Weight training?

[SashaViaSasha]

I've been belly dancing only for a few months and am way hooked! I love it! I started dancing intuitively, it really grew out of my yoga practice, and with it I have been correcting imbalances I've found in my body. It has been so freeing! I love the basic course and am working with the first three lessons, also listening to my body and being very experimental.

I broke my leg when I was pregnant and being laid up lost a lot of muscle, gained some weight. Two years later, working with yoga and eating well, I've lost the weight. The thing is, my hips are so much slenderer then they used to be, and I want to build them back up. I am considering weight training, which I used to really really enjoy. I think I would be so much more mindful, coupling it with dancing and yoga, but does anyone have any special advise or caveats? I'm working hard to loosen my hips up and don't want them to tighten back up, but at the same time I'd like to strengthen and build them. And I really miss my curves! The more I dance the lankier I am! Is this just my body's natural shape?

Any advise much appreciated.

 

[teela]

I believe it is important to do a bit of weight training for keeping your muscle strength up and to prevent future issues like osteoporosis. I try to do something with weights a couple times a week.

 

[Greek Bonfire]

I think if you do some squats it will add a little more definition to your glutimus maximus (your butt!) :lol: I'm not sure how many but if you do them a lot you should see some results. You need to do more bulking exercises and less toning because toning will keep the curves DOWN.

 

[Shanazel]

Slender hips are a problem? I am so envious. I couldn't keep my curves down with a road grader. Just tuck in a couple of pretty scarves or veils or drapes at the hip and you'll look more curvy.

 

[Farasha Hanem]

Slender hips are a problem? I am so envious. I couldn't keep my curves down with a road grader. Just tuck in a couple of pretty scarves or veils or drapes at the hip and you'll look more curvy.

Boooy, I'll say! I did a few pics for my Facebook album today, and tucked the sides of my 10-yard skirt at my waistband to show off the pretty gold ribbon at the bottom. My pic makes me look like I have a 10-yard CABOOSE back there!

 

[Shanazel]

Oh, my deah, cabooses are tres, tres fashionable in the belly dance world this season. You are right in style.

 

[Jujube]

Girls with cabooses get the best shimmies.

 

[Sweet_Romance]

=) So Real Women have Curves?
Okay
The Best Solution For ur Pro is Work Out YouTube - How to Work Out Properly : How to Get Perfect Curves for Your Hips

The Best for Your Butt iS Workout with a Stability Ball ...
Some says that Bein Naked Give The Body perfect Curves :s
You Can find Arabic Solucion For That But u need To be There..

There's other solucion, artificial Is The gluteal But implants Cilicone !! ?

 

[Aniseteph]

I wonder whether a silicone-enhanced behind shimmies like a 100% natural one, but the way another thread is going I really don't care to find out the answer AT ALL.

Cabooses rock.

(or is the plural caboose too? A herd of caboose... :lol

 

[Nwenna]

Many moons ago, I weight trained seriously. Working out twice a day, eating 6 times a day to maintain/gain weight, dating a competitive Bantam weight (by the gods.... was that an experience!). My life totally revolved around that existence. So let me give you a little advice...

Even with "light" weight training, you would have to be very careful to not tighten your muscles. BD is about fluidity correct? Weight training will not help your with that, only hamper it. Sure you will have high, rock hard glutes and hip flexors like guitar strings but that will not help your dance at all.

Also, just to clarify, weight training will not build up your hips but rather slim them down further. There is no muscle on the hip per se. Any curvature on the hip comes from body fat. Look at fitness models and pro-female weight trainers. Zero hip (steroids in extreme cases does not help but you get my point).

I am a very narrow woman and I've had poor body image for since forever. But now that I am (much) older, I try my best to love me. This body is what I have to work with. This is my temple and it takes pretty good care of me. So I don't complain. I just work with what I got and do my best to take care of it in return.

Good luck!

 

[da Sage]

Many moons ago, I weight trained seriously. Working out twice a day, eating 6 times a day to maintain/gain weight, dating a competitive Bantam weight (by the gods.... was that an experience!). My life totally revolved around that existence. So let me give you a little advice...

Even with "light" weight training, you would have to be very careful to not tighten your muscles. BD is about fluidity correct? Weight training will not help your with that, only hamper it. Sure you will have high, rock hard glutes and hip flexors like guitar strings but that will not help your dance at all.

Also, just to clarify, weight training will not build up your hips but rather slim them down further. There is no muscle on the hip per se. Any curvature on the hip comes from body fat. Look at fitness models and pro-female weight trainers. Zero hip (steroids in extreme cases does not help but you get my point).

I am a very narrow woman and I've had poor body image for since forever. But now that I am (much) older, I try my best to love me. This body is what I have to work with. This is my temple and it takes pretty good care of me. So I don't complain. I just work with what I got and do my best to take care of it in return.

Good luck!

You are correct that weight training will not build up your hips on the side, but per your own post, weight training can build up your glutes on the back, making them higher. Whether there is fat on the side hips or back glutes has nothing to do with the weight training, it has to do with dancer's natural fat distribution and how many calories she takes in as opposed to what she burns off.

I think that weight training is a great idea for most dancers, but it needs to be balanced with a careful and focused stretching regimen.

I have been looking for one of my favorite you-tube videos - a massive body builder flexing his quads...and shaking out his MUSCLES in-between flexings. If 40+++ pounds of manly muscle can wobble, so can a few pounds of womanly muscle. It just takes work and self-awareness.

Also, if the OP has lost strength in her lower body, she REALLY needs to get it back. Lower body weight and strength training stabilizes the joints. With all the weird movements that bellydancers do, we need strong muscles around our joints to protect them. The weaker a dancer is, the more likely it is that she can hurt her ankle, knee, or hip in a turn. Also, weight training is a great way to counteract the imbalance that can happen when a dancer or dance class favors one leg or hip over the other.

The human body was meant to do a lot of forward, striding locomotion. Bellydancing is great exercise, and I know some dancers who don't do any other kind of dance or exercise. However, I have personally found that I need to schedule regular walking (or running) sessions to keep my muscles balanced and my joints happy. YMMV.

 

[Persephone_Dance]

As women Resistance Training is essential, especially as we age. Numerous studies have shown that women have actually reversed osteoperosis with weight bearing exercises.

I am a Nutrition/Wellness Counselor and a Certified Personal Trainer and dancer working on obtaining the credits/training to get my master level certification...

There are so many myths associated with weight training - all it takes is a little research and the wealth of information that can be found is absolutely amazing! Resistance training a couple of days a week will help build the supporting muscles needed for dance. A dancer with a strong lower back can preform ami's much smoother and with a smaller risk of injury and that is just one example.

I am currently working on a circuit training routine for the belly dancer but as always before starting any exercise program make sure to contact your doctor first!

Happy Hip Drops -

Persephone

 

[goddessyasaman]

Slender hips are a problem? I am so envious. I couldn't keep my curves down with a road grader. Just tuck in a couple of pretty scarves or veils or drapes at the hip and you'll look more curvy.

:lol::lol::lol: I'm with you on that one Shanazel, Not the envious part though I rather like my Hips, they need to go down just a bit :lol:

 

[Belly Love]

Also, just to clarify, weight training will not build up your hips but rather slim them down further. There is no muscle on the hip per se. Any curvature on the hip comes from body fat. Look at fitness models and pro-female weight trainers. Zero hip (steroids in extreme cases does not help but you get my point).

I agree. If you have slender hips, nothing but fat is going to make them "wider". You can try to give the illusion of having wider hips by making your waist go in further. This can be done by weight loss (depending on your shape and where you lose fat) lipo of the waist (not that I'm suggesting this ) or you can try wearing a waist cincher for a few months. I don't know how healthy they are, but two of my girlfriends wore them for several months and both changed their shape.

 

[MikeRoger]

Slender hips are a problem? I am so envious. I couldn't keep my curves down with a road grader. Just tuck in a couple of pretty scarves or veils or drapes at the hip and you'll look more curvy.

If we want slim hips we need to develop two important habits. We need to eat fewer calories
and burn more calories.I recommend we eat plenty of fruits,vegetables, wholegrain bread, pasta, rice, beans and cereal without any oily toppings.