{"id":2459,"date":"2015-12-20T15:46:04","date_gmt":"2015-12-20T15:46:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/?p=2459"},"modified":"2026-01-21T11:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T11:14:09","slug":"dance-burns-more-calories-than-running","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/dance-burns-more-calories-than-running\/","title":{"rendered":"Dance Burns More Calories Than Running"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pl-2459\"  class=\"panel-layout\" ><div id=\"pg-2459-0\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-2459-0-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-2459-0-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-first-child\" data-index=\"0\" ><div class=\"ca-top-blogsection panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-2459-0-0-0\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<p>How does dance compare to gym? Which dance style burns the most calories? Can a dance class make you happier? These were some of the questions that inspired us to team up with Scientists from the University of Brighton to shed light on the effects dance has on the body and mind.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1050\" height=\"591\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JQndB-ZS7Fg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>So, one balmy day in December, we strapped a group of brave London volunteers to stylish monitoring vests and analysed their every move. The dancers worked their way through 6 styles of dance: Ballet,\u00a0Ballroom,\u00a0Contemporary,\u00a0Salsa,\u00a0Street\u00a0and\u00a0Swing\u00a0Dance. Scientists monitored each jump,\u00a0whip, twist,\u00a0spine curve,\u00a0chest pop and pli\u00e9. The results surprised all of us.<\/p>\n<p>We found that:<\/p>\n<p>Dance burns more calories than running, swimming or cycling. Let\u2019s say that again. Dance burns more calories than running, swimming or cycling. Dancers in the 30 minute Street\u00a0Dance class each burned an average of 303kcal. To put that into perspective take a look at this:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-2573 \" src=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/graph-research-new-1024x568.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1120\" height=\"621\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/graph-research-new-1024x568.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/graph-research-new-150x83.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/graph-research-new-300x166.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/graph-research-new-330x183.jpg 330w, https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/graph-research-new-690x383.jpg 690w, https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/graph-research-new-1050x582.jpg 1050w, https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/graph-research-new-1046x580.jpg 1046w, https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/graph-research-new-930x516.jpg 930w, https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/graph-research-new.jpg 1392w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1120px) 100vw, 1120px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If this isn\u2019t enough of a reason to ditch the fitness routine you\u2019re loathing and head to the dance studio read on\u2026<\/p>\n<p>The heart rate monitors showed that\u00a0every dance class we tested involved periods\u00a0'high\u00a0and\u00a0severe\u00a0intensity\u00a0exercise'. Dr. Nick\u00a0Smeeton, lead Scientist on the project, was particularly surprised to find\u00a0that\u00a0Ballet - often perceived as a mild\u00a0intensity dance style -\u00a0involved\u00a0moments of severe\u00a0intensity\u00a0exercises\u00a0throughout.\u00a0Each of the dance styles really got the participant\u2019s hearts racing and the blood pumping.<\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s not all. We were also really curious about the distances you travel in a dance class. To monitor this we had to track vertical and horizontal movement. Volunteers in the\u00a0Street Dance class covered the most ground \u2013 a whopping 3.6kms in just 60mins. That\u2019s the equivalent of crossing Tower Bridge 15 times.<\/p>\n<p>So\u2026all of this heart-pumping and running about sounds emotionally exhausting...well we found exactly the opposite.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Nick Smeeton told us:<\/p>\n<p><strong> \u201cPeople may be familiar with 'runners\u2019 high' and there appears to be a similar effect after dancing too. In this study we found that dancing actually reduced feelings of fatigue, improved emotional states and it seems to have an energising effect overall.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Finally, some scientific proof that dance is probably the best way to exercise and leave with a smile on your face.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2463\" title=\"An image from the research day - the orange vest is a Catapult which contains an accelerometer.\" src=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dance-research.jpg\" alt=\"dance research\" width=\"1040\" height=\"602\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dance-research.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dance-research-150x87.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dance-research-300x174.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dance-research-330x191.jpg 330w, https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dance-research-690x399.jpg 690w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1040px) 100vw, 1040px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-2459-0-0-1\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor\" data-index=\"1\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-2459-0-0-2\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-last-child\" data-index=\"2\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<p>City Academy run a range of Dance Classes including\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/bollywood-dance-classes\">Bollywood<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/jazz-dance-classes\">Jazz<\/a>,\u00a0Swing,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/ballroom-classes\">Ballroom<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/burlesque-dance-course\">Burlesque<\/a><\/strong>. To view the full list\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/dance-classes\">see here &gt;&gt;&gt;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>To find out more about other creative courses across<strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/acting-classes\">Acting<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/singing-lessons\">Singing<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>as well as\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/writing-courses\">Writing<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/art-drawing-classes\">Drawing<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/photography-classes\">Photography<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/our-classes\">click here &gt;&gt;&gt;<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How does dance compare to gym? Which dance style burns the most calories? Can a dance class make you happier?&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99,130],"tags":[273,275,52,274,277,276],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dance Burns More Calories Than Running | Insights | City Academy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Research found that dancing burns more calories than running - the University of Brighton investigated the physical and psychological benefits of dance.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/dance-burns-more-calories-than-running\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dance Burns More Calories Than Running | Insights | City Academy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Research found that dancing burns more calories than running - 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