Calories Burnt Dancing

You are probably aware of how important exercise is for your body and for your overall well-being. Engaging in some form of physical exercise will enable your body to burn calories, thereby allowing you to maintain your weight, or even lose weight, if that is what you need to do. There are so many different forms of exercise that your fitness instructor may recommend, like walking, jogging, running, weight training, resistance training, swimming or cycling. However, did you know that even a leisure activity such as dancing can be regarded as a form of exercise for weight loss? Most of us think of dancing as a social activity or a hobby; however, dancing is an excellent way to burn calories too.

In fact, you could substitute certain low-impact exercises in your workout routine with dancing, if you are trying to lose weight. This is because these activities increase the rate of your heartbeat, which in turn, causes your body to burn calories and fat. There are many different styles of dancing you can choose from. The calories burned while dancing may vary, based on the style that you choose, as well as the intensity with which you dance.

Burning Calories Dancing At A Club

If you like to go out clubbing every week, you can feel a little less guilty about it, as you burn the same amount of calories dancing at a club, as compared to other aerobic exercises. Club dancing is fairly fast-paced and therefore, it increases your heartbeat significantly; most people also find themselves sweating while dancing at clubs, which is one of the signs of burning fat and calories. Depending upon your age, body weight and metabolism, you could burn anywhere between 250 and 400 calories an hour, while dancing at a club. However, this only applies if you dance continuously for the entire hour, without slowing down, taking any breaks or making a trip to the bar. Many people end up gaining weight at night clubs, because of all the alcohol they consume.

Calories Burnt In Salsa Dancing

In case you are tired of your daily cardio routine, why don’t you look for fun and interesting alternatives, like the Salsa? Salsa, a Latin form of dancing, is quite upbeat and it mainly targets your hips and glutes. Moreover, it helps you burn a significant number of calories. Studies claim that you can burn around 390 calories in an hour, doing the salsa. Apart from weight loss, this dance style can help improve your cardiovascular fitness, balance, strength, endurance and coordination. Most importantly, your muscle tone also improves a great deal with Salsa.

Burning Calories Doing Hip Hop Dancing

Hip hop usually incorporates full body movements and therefore you require a lot of strength, stamina and endurance for this style of dancing. It is believed that you can burn around 8 calories a minute, with hip hop dancing. This means that if you dance for an hour at a stretch, you can burn around 465 calories or so. Apart from burning calories, hip hop dancing also conditions your lungs, heart and the other vital organs.

Calories Burnt Doing Ballet Dancing

Contrary to what many people realize, ballet is a fast form of dance. You require a lot of coordination, balance and strength to be able to practice this dancing style. Many men and women have managed to lose a significant amount of weight by joining ballet classes. It is believed that a single ballet session that lasts for 60 minutes can cause your body to burn around 405 calories or so. Moreover, most ballet practice classes are accompanied by a warm up and cool down session, during which you will be asked to perform stretching exercises, to loosen your muscles. These exercises also increase the number of calories you burn doing the ballet.

Calories Burned Through Zumba

Not many of us are aware of the fact that Zumba is an excellent calorie-burner; some people claim to have lost 30 to 50 pounds after taking up this form of dance. Zumba is a popular Latin dance-exercise, which help you lose weight, by shedding excess calories. It is believed that you can burn around 530 calories in an hour, doing zumba. This is higher than swimming and some of the other effective cardio exercises.

Some of the other dancing styles that are great calorie burners include mambo, disco, ballroom dancing and the twist. There are several factors that influence the number of calories you burn in an hour. The estimate of calories burning dancing mentioned above are for an average person, weighing approximately 150 pounds or so.

Dancing is a fairly safe and enjoyable form of exercise, which has a positive impact not just on your body, but also your mind. What could be better than having fun and losing weight at the same time? However, before you take up dancing as a form of exercise, it is best to consult a doctor and get an approval.

Submitted on January 16, 2014