# Why do belly dancers generally not have toned bellies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 16, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-belly-dancers-generally-not-have-toned-bellies/596551 "2011-09-16T19:56:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gerthearcejor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ad7895/32.png) [@gerthearcejor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gerthearcejor)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-belly-dancers-generally-not-have-toned-bellies/596551/41 "2011-09-21T04:33:27Z")
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**Author:** ![amuredem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@amuredem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amuredem)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-belly-dancers-generally-not-have-toned-bellies/596551/42 "2013-08-13T16:50:46Z")
It just occurred to me that this is the first post on google regarding the topic of body types for belly dancers, and it’s rather disheartening that nobody has an accurate comprehensive answer. I know this is an old post, but I figured that I’d sign up and post regarding this topic. Belly dancers are not supposed to be athletic looking, they’re supposed to have full, feminine bodies. Some women are prone to dramatic weight loss with exercise, while other women can develop the myriad muscles required to perform the movements involved in belly dancing without actually losing a great deal of weight. The goal of belly dance is to move beautifully, and having a larger belly is actually a benefit, because the movements you work so hard to perform look more obvious. Instead of developing the rectus abdominis (the “six-pack muscle”) belly dance develops the internal/external obliques (emphasizing waistline and hourglass shape), the transversus abdominis (lower belly band), quadratus lumborum (lower back muscles), and the diaphragm (breathing muscle, utilized in a lot of the “fluttering” movements common in belly dance). The overlying rectus muscle is only minimally utilized in most movements, and never really implemented in full. I still wonder how anyone can be technically obese and practice belly dance with any skill, but only because of the sheer amount of calories it burns. The concentrated muscle movements involve all of the larger muscles in the legs, and I, for one, work up an incredible sweat after just 30 minutes (whereas other exercises may exert me after about an hour and a half). But all of the women with larger bellies are working at an advantage (and they still develop more sleek physiques because of their work on the oblique muscles) due to the fact that they have more to work with in the various movements desired out of the body when dancing. When a smaller woman undulates, it requires them to exaggerate with everything they’ve got, but larger woman can achieve a greater effect by merely moving the muscles required in the undulation, her belly and weight do the rest of the work for her. In belly dance, while I’ve never heard anyone wish outright to be obese, many women envy the larger women in their dancing abilities because of the overall effect. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzg4a-PQG10&list=PLE484C7972C1A901C&index=1\ **Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-belly-dancers-generally-not-have-toned-bellies/596551/43 "2013-08-13T19:09:22Z") Braains! ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-belly-dancers-generally-not-have-toned-bellies/596551/44 "2013-08-13T21:46:52Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Braains! Was this really necessary? Thanks for an informative post, **amuredem**. And welcome to the Dope! ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-belly-dancers-generally-not-have-toned-bellies/596551/45 "2013-08-14T06:27:37Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > OK, I can sort of understand where the OP is coming from, because…yes…this year, after a hiatus of nearly 30 years, I’m working at a Renn Faire again. > > Well, at our Renn Faire there are a disproportionate number of “gypsy belly dancers” (being ever-so common in Elizabethan England…right…but I digress). And since I’m working all day (giving sword fighting demonstrations for 4 hours, and walking around being a general nuisance the other 4) I get to see, chat with, and work with these dancers. And a very large number of them, more than 50% of those over age 20, have tummies which are very large, and which actually hang over their beltline, like I commonly see among 40-something year old male executives at work. And it’s not that these are obese women either, nor even overweight - many of them have well-toned and even stick-thin arms and legs…with a tummy that looks like it belongs on someone with a BMI twice what they actually are. > > So…selection bias, purposeful body shaping, or some sort of unintended side effect? > > ETA: yes I’ve read this goddamn thread too, and the other one. I’m mainly sharing why people may think they don’t have toned bellies. And at the Anime conventions they dress as Sailor Moo? ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-belly-dancers-generally-not-have-toned-bellies/596551/46 "2013-08-14T07:05:32Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > … I get to see, chat with, and work with these dancers. And a very large number of them, more than 50% of those over age 20, have tummies which are very large, and which actually hang over their beltline, like I commonly see among 40-something year old male executives at work. And it’s not that these are obese women either, nor even overweight - many of them have well-toned and even stick-thin arms and legs…with a tummy that looks like it belongs on someone with a BMI twice what they actually are. > [@MandaJo](#): > > I think it’s maybe that a lot more women have figures like that than you realize, but it’s generally considered undesirable, and so women with that sort of figure actively conceal it most of the time through things like clothing choices and foundation garments, and also by outright avoiding things like bathing suits. Maybe what you saw wasn’t so much “fat” as it was loose skin after pregnancies? [Daily mail article with a couple of SFW pictures](http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/dieting/how-women-really-feel-about-their-post-pregnancy-881371). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-belly-dancers-generally-not-have-toned-bellies/596551/47 "2013-08-14T07:14:59Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > So, would you say it’s not a particularly effective way to tone the belly (as compared to more traditional excercise)? It tones the belly, what it doesn’t do is shove the cookies away. To shove cookies away you’d normally use a hand. > [@Maastricht](#): > > Maybe what you saw wasn’t so much “fat” as it was loose skin after pregnancies? [Daily mail article with a couple of SFW pictures](http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/dieting/how-women-really-feel-about-their-post-pregnancy-881371). Or the result of a surgical procedure. In my mother’s case, an apendecetcomy which ended up being a removed ovary, but I’ve seen women to whom it happened as a result of a not-delicate-enough cesarean. ---
**Author:** ![nion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nion)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-belly-dancers-generally-not-have-toned-bellies/596551/48 "2013-08-15T04:38:55Z")
I’ve always been put off by “muscular” or “toned” women. Heck, plain old skinny women are off-putting. I want smooth, soft lines, not bumps and bones. In fact, I find the “typical” belly dancer body to be close to ideal. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-belly-dancers-generally-not-have-toned-bellies/596551/49 "2013-08-18T22:36:45Z")
I would like to see what people consider “not toned” when they make posts like this. I suspect that it is because what is considered “toned” nowadays comes from people posing on the front covers of fashion and exercise magazines - poses where the subject has gotten into a very rigid position, with many muscles contracted. It would be almost impossible to belly dance like that, since a great deal of the dance involves moving parts of the body with or at least around the core muscles, and those muscles have to be relaxed to be used properly. This dancer might look “flabby”, but you can tell that she has really strong control of her core muscles: [Carolena Nericcio](http://youtu.be/c1TdQyhc01A?t=1m24s) ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-belly-dancers-generally-not-have-toned-bellies/596551/50 "2013-09-05T01:50:42Z")
An apropos article: [http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health-fitness/personal-trainer-exposes-the-8216hidden-truths8217-behind-before-and-after-photos/story-fneuz9ev-1226709726569](http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health-fitness/personal-trainer-exposes-the-8216hidden-truths8217-behind-before-and-after-photos/story-fneuz9ev-1226709726569) ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-belly-dancers-generally-not-have-toned-bellies/596551/51 "2013-09-05T02:19:56Z")
While we’re at it: [Rachel Brice, goddess of belly dance](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGsVqyIo_vs), and possessor of one of the best bodies on planet Earth. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-belly-dancers-generally-not-have-toned-bellies/596551/52 "2013-09-05T06:06:33Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > While we’re at it: [Rachel Brice, goddess of belly dance](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGsVqyIo_vs), and possessor of one of the best bodies on planet Earth. ‘‘She danced just like her back had no bones.’’ You want to talk abs? Check this shit out, [bellydancer coin trick](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yik7c0EXV0M) ---
**Author:** ![Girlundone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Girlundone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girlundone)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-belly-dancers-generally-not-have-toned-bellies/596551/53 "2013-09-06T02:57:34Z")
[QUOTE=outlierrn] You want to talk abs? Check this shit out, bellydancer coin trick [/QUOTE] yeah…she’s absolutely amazing. When I took bellydancing classes, the instructor had us doing this with just one quarter. I could flip it over and flip it back but that alone took every ounce of concentration I had. ---
**Author:** ![Surfdancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Surfdancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surfdancer)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-belly-dancers-generally-not-have-toned-bellies/596551/54 "2013-09-20T17:27:05Z")
Wow, guys, for a Website that claims to be “Fighting Ignorance” I was amazed at the ignorance in some of these posts. Let’s look at some of the myths propagated in just this thread: 1. You need super low fat to have six pack abs: 2. Most belly dancers have toned/flat abs. This is simply NOT true!! I am a dancer and have taken so many belly dance classes. The person who works at Ren Fair and said he saw so many belly dancers with toned bodies, but disproportionately LARGE bellies (that sometimes hang over their coin skirts) is CORRECT. I realized, from studying so many types of dance, that the undulations in belly dance REQUIRE that you work on distending the belly and many “PUSH OUT” on many undulations, so I gave up belly dance!!! Sorry, but I don’t want to distend my belly and make it LARGE!!! I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they mostly have large bellies. I think the training and practice of belly dance (as beautiful and feminine as it is), causes the entire belly area PROTRUDE OUT. SORRY, in my opinion, NOT SEXY. (YES EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT IN WHAT THEY FIND SEXY). 1. Having tones abs is not natural. REALLY??? You think eating healthy foods and doing exercise is not “natural”? I think eating too many processed refined foods and AVOIDING exercise is “NOT NATURAL”. We are human beings and our bodies were designed for MOVEMENT, not laying on the couch watching TV and eating chips, baby! Get up and dance, walk, run, play catch, clean your room, but get moving!!! Okay, there are several other myths here, but let’s see who else can find them?? I’d keep going, but the Ocean’s calling me!! Peace, Surfdancer [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-belly-dancers-generally-not-have-toned-bellies/596551.md?page=2)