Developing Balance

If you had to do only one thing to improve your performance, what do you think it would be?

Balance

Balance is the equal distribution of weight. When you perform, through each movement that you execute, you need to have that equal distribution of weight- or at least the appearance of it.

Take a dance class or start doing exercises that work on your balance. Photo from fitnessmart.com.

Dance your way to balance

Here is an interesting article: Dancing Makes You Smarter

And another: Dance and Ballet Training for Sports

All Drillers need to read this article: Good Dancers Make it Look Easy

1. Flexibility

Flexibility is an important part of being healthy. Dance requires a great amount of flexibility. Most dance classes begin with a warm-up including several stretching exercises. Dancers must strive to achieve full range of motion for all the major muscle groups. The greater the range of motion, the more muscles can flex and extend. Most forms of dance require dancers to perform moves that require bending and stretching, so dancers naturally become more flexible by simply dancing.

2. Strength

Strength is defined as the ability of a muscle to exert a force against resistance. Dancing builds strength by forcing the muscles to resist against a dancer’s own body weight. Many styles of dance, including jazz and ballet, require jumping and leaping high into the air. Jumping and leaping require tremendous strength of the major leg muscles. Ballroom dancing builds strength. Consider the muscle mass a male ballroom dancer develops by lifting his partner above his head!

3. Endurance

Dance is physical exercise. Exercise increases endurance. Endurance is the ability of muscles to work hard for increasingly longer periods of time without fatigue. Regular dancing is great for improving endurance, especially vigorous dancing such as line and ballroom dancing. Elevating the heart rate can increase stamina. Just as in any form of exercise, regular dancing will build endurance. From http://dance.about.com/od/danceandyourhealth/tp/Health-Benefits.htm

4. Better Balance

Dancing can require fast movement it can also require slower, more deliberate movement and always good posture. Frequent dancing will help you stabilize and gain better control of your body.

Exercise your way to balance

Balance: you must develop your core muscles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWuKEt96Jjs

Here is a long list of different balance exercises.