A friend of mine said that belly dancing would be a great way to flatten my stomach. Is there any truth to this? I understand it would be better than sitting on the couch watch tv, but I never thought of it as real tummy toning exercise.

I'm not a belly dancer, so I don't really know, I'm just assuming belly dancing isn't good exercise.

hi there jess,good to see you,i have lost alott of weight with bellydance,
It does tone your tummy,the dancing i mean,as alott of the moves are around the tummy/hip area as well as the rest of your body,I personally do tribal style and find that gives me a great workout for my abs too.

you can add extra ab excercises to your routine if you want to,I dance each day,do callanetics twice a week for that extra strength to help me dance,they both compliment each other i find.

hugs

A
xxx

yes..bellydance definitely tones your stomach as well as keeping a nice feminine shape. I think with bellydance you can choose the various muscles you would like to tone, and if you keep it up, you will definitely see changes. For example, I don't like it when my tummy starts to tone too much, so I give those muscles a break. In fact I have given it a big break lately lol, but anyway.. if you want to exercise and enjoy and learn about your body, bellydance is a very good starting point;)

here here michelle,bet your belly looks amazing!


hugs

indy
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I think I am going to start taking it at the gym. I also have the videos here at the house, and they also have a show called "Shimmy" that does it. For those of you that have done it...does it give you that coca-cola bottle shape?

Belly dancing, oh my i can't even picture me doing that;
yikes what a sight that would be ;o)

LOL. Hi rosie, I took the class once and it was fun. Try it once, and see how u like it!

Belly dancing is fun if you have flexible hips and you can rotate correctly. Helps a bit in burning calories and tones a little but if you notice, professional belly dances are notorious for their muffin tops and jiggly bits.

I would suggest 1 day a week of belly dancing to improve flexibility and take up latin, hip hop or body combat if your goal is to lose fat.
As for toning the muscles, keep to crunches and weight bearing exercises 3 times a week for 15 reps of 3 sets. You may not want six packs at this stage but there's nothing sexier than a seductive line that runs through your midsetion.

Hi Ninaredza, welcome to the forum; and
Thanks for the advice
Rosie

If you are taking a class, it is good to practice at home. As for that lean, looking body, it depends on your body type. For me, running just makes my leg muscles bulk, but for others, they are able to get a lean look. Find what works best for you. I have a better shape because of belly dancing. Other forms of cardio were not for me.

When you rotate your hips, just please make sure to tuck in the pelvis. Tucking in the pelvis works the abs. This prevents back injuries.

Belly dancing is great for toning and sculpting a nice waist line. However, you have to do something aerobic to burn the fat that usually sits on top of those nice toned muscles. I like to walk for fat burning, and I use bellydancing and yoga for toning and flexibility.

Welcome newbies to the forum, hope yous enjoy your stay!

I love bellydancing, you can use modern music such as "Bellydancer" by Akon

I have that DVD. Yes, I agree it is so much fun. Its not fast nor slow. Just the right tempo.

As for the modern music, I agree. Thinking about putting a veil piece to a Beatles song.

I love to watch bellydancing. Such a primitive word for such a beautiful art !! One time I went to a convention and they had some bellydancers go into the crowd. One stood by me and asked if I would like to dance with her. Yeh Right!!!! She was so flexible she almost looked like she was broken and I was so inflexable I could have broken. She was such an excellent artist and very sensual. What an incredible form of self expression and beauty !!!

The workout I do is a combination of yoga poses and stretches (which tone, lengthen and 'femenize' your muscles), gentle, low impact work-outs twice a week, such as 'luscious' (to attune myself with my body and make sure I'm doing all the moves properly) and a high-impact cardio-bellydancing routine three times a week, such as one of Rania's DVD's (for the hard work and calorie burning side of things). Between that, healthy eating and lots of running around after my little boy, I have quite a consistent and impressive rate of weightloss, and the difference it makes to your figure, sleep, posture, energy levels and mood are mind-blowing. His_Einna

Think I might get a video to do at home. Sounds like fun

Rosie, I'm with you. Swirling my hips around could start a hurricane

LOL

Old thread, but if anyone is curious about belly dancing I say do it! I am doing beginner level 2 right now and I absolutely love it!!! I wasn't so sure about continuing since my first teacher wasnt the best, but I found a new persona and she is fantastic and I just want to keep going further and further and learning more. It is awesome to be able to see your body move in different ways and you would be amazing at how many inches you can trim off your hips in a couple of weeks!

I wish I could find another class. I haven't danced since I damaged my knee last year and I MISS IT SO MUCH!!!
!
You can see I have stopped my waist has disappeared wahhhhhh!

Hi newbie, Just wanted to know if anyone could recommend some good belly dancing dvd for home use. I'm new to belly dancing and have seen a few dvd's in the stores but don't know what I should get to get started. Thanks Barbara

Please try it. I always wanted to take Belly dance but was too embarrassed to try. We moved to a new city and I thought I would give it a go since I didnt know anyone. 4 years later and 40 pounds lighter I teach 3 classes a night. I am 5'10" and I am still obese according to the Air Force chart I have lived with all my life, but I feel sexy, I have made GREAT friends and I LOVE to see peoples faces when I tell them!

I recently took a bellydancing class at LA Fitness. I really enjoyed it. I do have to say that I felt like I burned a lot more calories when I did other classes like Cardio Jam or Zumba though.

It was still really fun and I would do it again.

Bellydance won't burn a ton of calories but it will improve mobility which contributes to fatloss : ) I do it from time to time at home.

I think yes belly dance is very good exercise for your stomach, not only stomach from this you will get perfect shap of body and flexibility. [url=http://www.placementhotline.com]Assisted Living[/url]

I recently got to watch two professional belly dancers at a resturant and all I could think of was how seductive, graceful and movement were hypnotic. I would like to take this up but fear I have not rythmn or control what so ever lol.

You can always learn. One of the best systems - and one compatible with bellydancing- was developed by a physical culturalist in the beginning of the last century. Here's the link. Don't worry that the technique is being demonstrated by a male it works just as well for women

Maxalding

and scroll down to exercise 7

As far as finding a belly dancing DVD, why don't you go onto youtube and see some dancers. Then, if you find one that you like, see if they have a DVD.

Another suggestion is to look on Amazon. Read the reviews of the different DVDs.

You might also see if your local library has belly dancing DVDs. If not, maybe they could do inter-library loan for one that you saw on Amazon or youtube.

Hope this helps.