Bellydance is an exceptionally good workout for your entire body and is especially beneficial for your core. However, if you wish to intensify the exercise benefits for your legs, belly dance moves that utilize level changes and ‘floor work’ need to be added to your routines.
When you do belly dance moves that bend your knees and lower your center of gravity, your leg muscles get increased activity. To further intensify this effect you can do floor work, which is dancing while kneeling, sitting, or reclining on the floor. The deeper your level change and the closer to the floor you get, the more strenuous the leg exercise becomes (and the more difficult it is). Of course, as with all our belly dance moves, it’s always important to pay close attention to your body and not push yourself to the point of injury.
Many belly dance moves can be done either with the knees straight or with the knees bent. Bending your knees up and down as you do hip moves, torso isolations, and arm or upper body techniques, will add variety to your bellydance as well as target your leg muscles. Bending the knees to the point where one knee or both knees touch the ground brings you into the realm of floor work (best done on a carpet). While kneeling with both knees touching the ground you’ll notice the intensified effect in the upper legs and glutes as you do hip twists, shimmies, circles, etc., especially if you raise and lower your hips as you do so. Doing torso undulations in this position also deeply works this area as well as effectively working your core.
There are many other floor work techniques in the kneeling, sitting, or reclining positions that you can do to thoroughly sculpt your legs and glutes. So if you wish to focus on more than just your core and upper body, get down on your knees and bellydance.