Benefits of Tap Dancing Workouts
Table of Contents
Introducing Tap Dancing Workouts
Tap dancing workouts introduce a fresh perspective on dance-based fitness, a trend that has persevered for decades. Here are several benefits to incorporating tap dancing into your regular workout routine:
A Refreshing Aerobic Exercise
Tap dancing elevates your heart rate and enhances oxygen utilization similarly to traditional aerobic exercises like swimming or jogging.
It provides a diverse workout experience compared to the monotony of using the same cardio machine daily.
Lower Body Focus
Frequent use of toes and balls of your feet in tap dancing activates and shapes muscles like the calves and quads.
The latter (not "ladder") engages your glutes and hamstrings, providing a thorough lower body workout.
Unconscious Core Engagement
Maintaining a tight core for balance across various moves and steps is integral to tap dancing, offering a fun alternative to targeted core exercises like crunches.
Exploring Calorie Burn in Tap Dancing Workouts
Before we start discussing caloric ranges per hour with respect to tap dancing, we need to understand a few things:
It's crucial to note that no workout can promise a precise caloric burn since metabolism is influenced by numerous factors, including age, sex, weight, lifestyle, hormones, diet, and muscle-to-fat composition.
We also need to take into consideration the level of intensity at which the individual will be tap dancing. The amount of upper body movement used is also a significant factor. Now, based on aerobics, we can estimate a range of 100-700 calories burned per hour. We must remind ourselves that this is based on the information provided above and will be significantly affected depending on the individual and their conditions.
Tap Dance Fitness Exercises
There are numerous exercises in tap dancing that are already part of the tap dance rudiments that experienced dancers practice regularly. My aim is to provide a perspective on tap dance from a fitness standpoint. Let's dissect further:
Lower Body Exercises
Why? The energy requirement for tap dancers is heavily based on aerobic capacity (cardiovascular health). However, strength and endurance, particularly in the legs, are also crucial for a tap dancer.
All these exercises target the glute muscles, whereby a strong glute minimizes the chance of experiencing back pain. Lunges and bulgarian squats not only train your balance while under a load (body weight or added weight) but along with single leg deadlifts— which target the hamstrings and glutes—allow practice and perfection of hinging, a pivotal movement to master.
These exercises also aid in increasing ankle mobility, specifically in dorsiflexion and plantar flexion movements, which enhance flexibility, endurance, and strength surrounding the muscles, joints, and ligaments in that area.
Core Exercises
A robust core is vital for everyone, especially tap dancers. To have strength, balance, endurance, etc., a strong core is necessary to provide support to the center of gravity. Exercises such as the Plank and Pallof Press are anti-rotational exercises that allow the core muscles to contract during execution.
Upper Body Exercises
Sustaining upper body endurance is crucial for tap dancers. Exercises like push-ups and rows not only provide an appealing aesthetic look but also ensure great posture while performing in a tap dance show.
Muscles Worked in Tap Dancing
It's important to note that tap dancing provides a full-body workout due to the nature of its movements. However, in this context, I'll be focusing on the essential muscles that do more than just stabilize during a tap dance routine.
The Importance of Stretching in Tap Dancing
Stretching is pivotal in tap dancing, both as a precursor to and a wind-down after dancing. Why? Primarily, mobilization of your ankles, knees, and hips is essential and should be prioritized before engaging in the rhythmic footwork of tap dancing. Warming up, which should ideally be around 5 to 10 minutes, increases blood flow and releases synovial fluid, lubricating the joints and preparing them for activity.
There are various dynamic warm-ups you can do, including the tappers' rotation inversions commonly practiced in tap dancing. However, keeping an open mind and possibly incorporating different warm-up techniques can also be beneficial.
Post-dancing, it’s crucial to engage in static stretching to care for your muscles, joints, and ligaments, particularly focusing on the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves. After extensive use, these muscles tend to tighten, and stretching helps in lengthening and relaxing them, providing much-needed relief and aiding recovery. Your muscles will undoubtedly thank you later!
Exercises for Post-Dancing Lengthening
Quadricep Stretch (Standing or Lying)
Hamstring Stretch (Standing or Sitting)
Calf Stretch (Standing or Sitting)
Figure 4 Stretch (Lying)
Tap Dance Classes for Adults Beginners
I initially hesitated to discuss this, but I wanted to address adult beginner tap dancing classes. It's vital to be aware of your fitness level when entering these classes. If you haven't been training or engaging in physical exercise that aids with tap dancing, you're likely to become fatigued quickly. It's crucial to proceed with caution since beginners often aren't accustomed to the intensity and specific lower body, ankle, and calf muscle isolation of tap dance. Remember to take your time. Allow yourself to rest and take intervals if needed, as these classes are quite similar to fitness classes.
Pace yourself – there is no set requirement stating you must engage in 30-45 minutes to reap benefits, especially when starting tap dancing classes. Be acutely aware that your muscles and bones may not be accustomed to this activity, so various issues could arise. Be cautious when engaging in dance classes as a beginner, start slowly, progress gradually, and take breaks as needed. I've mentioned a few exercises at the top that could help strengthen and build endurance. Stay safe.
Choosing the Right Tap Dance Shoes for Your Fitness Routine
If you're exploring tap dance recreationally and plan for short sessions (around 5 minutes), your regular fitness gear should suffice since it’s largely aerobic. However, if you're considering longer sessions beyond 10-20 minutes, investing in specific tap dancing shoes is advisable. These shoes are designed to produce a distinctive, resonant sound in tap dancing and are available in various styles.
I’ll highlight three types of tap dancing shoes: tap shoes, heel shoes, and top shoes. Each type supports a different aspect of the tap dancing experience and is suitable depending on your dance level and style. Before purchasing, I strongly recommend trying them out and consulting a specialist to determine the best tap dance shoes for your style.
