Dancing - A Workout in Disguise!

Article written by Daniel Healy.

The setting of the sun has a fascinating effect on humans particularly on the 5th and 6th night of the week. To the outsider it would seem that both members of the species (males and females) develop an almost ceremonial routine on these nights. Some develop an excessive thirst for particular beverages and others still an excessive desire to participate in ritualistic movements know as “dance”. The phenomenon of “dance” occurs when the human is compelled to self expression through movement. It is thought to be heavily influenced by organised sound known as “music” and in some cases the degree of “expression” may be influenced by the amount of certain beverages consumed.

It came before writing², before civilization² and even before Face book. Technique can take a little while to sink in, particularly for Anglo Saxon blokes like myself, but dancing is well and truly etched into our genes. It’s also a fantastic workout not only for our body but also our mind and it can be fun too! For more information on exercising and fun, read our article Are you Exercising for Fun?.

But just how good a work out is it?

See for yourself! Go to www.mydr.com.au/tools/calories-burned-calculator. This gets you to enter your age, height, weight, activity and the length of time you’ll be active for and then calculates how many calories you’ll burn. The wonders of the internet! I checked it out for myself and discovered that I would burn around 371 calories per hour performing Greek, flamenco or hula dancing, and would probably burn around the same amount of friends if seen performing these moves in public!

But how does this compare? Well in a Pump class you’re looking at burning around 800 calories per hour – and that’s a pretty tough Pump class. That comes complimentary with as many grunts, grimaces and lactic acid you can manage in 60 minutes. The dancing package includes a lot of goofy grins, laughing and socialising which equals a less painful experience (unless you choose to wear ultra high uncomfortable heels). Remember: We’re trying to let go of getting to your goal in the quickest most brutal way imaginable that can be hard to maintain long term. Enjoying the journey is more important, so dancing as a social activity gets in exercise as well as fun. But you don’t need to reserve dancing just for the weekend or dance floor, try dance classes or simply just put on the music at home and dance around the house.

What about your brain?

If you’re worried about your parents, grandparents or even yourself getting dementia, the following information may be very valuable to you. The New England Journal of Medicine conducted a study looking at the relationship between leisure activity and dementia. There were 11 activities total but only dancing was tied to a lower dementia risk. There are a couple of explanations for this including:

Physical exercise increased blood flow to the brain¹
Less stress, depression and loneliness from dancing’s social aspect¹
The mental challenge of memorizing and co-ordinating steps.¹

The bottom line...

It burns calories, it engages the mind and it may help lower the risk of dementia. Sounds okay to me! I know some will be reading this wondering, but does it burn belly fat? Or will it burn my under arm fat? Well, the answer is yes, but you’re missing the point. Weight loss or simply a healthy lifestyle doesn't come from physical activity alone. Correct nutrition is the absolute key to achieving weight loss results. A dietician or Tony Ferguson Counselor will be a much more efficient option in taking you to your weight loss goals than dancing alone. This is coming from a personal trainer who loves exercise. So think of the complete picture when it comes to a healthy lifestyle or weight loss.

Movement was meant to be enjoyed not loathed and dancing is a fantastic medium to make it happen. So see you on the dance floor!

References

Miranda Hitti, June, 2005. Dancing Your Way to Better Health [Online]. Available at http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=50576 [Accessed 22 May 2009].
Wikipedia - the Free Encyclopaedia, May, 2009. History of Dance [Online]. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_dance [Accessed 22 May 2009].

Last updated 18 June 2009