How should I condition my body? What types of exercise would be helpful?

Question:

How should I condition my body? What types of exercise would be helpful?

24 year old, inexperienced guy here again!

I'm 6'3, fairly slim upper body, not defined in any way, but getting just a little bit of a beer gut (I need to get rid of that!). My lower body is a bit thicker and more muscular than my upper body.

So, what sort of exercising should I be doing to get my body into dancing shape? I was told to avoid heavy weights at the gym as they bulk you up and you never see really bulky dancers. I was told to avoid running as it's strenuous in the legs.

I really need to get my stomach a little flatter as well as build strength and flexibility. I wouldn't mind adding a little bit of size, but not too much. I think my legs could be a little smaller too.

Should I do yoga? Weights? Pilates? What type of cardio?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Pilates would definitely help with strengthening your abs and it will get you a lot more flexible. I agree with people suggesting little weight lifting. If you're gonna weight lift then work mostly on the arms,shoulders, and calves.It also depends on what dance you're doing for example if you're doing breakdance and ballroom then you definitly need to work on your upper body. Your big muscles may weigh you down when you do jumps and spins. But they would help when lifting up women if you do ballet, tango, salsa.
I also recommend cardio to increase you're endurance and stamina. Do not eat a lot of bad fatty foods (esp junk food) a dancer should always eat protein for strength (also muscle growth). Good proteins are fish, chicken, peanuts, eggs, healthy meat , protein bars. Dancers must always carry a bottle of water with them everywhere they go! drink more water than you drink gatorade or vitamin water. I dance and i do some long distance running so i don't think running is bad for dancing especially if it's a good cardio work out. Another excellent cardio workout is bike riding, rollerblading, and aerobics. these are very good for the knees.

For your needs, i suggest you do exercises without a lot of machine usage ( lifts,rowers, machine push ups etc). For flattening your stomach do a lot of crunches and other ab exercises (our abs are always admired). You say your legs are big, then do a lot of cardio work. And walk a lot too.

i recommend you buy some dancing DVDs to prepare yourself. And do some research on the dance that you're interested so that you know the terms used by the dancers.
Above all, stretching is very important. never look stiff when you're dancing!
and good luck!!