If you want more exercise, but don’t like the gym - go dancing!

If you want to get more exercise, but don’t like going to the gym, recent studies have shown 5 remarkable results from dancing.

1. A study by the New York Heart Association discovered that even a dance as slow as waltzing has the same aerobic health benefits as more traditional forms of cardiovascular exercise, such as cycling or walking.

2. As we get older, (a process that accelerates at a surprisingly early age – around 30!) our joints stiffen. A Saint Louis University study found that a 12-week, low-impact dance program, the amount of pain pills that the participants took for knee and hip pain decreased by 39% - and the average age was 80. So if you are younger (and since you are reading this, chances are good that you are) then any aches and pains have an excellent chance of vanishing altogether by simply dancing them away.

3. There are also pronounced aerobic benefits, for even dances as slow as a waltz. A study by the New York Heart Association discovered that waltzing has the same aerobic health as more traditional forms of cardiovascular exercise, such as cycling or walking!

4. Stress, Insomnia and mood disorders are rampant in our fast paced world, and a group of researchers in Australia showed that in only two weeks, there were significant reductions in their levels of stress, anxiety and insomnia.

5. The most surprising results had to do with improvements in the brain.  When Most people think of doing things like doing crosswords and playing golf as a way of staving off dementia, but according to a 21-year study led by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, older adults who danced regularly had a 76% reduced risk for developing dementia! 

The researchers think that dancing is beneficial for our brains because it combines cardiovascular exercise with split-second decision making that causes our entire nervous system to create new neural pathways. 

So if you find treadmills and weights boring, get out there and dance the night away. It’s better for your health than you may have imagined!

Dianna Whitley

Certified Health and Life Coach

Call (480) 389-1019 for Complimentary Session