Rhythm is gonna get you ... in shape

COEUR d'ALENE - Some guys think it will be a breeze, and are apt to quit when they find out it's not.

Other people just take it on for something to do, then sweat away to a skinnier self.

The New England Journal of Medicine has found it to be healthy and effective, as have a group of local instructors who promote it in the name of well-balanced living.

It's dancing.

Yes, dancing - from hip hop to country and every classic in between - as plenty of people are using their moves on the floor as a great way to get in shape.

Those who don't do it might not realize how strenuous it is, local dancers say. But it is.

"It's hard work," said Ken Dahlke, a Coeur d'Alene resident who has been dancing for five years and became so enthralled with it that he runs an open dance floor session with his wife every Tuesday at the Kroc Center for dancers looking to practice between professional lessons. "Three or four months after I got into it, my wife said, 'you know you're losing weight.' And I looked and, sure enough, I'm losing weight."

Dahlke, 61, said he dropped 20 to 25 pounds in the first six months he took up dancing. He did so because he had to practice for a fundraiser he was going to attend where dancing was involved. Five years later, besides the dropped pounds, he has noticed improved balance and flexibility, which had been an issue with a faulty hip.

"I don't think it's substitution for all that," he said of using dancing instead of all other exercise. "But is it one of the most enjoyable ways to exercise? Sure."

Experts agree that dancing is great for improving one's balance and mobility. But it's also great for sharpening one's mind, they say.

Coordinated moves require thinking, anticipation and focus. Practicing those while exercising also exercises the mind, and it's why a 2003 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that ballroom dancing at least twice a week made people less likely to develop dementia, as cited by the AARP Foundation.

Perhaps all that thinking is why some people don't realize they're working out, too. They're too distracted to realize they're sweating.

"It's a fun way of getting exercise without even realizing all the effort," said Sheryl Bentz-Sipe, owner of DanceTales Studio and member of Coeur d'Alene Dance Connection, a group of professional dancers who put on public dances as a way to encourage healthy living while raising money for a good cause. "They're feeling it, but they're not focused on that."

That's what happened to Bruce Kinkead, who takes lessons at DanceTales Studio.

He took up dancing five years ago because of "a complete wild hair." Then he noticed his conditioning improved and his first love, backpacking, became much easier. This despite a wounded knee his doctor warned him to go easy on. That improved too.

"I certainly noticed it that first summer," he said of taking up longer hikes after he joined the studio. Now "every springtime, I'm ready to go."

Just like the old-fashioned workouts, the exercise from dance brings peace of mind, too.

"I'm relaxing," said Zaida Martinez, Kinkead's fiancee and dancer partner. "I forget all my problems."

Coeur d'Alene Dance Connection's first dance of 2013 will be from 7 to 10:30 p.m. tonight at the Eagles building, 209 E. Sherman Ave. Tickets cost $7, and proceeds will go toward the American Heart Association's Learn and Live program and research for a cure to heart disease.

AARP, a nonprofit dedicated for people 50 and older to help them live independent lives, attributes better muscle tone, increased confidence and improved posture and flexibility to those who take up dancing.

What's that break down to? Try a pick up game of hoops.

"One hour of line dancing, is equivalent to one hour of basketball full court," said Bob Crossman, owner of Crossroads, a country western dance club, on a figure provided to him from Weight Watchers of America.

Bob and his wife, Pat, have been running the dance studio in Post Falls for 17 years. They serve around 1,000 students a year and have seen people shed up to 60 pounds ... and tough guys give up after one lesson. It's healthy, no doubt, they said, but it's just like anything else - results don't come by cutting corners.

"It's there," Bob said, "if somebody wants to work at it."