Breaking is a lifestyle with rich cultural roots and a reputation for being one of the staples of street culture, but today, it’s an art form that people from all walks of life partake in. Breakdance also has various health benefits, empowering you to strengthen your mind and body.
Learning how to breakdance for beginners is an opportunity to improve your physical strength, flexibility, and control while allowing you to express yourself artistically.
If you’re wondering whether learning how to breakdance is right for you, here are some of the top reasons.
9 Health Benefits of Learning Breakdance
Dance, in general, is a proven way of improving your physical and mental health. According to one study, 84% of people agreed that dancing improved physical fitness. The same study found that 92% of people agreed it increased physical coordination.
Even if you don’t have any ambitions of becoming one of the top 10 b-boys, here are some reasons why breakdance could change your life.
1. Improve Cardiovascular Fitness
It’s no secret that the key to good health is elevating your heart rate multiple times weekly. The heart is a muscle and, as the saying goes, use it or lose it.
Breaking is one of the most intense forms of dance workout due to the immense strength and speed required to perform it. Deciding to level up your breaking skills can positively impact your heart health, regardless of age.
According to one study, dancers were found to have a 46% lower chance of cardiovascular-related death than non-dancers.
2. Increase Strength and Flexibility
Performing breakdance moves requires an intense focus on core strength and cardiovascular fitness. Unlike other forms of dance, b-boys use their whole bodies to execute the moves, whether flipping, spinning, or holding themselves in the air.
However, learning how to airflare or how to windmill is about so much more than raw strength. You also need flexibility in your arms and legs to pull it off.
Over time, your strength and flexibility will naturally improve, enabling you to pull off more and more complex moves.
3. Enhance Coordination and Balance
All dancers have certain things in common. One of those aspects is complete control over their bodies.
Breaking requires precise control over your body, especially when holding poses and controlling your momentum while performing moves. As you learn lessons like how to do a headspin and how to flip your moves, you’ll gradually become more accustomed to making your body move how you want it to.
It sounds strange, but your mind and body become one, leading to improved coordination and balance.
4. Enjoy a Full-Body Workout
Forget working out a different body part every day of the week at the gym. Breaking is a genuine full-body workout.
As a high-intensity activity, breaking will enable you to burn calories while increasing muscle mass. After all, there’s a reason why so many breakers look totally ripped.
Not to say that breakers still don’t visit the gym, but ordinary workouts are often used to supplement the dancing.
5. Relieve Stress
Stress is a massive problem across America. One study says that 55% of Americans are stressed during the day. With modern life moving faster and faster, it can sometimes feel impossible to stop the stress from building up.
With stress being such a huge risk factor behind a range of physical and mental health conditions, finding a way to relieve the pressure valve is vital for everybody.
Dancing is a natural pressure relief button, and breaking is no exception. Learn how to practice at home, and you’ll have a natural way to put aside the stresses of everyday life.
6. Combat Poor Mental Health
Stress is a modern-day epidemic, but so is mental health. Millions of Americans live with different mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
Breaking is an opportunity to tackle your mental health head-on. Finding something physical, fun, and expressive strengthens your mind as much as your body.
In one study, it was found that “free-moving” dance had healing benefits, with 96% of participants claiming that it helped them cope with anxiety and depression.
7. Build Your Confidence
Most people believe dance is just a matter of following the steps and having a great time, but it’s so much more than that.
Developing an original style rather than moves is a chance to show people the real you. No two b-boys or b-girls have the same routine, even if they’re performing the same moves.
It’s why breaking is about more than styles of footwork. It’s about giving you the confidence to express who you truly are. And this confidence booster can benefit you in every part of your life.
8. Increase Your Focus
All first-time breakers begin by developing a perfect practice formula to lay the foundations of their artistry.
However, dance requires melding your body to the music. The basics, like keeping a rhythm, are all part of mastering your foundation to move yourself into a routine that wows the crowd.
With such a high level of concentration required, it’s natural that the focus you develop will bleed into other parts of your life.
9. Express Yourself
Finally, breakdance is a way for you to express yourself artistically. Some people like to paint, and others like to write, but still, some find that dance is the best way to express themselves.
Breaking was never about the perfect b-boy form but a way for African-American and Latino youth to express themselves on the streets.
Nothing has changed in this respect.
Conclusion
Breaking’s health benefits extend through the body and into the mind. Getting into your flow and having fun is the key to longevity in breaking.
It’s a dance style like nothing else. As its popularity grows, more people are looking at how they can get into the scene. Begin your journey at the breakdance school in B-Boy & B-Girl Dojo.
Check out some of our beginner courses, or get in touch with our team today.
