Salsa Dancing for Age related Functional Deficits.
Don’t dismiss it until you have tried it. For 3 years we did it here at The Gait Guys (and salsa was one of our favorites), so we know what it is all about … . the foot work, the amount of core stability needed, hip stability, lower abdominal skills, balance, proprio, vestibular accommodation etc. Dancing is no joke, and no you are not too cool to do it. Here in America we are the exception, not the rule. In most countries, after dinner, they push the tables to the sides and people dance the night away. In many countries, men dance. Looking to impress guys? Take some lessons. Looking to get your elderly clients active, set them up with your local dance studio and improve their health.
- random thoughts from Dr. Allen
Their study’s conclusions: “Salsa proved to be a safe and feasible exercise programme for older adults accompanied with a high adherence rate. Age-related deficits in measures of static and particularly dynamic postural control can be mitigated by salsa dancing in older adults. High physical activity and fitness/mobility levels of our participants could be responsible for the nonsignificant findings in gait variability and leg extensor power.” - Granacher et al.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22236951
