Healthy living
Exercise and fitness
Dance yourself healthy
'Half an hour of ballroom dancing is equivalent to the same length of time of brisk walking in terms of calorie consumption, while disco, rock n roll and so on will burn even more,' says Lyndon Wainwright, Honorary Secretary of the British Dance Council's Teachers' Committee
Dance has many advantages over exercise. You can set your own pace: a slow foxtrot is no more energetic than walking, while a salsa will really get your heart pumping. It's great fun too, and a great way to meet people, so it never becomes a bore or a chore.
Take a look at the health benefits:
Protect your heart
Cardiovascular experts recommend that we all do 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity most days of the week for heart health. Dance uses oxygen, burns calories and increases your heart's workload, so it's ideal.
Lower blood fats
A study carried out in Denmark of men and women aged 60 to 82 who were healthy but did not exercise found that regular dancing markedly improved levels of unhealthy blood fats associated with furring of the arteries after just five months.
Lose weight
US research shows that a vigorous dance class can burn as many calories as a gym workout.
Calories danced away per hour
• Ballroom: 180-480
• Belly dancing: 180-300
• Jive/swing dance: 250-400
• Line dancing: up to 300
• Salsa: 400
Shape up
Regular dance shapes the muscles - particularly in the legs and buttocks - and improves posture. Regular dancers often find they drop a clothes size due to increased muscle tone.
Increase strength and stamina
Dance combines aerobic activity with weight bearing which will boost your strength and endurance. A 1994 study of female professional dancers found they had the same percentage of slow-twitch muscles fibres (associated with endurance) as top-level female runners or cross-country skiers.
Strengthen your bones
One woman in four and one man in eight is at risk of the brittle bone disease osteoporosis. Dancing slightly jars the bones, so encouraging the body to build new bone and helping strengthen the skeleton.
Boost relaxation
Dancing is a great way to forget your troubles for a while, while aerobic exercise will tire you physically and help you relax.
Improve breathing
Learning to control your breath - required in most kinds of dance - increases the capacity of your lungs, and improves stamina and concentration.
Ease aches and lift depression
Any sustained aerobic activity releases endorphins, body-made chemicals that ease pain, help banish depression and encourage feelings of well-being.
Boost immunity
People who exercise regularly get fewer minor viral illnesses like colds and flu.
Stay sharp
Exercise improves blood flow to your brain which helps keep it in good shape. Learning new routines encourages the brain to produce new dendrites (connections between nerve cells), which help your brain store and retrieve information more easily.
Information on this site is for interest only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult your own doctor about any specific health concerns.