I always believed that you gain muscle from ballroom dancing. It would only make sense but somebody told me that you wouldn't gain muscle at all?? This was the first time I heard this and just want to get other peoples opinion on it. I personally noticed I gained muscle with dancing and want to know if anyone else feels this way.

Someone doesn't know what he (or she) is talking about.

It basically depends on how much time one spends on the floor. One or two hours a week won't contribute much development, especially if they're spent on just social dancing.

If you're spending several hours a week in fairly intensive work, however, you will increase muscle mass, especially in your legs. I know so from my own experience and that of my partner (she's a soccer player).

jj

The legs get rock solid, that's for sure. I'm not sure about muscle mass, depending on how someone defines that. No, you probably aren't going to look like you've been lifting weights, but you certainly keep your weight down and keep your heart in shape, which is probably more important anyway. As you get longer in the tooth, as I am, you will notice that the muscle mass becomes a tad softer no matter what you do. But your weight stays down, your midsection fairly strong and slim, and that's the best part. But to say you gain no muscle at all seems kind of ridiculous. Your legs, especially, should really gain strength.

How many of you remember Charles Atlas and his dynamic sension for a muscular body. If you dont know.. The phrase having sand kicked in his face will mean little to you. In short it was a set of Isometric excercises which is pressing against an imovable object. With a dancer that is the floor. Also by keeping the arm in the Standard style in the correct position is also an exercise in its self. Fom my own experience I can see that in the shoulders and arms it was as if I was using weights for excercising. Who remembers in the Rocky Horror Show that the having sand in the face thing was mentioned. If you do or will do you now know what was being refered to.

There is no 1 simple answer to the Q... it depends on several factors.. foremost.. age followed by lifestyle .

Add to that mix , the regularity one puts the body thru the regamin it would need to aquire any dramatic changes ,to some one who was considerably out of shape at the onset.

I mentioned the fact that my partner is a soccer player. She was in excellent physical condition when we started dancing together more than a year ago. She has experienced an increase in the muscle mass in her legs, especially in her calves.

I'm almost sixty and was in fairly decent shape when I started dancing with her because I had been dancing off and on for several years. I have also experienced an increase in muscle mass.

To understand how good dancing is for muscle development, compare the legs of a highly experienced dancer to those of, for example, a distance runner or a gymnast. The large muscles of the traditional athlete are overly developed and stand out dramatically. The dancers legs are also very muscular but the large muscles are less noticeable because dancing develops both large and small muscles equally, giving the dancer's legs a smoother and - in the case of the ladies - more pleasing appearance.

jj