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Like to let off a little steam and shake your booty on the dance floor? Keep shaking it sister, dancing is one of the best full body, no-equipment-needed, sweat-dripping, calorie-blasting, slim body-making, naturally green exercises (not to mention the fun factor).
Obviously the workout can do wonders for the body. But what we love about dance is that it's a green exercise. Think about—no electricity-powered cardio machine, no bulky weight contraption, not even a special outfit is needed. Dance naked if you'd like or in your skivvies like Tom Cruise in Risky Business! It's a completely person-powered workout. All you need is music, which can easily be pumped through your ipod, or for the really daring—dance to the beat in your head or belt it out if you want. Rhythm, skill, music or not, dancing is an easy green exercise that is guarenteed to get your body in shape. And the great thing is, it's so much fun it hardly feels like exercise!
Need proof? Just look at the Dancing with the Stars celebrity contestants who can't help but trim down each season.
Jaana Kunitz, an award-winning ballroom dancer, performer, and choreographer, one of the most televised professional female dancers in the world, co-creator of Core Rhythms, and an ACE certified fitness instructor weighs in: "The whole idea behind dancing is to move your body from head to toe. Your feet are stomping, your arms are pumping, and your hips are shaking creating a full body workout. Physiologically, dance increases your heart rate and blood flow, not only helping cardiovascular health, but also burning fat. Dancing can actually burn as many, if not more calories as other more traditional exercises like running, lifting weights, or aerobics."
But it's not just about burning calories and singing fat. The repetitive movements of dance naturally strengthens and tones muscles, translating to both a slim and tightened physique.
Why choose dance over traditional exercise?
- Dance keeps your mind challenged by mixing the steps and rhythms. It never feels boring.
- Moving to music puts a smile on everybody’s face. It improves serotonin levels in your brain.
- Dance improves your self-esteem.
- Dance gives you better body awareness.
- Dance exercise is based on interval training (mixing high intensity bursts of exercise with moderate intensity recovery periods). Interval training is the best method for losing fat. The secret to fitness success is not how many calories you burn during the routines, but how many you burn after the exercise. When your muscles are engaged they tend to continue to work, burning calories as much as several hours later.
What are the best body-slimming forms of dance?
In general, Foot Patterns (like line-dancing, Flamenco, tap, salsa) automatically burn the buns and thighs. While Body Isolations (like modern, Latin, jazz, hip hop) cut the core muscles (think: washboard abs). But for an overall body burn, Jaana (who has a rocking body), believes that competitive Latin Dance (like the Salsa, Merengue and Paso Doble) is the most effective form of dance exercise because it combines two important fitness components:
- Intense body toning
- Extreme cardio workout (it can burn up to 600 calories/hr)
Of course, there are lots of dance styles out there, each with their own skinny-making potential. According to Discovery Health's Calories Calculator, a 130 lb woman dancing for 1 hour can burn a serious number of calories while breaking out all sorts of moves. Our faves:
- Disco Dance: 265
- Modern Dance: 283
- Swing Dance: 265
So what are you waiting for? Shake off that booty, whittle your middle, and trim those thighs by signing up for salsa classes or incorporating the flab-blasting activity into your evening plans. And don't forget the age-old adage that the dancer's body is the "perfect" body.
More on Green Exercise:
Green Glossary: Eco-Dance
Burn Calories with These Green Activities
Eco-Nightclubs Show the Power of Dance
The Sustainable Dance Club
Get Michelle Obama Arms with Natural Resistance Bands
How to Go Green: Workouts
Got a tip or a post idea for us to write about on Planet Green? Email pgtips (at) treehugger (dot) com.
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