Twerking draws attention. The dance moves to focus on shaking the hips and butt, which naturally attracts attention. This attention-seeking nature makes twerking stand out and go viral quickly.
It’s a fun, silly dance. Twerking allows people to move their bodies in an uninhibited, carefree way. The dance’s silliness and ability to make people laugh make it appealing and enjoyable to perform.
The rise of social media. With the surge of viral videos on sites like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, attention-grabbing content like twerking easily spreads and gains massive popularity quickly among the right audiences.
It’s seen as empowering. For some women, twerking allows them to express themselves sexually in an empowering and confident way. This empowerment message attracts more people to join in the trend.
It reflects elements of pop culture. Twerking emerged from the hip-hop world and has grown due to influences from other contemporary cultural trends. This makes twerking feel modern and relevant to popular culture today.
In short, twerking’s attention-seeking nature, fun silliness, viral spread through social media, and sense of empowerment and cultural relevance have combined to help make the dance move extremely popular in recent years. Here is a list of reasons and explanations of why is twerking so popular.
Why is twerking so popular?
Increasing visibility on social media
Many people can now see twerking videos. Twerking videos are easy to share on social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. This spreads twerking videos quickly.
Because videos are shared so easily, more people see twerking being done. When more people see twerking, they want to join in and do it themselves.
So social media has made twerking very visible. This visibility means more people learn about twerking and then decide to try it. This all helps make twerking more popular.
Confidence and self-expression
Many people see twerking as a way to feel good about yourself. When people twerk, they use their bodies in a way that makes them happy. Women especially feel twerking helps them accept how they look. Twerking lets women celebrate their body shape.
When women twerk, they control how they move their hips and butt. This control makes women feel powerful. So twerking gives women a way to show their self-confidence freely. And that confidence through the dance move appeals to many women.
Because twerking gives people a way to express themselves, it allows them to feel free. This self-expression and confidence then attract more people to twerk.
Sexual appeal
Twerking involves shaking the hips and butt in a way that many people find sexy. The dance move focuses on body parts that people often find attractive.
Twerking includes quick hip thrusts and shaking of the butt. These sexual movements cause feelings of arousal in some people who watch twerking. Because twerking is seen as so sexually exciting, many people want to learn how to do it. Others enjoy watching twerking videos for their sexual appeal.
So the provocative and alluring nature of twerking entices many people. This sexual attraction then helps make twerking become more and more well-known.
Easy way to gain followers
For some people, twerking is a good method to increase the number of followers they have online. Especially women who use twerking to attract more attention on social media.
When women post twerking videos, many people watch those videos. As more people watch, many then decide to follow the women sharing the twerking videos. Some women achieve wider audiences by including twerking content in their social media.
Having more followers then offers these women opportunities like sponsorships and partnerships. So the strategy of using twerking to build followers on social media attracts some women to this dance style.
Potential health benefits
While seen as a fun, sexually suggestive dance, twerking also offers possible bodily improvements. When done correctly, twerking helps strengthen muscle groups used during the dance. It particularly works and shapes the butt, thighs, and back muscles.
The up-and-down booty-shaking motion involved in twerking also builds core strength in the stomach and waist areas. In addition, the stretching and bending required for twerking can increase a person’s flexibility over time.
These muscle gains and improved flexibility attract many people to twerk regularly for potential health rewards.
What are the health benefits of twerking
Muscle toning and strengthening
The forceful hip thrusting, squatting, and bending involved in twerking engages and develops the muscles in your glutes, thighs, and calves. The repeated motions required to successfully twerk cause microtears in the muscles that are repaired, making the muscles stronger.
Regular twerking over an extended period of time can help noticeably tone and firm up these muscles.
Cardiovascular workout
Twerking involves rapidly moving your entire body in sync with the beat of the music, requiring you to bounce, squat, and thrust your hips quickly and repeatedly.
This fast, sustained movement substantially elevates your heart rate, increases your respiration, and gets more oxygen circulating in your blood. Over time, consistent twerking can improve your cardiorespiratory endurance and fitness.
Stress relief and mood boost
Engaging in twerking allows a person to freely move their body and lose themselves in the rhythm of the music, temporarily forgetting about stresses or worries.
The physical and mental release that comes from twerking uninhibitedly for several minutes can significantly reduce tension and anxiety while simultaneously elevating mood, happiness, and feelings of freedom.
Improve coordination and balance
Learning how to successfully twerk and master the various hip thrusts, squats, and bending movements involved requires a person to have a fair amount of whole-body coordination, precision footwork, and balance.
Over time, with the frequent practice of twerking and repetition of the dance moves, a person’s coordination, proprioception, and sense of balance will naturally improve.
As the body acclimates to the rhythmic movements and varying positions required for twerking, the person will develop better control over the placement and stability of their limbs and torso.
Boosts self-confidence
Mastering the hip isolations, rhythmic squatting, and rapid hip thrusts needed to properly twerk and feel comfortable performing the dance moves in front of others can boost a person’s self-assuredness and self-image, particularly for women.
The feeling of empowerment that comes from being able to control one’s body to create such sensual movements through twerking often translates into a more confident posture and attitude that pervades all aspects of a person’s life, leading to greater self-esteem and a sense of personal power.
Increased flexibility
The twerking dance moves involve repetitive bending at the hips, squatting, and side-to-side movements of the hips and thighs that stretch and work the lower body muscles.
Over an extended period of time, with frequent twerking sessions, these stretching movements can help to improve a person’s overall flexibility and range of motion in the glutes, hamstrings, hip adductors, quadriceps, calves, and lower back muscles.
The extended time that the hip joints spend in flexed positions during twerking may also help to loosen up any stiffness and increase freedom of movement in the pelvic region.
Can you get fit by twerking?
Yes, twerking can be an effective form of exercise that can help you get in shape and improve your health. Here are some key points on how twerking help you to get fit.
- It engages multiple muscle groups
- Twerking involves hip thrusts, squats, and bending motions that work your glutes, thighs, calves, and core muscles. With regular practice, twerking can tone and strengthen these muscle groups.
- It elevates your heart rate
- Like other forms of dance, twerking gets you moving to the beat of the music, which elevates your heart rate and counts as cardiovascular exercise. Over time, this can improve your cardiorespiratory fitness.
- It burns calories
- Several studies have found that twerking can burn around 200-300 calories per 10-20 minutes of continuous twerking. With regular sessions, this calorie burning can contribute to weight loss.
- It requires proper form
- To maximize benefits and avoid injury, focusing on engaging the right muscles and avoiding risky movements is important when twerking. Proper form is key.
- It works best with consistency
- Like any form of exercise, consistency is important to see real benefits from twerking. Aim for short, regular sessions to start and gradually increase duration and intensity.
- Proper warm-ups and cool-downs help
- Taking time to slowly warm up your muscles before twerking and cooling down afterward can further reduce your risk of injury and muscle soreness.
So, in conclusion, yes – with consistency, proper form, and technique, alongside warm-ups and cool-downs, twerking can become an effective form of exercise that can help you burn fat, build muscle tone and improve your overall fitness and health. But consistency is key!
What are the long-term effects of twerking?
The potential positive long-term effects of twerking include muscle toning, weight management support, cardiovascular gains, and stress relief.
However, there are also risks of injury, joint issues, stigma, and maybe unknown long-term impacts. Here is a table summarizing the potential long-term effects of twerking.
| Positive Effects | Negative Effects |
|---|---|
| Injury risk from strains, sprains, and tears if done improperly without warm-ups. Proper technique is important to avoid injury. | Injury risk from strains, sprains and tears if done improperly without warm-ups. Proper technique is important to avoid injury. |
| Improved cardiovascular fitness from elevated heart rate and calorie burning. Twerking can provide similar cardiovascular benefits as other forms of dance. | Potential joint issues like hip or back pain from repetitive impactful movements. Long-term twerking could degrade connective tissues. |
| Stress relief and improved mood from the enjoyable, liberating nature of the dance movement. Regular twerking can provide lasting stress relief. | Social stigma for those who twerk frequently or openly. Some may view twerking in a negative light. |
| Muscle toning and strengthening of glutes, thighs, and calves through repetitive motions involved in twerking. This can improve posture and stability over time. | |
| Some calorie burning may aid in weight loss when combined with a healthy diet. Twerking burns 200-300 calories in 10-20 minutes. |
With proper technique, regular warm-ups and cooldowns, and moderation to avoid overuse, many of the potential negative effects could be mitigated while still allowing one to reap benefits from the regular twerking practice.
Summary
Twerking has become increasingly popular over the years due to several factors. Its attention-seeking nature, focusing on shaking the hips and butt, makes it stand out and easily spread online, especially on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
The fun and silliness of the dance also make it appealing to perform and watch, while its sense of cultural relevance and empowerment message attracts many women to join in the trend.
In addition to its cultural and entertainment values, twerking offers potential health benefits. The dance move involves repetitive movements that engage the glutes, thighs, and back muscles, which can help tone and strengthen these muscle groups.
The fast and sustained movements required in twerking can also elevate heart rate and burn calories, making it a form of cardiovascular exercise. Moreover, twerking can relieve stress, improve mood and self-confidence, and increase flexibility and range of motion in the lower body.
However, twerking has potential negative effects, including injury risk, joint issues, social stigma, and maybe unknown long-term impacts. These risks can be mitigated by practicing proper technique, doing warm-ups and cooldowns, moderating the frequency and intensity of twerking sessions, and listening to one’s body.
Twerking has become a popular dance form that offers entertainment and potential health benefits. Still, practicing it responsibly and prioritizing one’s safety and well-being is important.
FAQ
Why do people enjoy twerking?
Twerking is enjoyable and makes people feel sexy or confident. It is also a fun way to dance and express oneself.
Does twerking reduce belly fat?
Twerking can be a form of exercise that engages muscles and burns calories, but it may not specifically target belly fat.
Does twerking come naturally?
Sometimes twerking comes naturally, though some individuals may require practice to improve their technique.
Is twerking a belly dance?
Twerking is not a belly dance, although both dance forms involve movements of the hips and pelvis. Belly dancing typically involves intricate and controlled movements of the abdomen, hips, and arms, while twerking often involves rapid hip thrusts and booty pops in a low squatting stance.
What is twerking originally called?
Twerking originated in the New Orleans bounce music scene in the late 1980s, but there doesn’t specific term for it before “twerking.” The closest related dance style is the “Mapouka” dance from Ivory Coast, West Africa, which shares some similarities with twerking regarding hip and pelvis movements.
