by Anna Fregonara
Dancing is a pleasant and fun activity: it counteracts the laziness of the younger ones, stimulates the elderly and those at low risk of accidents. Benefits also for the mind and sociality
It’s not important how good you are at it because, at any level, it seems to help you lose weight and could be another lever to combat overweight and obesity which is constantly increasing throughout the world. As long as, as a form of aerobic exercise, you do it for at least three months before seeing results. A group of researchers reached this conclusion when they asked themselves whether dancing could be an effective way to burn fat and lose weight. He, therefore, initiated a review of the scientific literature and published the results on Plos One: moving to the rhythm of music seems to have a significant effect on improving body composition and morphology in people with overweight and obesity compared to those who lead a normal daily lifestyle.
The results
The researchers analyzed, from 10 surveys, 646 overweight or obese participants aged approximately 48 years, divided into a control group, whose movement intensity fell within the weekly range recommended by the World Health Organization of 150-300 minutes of exercise , and dance group. Here most of the sessions – at least seven different dance forms – took place three times a week for a duration of 40-60 minutes each. Dancing, the researchers write, brought about improvements in body mass, waist circumference and fat mass.
a true truth
These results suggest that dancing has inherent physical exercise and can therefore be considered as a sporting activity, explains Francesco Landi, director of the Aging, Orthopedic and Rheumatological Sciences department of the Irccs A. Gemelli University Hospital Foundation in Rome . Overweight and obesity are two of the main risk factors for cardiovascular and chronic diseases and for a lack of longevity in good health. Dancing has the advantage of being a pleasant activity at all ages and this makes participants more likely to not give up because they enjoy it. Recommending it as a weight loss program can, therefore, be a help in teaching how to move without having to dedicate yourself to the canonical activities often considered boring by those who don’t like sports.
Health benefits
Equating dancing to an aerobic sporting activity, the benefits are the same as those who ride a bicycle, those who run at a more or less fast pace, those who practice walking or those who swim: Better cardiovascular performance, lowering of blood pressure and cholesterol, weight reduction, adds the expert. Obviously samba and rock, for example, which are characterized by a greater rhythm, are equivalent to a more sustained run while slow dances, such as the waltz, will be similar to a walk. Dancing, calibrated according to age, is a movement with a low risk of injury and is good for counteracting the laziness of younger people and for stimulating the elderly: the intensity and duration will make the difference, to be personalized, just like it is done when the doctor prescribes a drug taking into account the age and possible comorbidities. Furthermore, it promotes coordination and this protects against the risk of falling in everyday life. For this reason it can also be recommended to those suffering from Parkinson’s.
A personal memory trainer
Finally, dancing helps to socialize, it makes you stay together with others, and this also has repercussions on your mood both because it favors the production of the so-called hormones of well-being and happiness and because it allows you to combat loneliness, a threat that is deeply felt by those who over the years, concludes Landi. Music is also an extraordinary “personal trainer” of memory. Listening to a song can stimulate the memory of an event and can act positively, at a brain level, on neurotransmission, improving cognitive performance. In short, dancing is good for the muscles and the mind.
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February 1, 2024 (changed February 1, 2024 | 07:22)
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