Has anyone not heard of Gangnam Style? It’s the hottest dance craze since the Macarena. It’s lighting up talk shows and living room dance parties from coast to coast and around the world as this South Korean hit makes everyone want to get up and shake their booties. Especially the sexy ladies.
If you haven’t stepped away from YouTube and actually done (or at least attempted) Psy’s Gangnam Style dance, maybe you should. There’s a good 200 calorie burn waiting for you on the down beat of those Womp! Womp! Womps!
According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), “you can burn approximately 150-200 calories per half hour, which is similar to other forms of aerobic dance.” The calorie burn varies, like any other workout, on the weight of the person and the intensity at which it is performed.
Remember, we’re all sitting way too much. The sitting? It’s killing us. The dancing, it will save us in more ways than one. It’s a fun way to workout without thinking or feeling like you’re having to exercise. The kids can get involved which just means more fun family time together. And it’s also a tremendous way to destress, unwind, and give yourself a mental refresh.
Gangnam Style is a great workout all by itself, but if you want to push a little harder and get more Womp! for your dancing buck, ACE has a great idea. “Get creative with your arms, change directions, and make the movements bigger and bigger until you are using all the space around you.”
This isn’t the only dance style that could leave you sweating off calories. Depending on your weight, the intensity and speed, and duration, a non-stop 60-minute dancing session could help you lose 700 calories. According to FitnessBlender.com, dancing burns the following calorie ranges in a 60-minute period.
- Hip-Hop burns 370-610 calories
- Salsa burns 405-480 calories
- Ballet burns 380-450 calories
- Swing burns 300-550 calories
- Tap burns 200-700 calories
There’s another dance-inspired workout craze that has been lauded for being a firestorm of calorie burning – it’s Zumba. While some peg Zumba at a 1000 calorie burn per hour, FitnessBlender suggests that realistically it’s more like 350-650 calories burned during a raging Zumba class.
So, what’s it going to be? Sit there wasting away watching YouTube videos? Or Oppan Gang-Namseutayil!
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