Home > Diet & Fitness > Exercise > Execises that help to tone your body into dancing fitness Do you want to have the body of a dancer, slim and light-footed? Doesn't come all that easily, I'm afraid. Takes a lot of hard work and exercise. Here are some exercises that would help tone your body into dancing fitness.

FEET

Stand with feet together keeping the toes of the right foot securely on the ground. Push up the rest of the foot, keeping the ankle fully braced over the toes, off the floor, to have a fully pointed and stretched foot pointing towards the floor. Then lower the toes first and then the rest of the foot (reverse order to the original movement). Repeat with the other leg.

ARMS

Stand straight, arms at your side, with palms facing inward. With your fingers touching your body, gently push the elbows outward. Slowly bring your hands together, fingers touching, making a circle. Keeping the circle, lift your arms up to waist level. Hold in this position, then gently lower.

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This move strengthens your inner and outer thighs and helps shape your waist. It also kicks up your heart rate and helps improve your balance.

HOW TO DO IT:

Stand sideways to a chair and hold onto its back.

Bend the inside leg.

Leading with your hip, kick the other leg out to the side and flex your foot.

Do eight kicks, then switch sides.

Work up to 10 to 12 kicks.

Healthy strides

These are just some of the benefits of walking, according to decades of research.

Lower your heart-disease risk: The latest study found that those who walked briskly three hours a week had a 30 to 40 percent lower rate of heart attack than sedentary women. Those who walked five hours a week cut the risk by 50 percent.

Build strong bones: The density of a woman's bones is directly related to how much weight-bearing exercise she does. Walking is one of the best weight-bearing exercises.

Reduce your risk of diabetes: In a recent study, walking was found to reduce the risk of type II diabetes by lowering blood-glucose levels.

Lose weight: A study found that the average person can lose eighteen pounds in a year - without changing her diet - if she walks about four times a week for forty five minutes.

Stay injury-free: A twenty-eight-week study found that runners missed eleven workout days due to injury, whereas walkers missed only one and a half days.

Life your mood: Numerous studies have associated exercise with a reduced risk of depression.