By Selene Yeager, Photograph Travys Owen
Did you know that moving to the music can make you happier, smarter and a whole lot healthier? We’re getting totally amped for WH’s energising dance session at Fit Night Out! Are you?
Below are all the health benefits you can add to the list – along with the rewards you’ll receive when you log your dance workout at our Fit Night Out partner Discovery’s affiliate gyms!
GET ON THE FLOOR – FOR YOUR HEALTH
Don’t worry, you don’t need moves like Jagger to reap any of dancing’s health benefits. “The brain rewires itself based on use,” explains neurologist Prof Joe Verghese. The more time you spend on the dance floor, the more you train your brain to open those feel-good floodgates – and the more you’ll start to amp up your overall well-being.
BENEFIT 1: HEART HEALTH
A study in Circulation: Heart Failure, found that people with cardiac conditions who danced for just 20 minutes three times a week saw their heart health improve significantly more than those who stuck to traditional cardio workouts.
BENEFIT 2: IT’S GOOD FOR YOUR BONES
Dancing can also help make your skeleton strong! And researchers who compared dancers with non-dancers, found evidence that dancing may preserve both motor skills and perceptual abilities. Winning!
BENEFIT 3: IMPROVES YOUR MOOD
The ample flow of mood-improving chemicals that dancing releases means, of course, that raising the roof can elevate your mental state. Just one lively dance session can slay depression more than vigorous exercise or listening to upbeat music, according to a study in The Arts in Psychotherapy. Getting jiggy with others also leads to less stress and stronger social bonds, key factors in both mental and physical health, says Verghese.
BENEFIT 4: SHARPENS YOUR MIND
But perhaps the coolest part about grooving is that it saves your mind – literally. Dancing gives your noggin’s memory, co-ordination and focus areas an intense workout, leading to stronger synapses and beefed-up gray matter. The result: dancers can be sharper in the short term and less likely to succumb to brain diseases in the long run. A New England Journal of Medicine study of 11 physical activities found that dancing was the only one that lowered dementia risk by a whopping 76 percent.
It’s never too late to boost your health so start with a dance class today! And for the lucky ones joining us at Fit Night Out, we’ll catch you on the dance floor!
