When I dance, does that mean I am exercising?

Jodi Davis

| 2 min read

I like to dance, which is why Zumba feels more like a party to me than a work out. Dancing is an activity that I’ve always enjoyed and continue to enjoy today. I love to turn up the radio and move to the music, which leads me to the following question: When I dance, does that mean that I am exercising?
Yes it does! Dancing is a great exercise, which gets your body moving and helps burn hundreds of calories, sometimes in excess of 450 calories per hour. When you think about it, dancing is beneficial in countless ways which only makes me want to do dance more!
Other people agree, and it’s not only my friends and family members, but also those we see in the media. I wanted to share some photos I discovered from ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” – a dance competition where each celebrity is paired off with a professional dancer to compete for points. Each week the celebrity will practice their upcoming weekly dance routine along with performing the night of the competition.
Notice all the smiles on their faces but please also see the difference in appearance of each celebrity before and after the dance competition; they burned many calories dancing, or exercising, to prepare for the show. By the looks of things, they had a wonderful time throughout the entire process and became more fit too!
Are you ready to have a great time dancing, or exercising without even realizing it too?
There are many ways to have a great time dancing, or exercising. Moving to your favorite music is one way. Another is to find a fitness-based dance program which will allow you to follow a variety of multiple routines, and repeating it over and over.
There is a wonderful and easy-to-learn dance program that I happened to view on the Dr. Oz show. It’s called “Dance It Out” -or DIO- and is taught by Billy Blanks Jr. and his wife, Sharon Catherine Blanks. It is an enjoyable dance program and easy to follow too. I tried dancing along with the Blanks and found it to be extremely fun!
I absolutely love what Billy Blanks stresses, “Don’t judge yourself, just have fun!”
Isn’t that what dancing is all about anyways, just having fun while not judging yourself? If we can have fun, improve our health and burn calories all at the same time, I say go for it! Exercise with dance, and notice how much fun you have.
Photo credit: MrPhilDog

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