with the crazy dance moves, moving your body in all directions and having as much fun as you possibly can. You will soon see the weight start to drop off.

Categories: Child, Children, dance, dance moves, fitness, nbsp, weight, young, young child, young children

Top Celebrity-Inspired Fitness Crazes

When it comes to getting toned and lean, no-one does it better than the celebs. With the best techniques and experts behind them, they can provide great inspiration for your own workouts to get you in shape. There are so many ways to improve your fitness levels, from dancing to yoga, and the stars can be fantastic motivators for your own lifestyle choices. Here are some of the most effective workouts that the stars simply can’t get enough of to get them red-carpet ready.

 

Dance

Everyone from Pink and Eva Longoria to Jennifer Garner and Julianne Hough opts for a dance workout as a way to have fun while they work out. Dance strengthens the body and builds up stamina, as well as improving your sense of balance. Thanks to the influx of dance programmes on the TV, dance has become an incredibly popular way of exercising. It can be a fantastic stress reliever and a far more entertaining way of getting fit than hitting the gym week after week. You can burn as many as 300 to 600 calories in just one hour, as well as tightening up the muscles in your entire body.

CrossFit

Cameron Diaz, Madonna and Kelly Clarkson are said to be big fans of the CrossFit way of working out. It was actually created two decades ago, but has made a comeback as it is a more exciting way to exercise. The programme works as a time saver, as it incorporates weight-lifting, kettle bells, cardio and plyometrics in one go. It’s a high intensity exercise that sees results quickly, so it’s great for people who want fast effects from quick exercise.

FitOrbit

Celebrity gossip columnist Perez Hilton is a big promoter of FitOrbit, which is a personal training service that matches each client to a specific programme. Along with the exercise, you’ll be provided with a diet plan to help you lose weight and tone up. This programme isn’t a quick fix for losing weight, but it does help you to change up your lifestyle to see results. For people who want to see results and want to make a serious commitment to their health, this is a fun and varied way to do it. It’s customisable so you can tailor it to suit your lifestyle and your specific body goals, making it unique to you and effective in the ways you need it to be.

P90X

It seems as though every celebrity has a personal trainer, but some celebs simply use a DVD programme like the rest of us. Some stars swear by working out at home with a DVD guide, and P90X is a full body workout that can offer real results. It features plyometrics and yoga to build up muscle in what is known as ‘muscle confusion’ – in other words, changing up your routine to create a toned body that means you’ll never plateau.

Yoga

Yoga helps to calm the mind, strengthen the body and tone your limbs. It’s a workout with so many benefits, from reducing stress to keeping your muscles flexible. Camilla Belle and Jennifer Aniston are big fans of this exercise to keep a toned body, and they’re said to enjoy the mix of physical and mental agility that they gain from yoga. A session of just over 45 minutes a couple of times a week can prevent tightness in the body, clear the mind and help you unwind. When performed regularly for a period of time, it can be great for toning up and strengthening the muscles and core of your body.

Categories: body, celebrities, dance, exercise, fitness, results, toned body, yoga

Dance Your Blues Away: Zumba Instructor Free From Depression

Zumba is an extremely popular exercise today but for instructor Karen Bedford, it not just about the dance moves; it’s about mental health. For Karen, 49, exercise was the reason that she survived and beat decade-long battle with depression.

 

In 1998, Karen developed depression out of a series of mental health-damaging personal events. She broke up with her long-term partner, was made redundant from her job at a publishing house and was fighting to keep her family home in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire. She was anti-depressants for a year, but still this was no permanent fix. ‘The antidepressants probably helped but I don’t think they were the right solution for me,’ she explains. ‘I questioned if it was worth taking them, especially because they made me feel unwell.’

 

While a new relationship and another job in publishing helped to stabilise her depression, mother-of-two Karen went on antidepressants again after her partner, Randy, died from pancreatic cancer in 2003. ‘I was terrified I’d be stuck on them for ever and I wanted to sort out the underlying problems,’ she notes. Then her life changed when her friend suggested an exercise class, and Karen picked the lively dance music-fueled Zumba. ‘I loved it – I felt better instantly after each lesson and it gave me a real high,’ she says. ‘Since Zumba became part of my life my mental state’s been more stable and I haven’t needed the pills. I get the odd down day, but because I’ve regained my confidence I face my problems much better now.’

 

In fact, Karen needs no convincing about how exercise benefits mental well-being. ‘I’d recommend it to anyone with depression and doctors should do too,’ she enthuses. ‘It’s definitely offered me a solution.’ However, not all wellness experts are so sure. For example, a study recently reported in the British Medical Journal found that depressed patients who exercised more as well as receiving antidepressants actually did no better than those who had just the standard treatment. According to lead researcher Professor John Campbell, from the University of Exeter Medical School, ‘The message isn’t that exercise won’t help depression but we couldn’t show it had an added effect beyond standard treatment. For sufferers, their world is black, so it’s not always an appropriate treatment to start with.’

Categories: antidepressants, case study, dance, depression, exercise, karen, mental, Mental Health, standard treatment, Zumba