Originally posted Sunday, February 1, 2009 (3 years ago)
Dancing, especially to really fast music [especially at a sweat-shack like Fram in the summer!] can certainly be a workout. While some bit of aerobic experience can be internalized, no one loses weight without watching their diet/caloric-intake as well.
Beckto on the other hand used to weigh almost 300 pounds.
--R
y i no haz signature? Come on people, make with the funny.
Originally posted Sunday, February 1, 2009 (3 years ago)
In 2002, I was roughly the lightest I haver been in my adult life (140s) and went dancing at least once a week (at that time it was Sundays at Glen Echo). Since dancing is an aerobic exercise, if anyone's going to lose weight doing it, there has to be some kind of ballance in the workout. That is to say, in the good old days I was going to the gym every day and doing more than just aerobic exercise.
It also obviously will depend on the duration and speed of dancing your doing. Bal at 1000bpm sounds like a good way to burn fat though. :wink:
"I would like to take you seriously, but to do so would affront your intelligence." --William F. Buckley Jr.
Originally posted Sunday, February 1, 2009 (3 years ago)
Dancing is a great way to stay active. Like any exercise, the more you do, the more weight you lose.
I very clearly remember a fellow dancer at one of the dances I attended, who was in her mid-80s. She talked about losing 14 pounds over the summer before, all from dancing and sex.....
Originally posted Sunday, February 1, 2009 (3 years ago)
Yes, probably lost about 12 pounds when I was out 4 nights a week, but then I discovered Megan Adair's brownies at an exchange and took up DJ'ing and I found it all again.
Originally posted Sunday, February 1, 2009 (3 years ago)
20 lbs when I was dancing 5 nights a week my freshman year of college (social lindy on a full tempo scale and preparing for a team competition 2 nights a week at 200 bpm)
But I was also eating well and working out when I had time...
Originally posted Sunday, February 1, 2009 (3 years ago)
Generally speaking, a person loses weight if they eat less and move more. Swing dancing is one of many activities that can be part of "moving more".
Swing dancing can and will lead to weight loss if it is part of a fundamental regimen of eating less and moving more. The same could be said of walking, running, jumping rope, or any other physical activity.
Originally posted Sunday, February 1, 2009 (3 years ago)
I think I most certainly lost some fat and gain tons of muscle my first year at Herrang. But considering food was expensive, so I ate less (actually, my diet was mainly cheese and peanut butter...hahaha) and was either dancing, taking classes, or doing physical labor as a volunteer at nearly every waking moment, I guess that makes sense.
However- the influence dancing has on my body normally has much more to do with how strong my core muscles are than with how much fat is on my body.
follow my adventures at www.AppalachianToAlpine.blogspot.com!
Originally posted Monday, February 2, 2009 (3 years ago)
Quoted from "Emmysue4you" Generally speaking, a person loses weight if they eat less and move more. Swing dancing is one of many activities that can be part of "moving more"...
Perfectly said. You won't lose weight, no matter how much dancing you do, if you eat more than you need.
"Change your thoughts, and you change your world" - Norman Vincent Peale.
Originally posted Monday, February 2, 2009 (3 years ago)
I tend to put on weight when I stop dancing. Dancing helps me maintain a consistent weight. To lose weight you would need to dance to every song and not take time to socialize.
Originally posted Monday, February 2, 2009 (3 years ago)
I had to work hard to keep weight on (I was about 140-150lbs) when I was dancing 5-6 nights a week, usually by eating junk foods after dancing. Now that I only dance once a week, I have to work hard to maintain my weight (I'm now about 160) even though I don't eat junk foods anymore.
The above posts are correct. You need to make going out dancing a lifestyle for the weight loss to work.
Originally posted Monday, February 2, 2009 (3 years ago)
I gained 10 lbs by going to Beantown 10 day dance camp. I danced a lot, but it made me really hungry and they had such a good food buffet!
Make sure you are drinking a lot of water and electrolytes if you are dancing to lose weight. Otherwise, your body might confuse thirst signals for hunger and then you'll end up eating more. Also, dancing instead of sleeping can also increase stress hormones that increase appetite and fat retention.
Originally posted Monday, February 2, 2009 (3 years ago)
It also depends on what kind of weight you're talking about. If it's that illusive last 5-15 pounds between you and nothing to pinch, then regular social dancing probably won't touch it.
Originally posted Monday, February 2, 2009 (3 years ago)
I've had several students in classes attest to having lost more weight on whatever regimen they were on when starting to swing dance.
The bottom line: the more sedentary they were in general the more impact swing dancing had on them. This would be folks who go from nothing to 1-3 evenings of dance a week. Doesn't work if they go chow down on milkshakes at the local diner after the dance with the rest of the gang.
All of this is fairly obvious. The advantage for dancing is that it is a fun a social activity so it is "accidental" exercise for many people. Loads more fun than the treadmill in the workout room at work.
Everyone's mileage will vary. Literally. I tend to dance almost every dance if at all possible. Having worn various pedometers and activity monitors, a 3 hour lindy dance can put about 10,000 to 12,000 steps on the pedometer. But you can half or quarter that if you spend more time visiting with friends than out on the dance floor.
I am in the dancing "3-4 times a week" category and I start to gain weight whenever I slow down. (Not easy to change my appetite as fast as my activity level.) sigh.
(And did I mention a couple of guys in my community who have been told "keep swing dancing or die" by their cardiologists??)
Originally posted Monday, February 2, 2009 (3 years ago)
As everyone has said, it can help you lose weight depending on other factors.
To answer the direct question, yes I have lost weight because of dancing. The first time it was because I was coming off a particularly sedentary period in my life when I started to get really in to lindy hop. So a few pounds came off right away just because I had gone from sitting around a lot to moving around a lot. That'll do it every time. I think I was social dancing about 4-6 nights a week. And back then the tempos were an average of 20 bpms higher than they are now so the dancing was much faster. I was also in NYC where clubs stayed open until 4am so perhaps I was dancing for a longer amount of time per night than is possible in other cities.
The second time I lost weight because of dancing was when I decided to take competing way more seriously. So I was training regularly in addition to still going out social dancing several times a week. The training included airsteps which is probably why I lost most of the weight. It's muscle intensive so coupling that with the aerobic exercise of the social dancing meant I was working my body all around. I was probably training 3 nights a week and social dancing 4-5.
The third time I lost weight because of dancing I was in a show. We danced basically non-stop for about 2 hours per night - twice on Saturdays and Sundays. Monday was our only day off. I did that for about 2 months straight so the weight just flew right off.
I've seen articles that mention social dancing as a wonderful way to keep activity in your life and stay healthier and that makes perfect sense to me. However, to really lose weight - as others have said in this thread - the workout needs to be pretty intense, very regular, and probably coupled with a change in eating habits.
As was the case for me the first time, if you haven't been active and then you get active, of course you'll drop some pounds. But once your body adjusts to being active regularly, you'll probably level off (as I did). It will still be good for your health, just not a weight loss tool at that point.
Anyway, good luck (assuming you're asking this question in pursuit of losing weight).
Originally posted Monday, February 2, 2009 (3 years ago)
When I first started I lost 20 or 30 pounds and two pants sizes. I was dancing 3-4 nights a week, riding my bike all over my college campus, and my eating may have been less because of my finances but I didn't like...take extra effort to eat better.
I definitely noticed myself putting on weight again after my dancing died off.
Also keep in mind that in my day the dancing was relatively fast, quite athletic, and very aerobic. I haven't worked up sweats like that while dancing in a long time.
Originally posted Monday, February 2, 2009 (3 years ago)
Quoted from "asane" I gained 10 lbs by going to Beantown 10 day dance camp. I danced a lot, but it made me really hungry and they had such a good food buffet!
I always gain weight when I go to Beantown despite dancing until I am almost too weak to walk. Damn them and their wonderful food!
Originally posted Monday, February 2, 2009 (3 years ago)
When I was in Herrang for a month, I got down to 120 pounds (at 5'-10" 120lbs is verging on creepy, protruding hip bones territory) from the sheer volume of dancing I was doing. I ate like a horse the whole time, too.
Not really the most practical way to drop a few pounds, though. Sensible diet and dancing as part of your exercise routine is probably a lot easier to maintain.
Has Anyone Ever Lost Weight from Swing Dancing?
If so, how much weight did you lose and how often do you dance?
Elmo likes to Lindy Hop!
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Dancing, especially to really fast music [especially at a sweat-shack like Fram in the summer!] can certainly be a workout. While some bit of aerobic experience can be internalized, no one loses weight without watching their diet/caloric-intake as well. Beckto on the other hand used to weigh almost 300 pounds. --R
y i no haz signature? Come on people, make with the funny.
In 2002, I was roughly the lightest I haver been in my adult life (140s) and went dancing at least once a week (at that time it was Sundays at Glen Echo). Since dancing is an aerobic exercise, if anyone's going to lose weight doing it, there has to be some kind of ballance in the workout. That is to say, in the good old days I was going to the gym every day and doing more than just aerobic exercise.
It also obviously will depend on the duration and speed of dancing your doing. Bal at 1000bpm sounds like a good way to burn fat though. :wink:
"I would like to take you seriously, but to do so would affront your intelligence." --William F. Buckley Jr.
Dancing is a great way to stay active. Like any exercise, the more you do, the more weight you lose.
I very clearly remember a fellow dancer at one of the dances I attended, who was in her mid-80s. She talked about losing 14 pounds over the summer before, all from dancing and sex.....
Sounds like a great workout plan to me.....
dcman
The beauty of dancing is that it doesn't feel like exercise. Fitness gains are a fringe benefit.
I wonder if anyone's done a study on how much calories one burns dancing though.
Hmmm, I wonder if a whole room calorimeter is big enough to do a swing out in....
Yes, probably lost about 12 pounds when I was out 4 nights a week, but then I discovered Megan Adair's brownies at an exchange and took up DJ'ing and I found it all again.
5-8 pounds (on a very tiny frame), 3-5 nights a week. Not just any dance though, high speed collegiate shag...
This music is not too fast; you're just too damn slow.
20 lbs when I was dancing 5 nights a week my freshman year of college (social lindy on a full tempo scale and preparing for a team competition 2 nights a week at 200 bpm)
But I was also eating well and working out when I had time...
Generally speaking, a person loses weight if they eat less and move more. Swing dancing is one of many activities that can be part of "moving more".
Swing dancing can and will lead to weight loss if it is part of a fundamental regimen of eating less and moving more. The same could be said of walking, running, jumping rope, or any other physical activity.
I think I most certainly lost some fat and gain tons of muscle my first year at Herrang. But considering food was expensive, so I ate less (actually, my diet was mainly cheese and peanut butter...hahaha) and was either dancing, taking classes, or doing physical labor as a volunteer at nearly every waking moment, I guess that makes sense.
However- the influence dancing has on my body normally has much more to do with how strong my core muscles are than with how much fat is on my body.
follow my adventures at www.AppalachianToAlpine.blogspot.com!
I lost 30 lbs last year, only dancing.
Ofcourse I also kept my diet under control by counting calories.
I went back on my diet on New Years Day this year and lost 10 pounds in January.
That's averaging between 2-4 nights a week dancing.
CollegiateShag.com
Yes, very nicely at one time, but it required 3 nights per week of swing dancing. I hope to return to that happy state again soon.
Perfectly said. You won't lose weight, no matter how much dancing you do, if you eat more than you need.
"Change your thoughts, and you change your world" - Norman Vincent Peale.
I tend to put on weight when I stop dancing. Dancing helps me maintain a consistent weight. To lose weight you would need to dance to every song and not take time to socialize.
I had to work hard to keep weight on (I was about 140-150lbs) when I was dancing 5-6 nights a week, usually by eating junk foods after dancing. Now that I only dance once a week, I have to work hard to maintain my weight (I'm now about 160) even though I don't eat junk foods anymore.
The above posts are correct. You need to make going out dancing a lifestyle for the weight loss to work.
I gained 10 lbs by going to Beantown 10 day dance camp. I danced a lot, but it made me really hungry and they had such a good food buffet!
Make sure you are drinking a lot of water and electrolytes if you are dancing to lose weight. Otherwise, your body might confuse thirst signals for hunger and then you'll end up eating more. Also, dancing instead of sleeping can also increase stress hormones that increase appetite and fat retention.
Lost 13 pounds over the last year...not sure exactly how.
May have been slowly reducing portion sizes, increased dancing, lack of income...Not intentional.
It also depends on what kind of weight you're talking about. If it's that illusive last 5-15 pounds between you and nothing to pinch, then regular social dancing probably won't touch it.
No, but I recently lost weight from puking. Worked like a charm.
I've had several students in classes attest to having lost more weight on whatever regimen they were on when starting to swing dance.
The bottom line: the more sedentary they were in general the more impact swing dancing had on them. This would be folks who go from nothing to 1-3 evenings of dance a week. Doesn't work if they go chow down on milkshakes at the local diner after the dance with the rest of the gang.
All of this is fairly obvious. The advantage for dancing is that it is a fun a social activity so it is "accidental" exercise for many people. Loads more fun than the treadmill in the workout room at work.
Everyone's mileage will vary. Literally. I tend to dance almost every dance if at all possible. Having worn various pedometers and activity monitors, a 3 hour lindy dance can put about 10,000 to 12,000 steps on the pedometer. But you can half or quarter that if you spend more time visiting with friends than out on the dance floor.
I am in the dancing "3-4 times a week" category and I start to gain weight whenever I slow down. (Not easy to change my appetite as fast as my activity level.) sigh.
(And did I mention a couple of guys in my community who have been told "keep swing dancing or die" by their cardiologists??)
As everyone has said, it can help you lose weight depending on other factors.
To answer the direct question, yes I have lost weight because of dancing. The first time it was because I was coming off a particularly sedentary period in my life when I started to get really in to lindy hop. So a few pounds came off right away just because I had gone from sitting around a lot to moving around a lot. That'll do it every time. I think I was social dancing about 4-6 nights a week. And back then the tempos were an average of 20 bpms higher than they are now so the dancing was much faster. I was also in NYC where clubs stayed open until 4am so perhaps I was dancing for a longer amount of time per night than is possible in other cities.
The second time I lost weight because of dancing was when I decided to take competing way more seriously. So I was training regularly in addition to still going out social dancing several times a week. The training included airsteps which is probably why I lost most of the weight. It's muscle intensive so coupling that with the aerobic exercise of the social dancing meant I was working my body all around. I was probably training 3 nights a week and social dancing 4-5.
The third time I lost weight because of dancing I was in a show. We danced basically non-stop for about 2 hours per night - twice on Saturdays and Sundays. Monday was our only day off. I did that for about 2 months straight so the weight just flew right off.
I've seen articles that mention social dancing as a wonderful way to keep activity in your life and stay healthier and that makes perfect sense to me. However, to really lose weight - as others have said in this thread - the workout needs to be pretty intense, very regular, and probably coupled with a change in eating habits.
As was the case for me the first time, if you haven't been active and then you get active, of course you'll drop some pounds. But once your body adjusts to being active regularly, you'll probably level off (as I did). It will still be good for your health, just not a weight loss tool at that point.
Anyway, good luck (assuming you're asking this question in pursuit of losing weight).
When I first started I lost 20 or 30 pounds and two pants sizes. I was dancing 3-4 nights a week, riding my bike all over my college campus, and my eating may have been less because of my finances but I didn't like...take extra effort to eat better.
I definitely noticed myself putting on weight again after my dancing died off.
Also keep in mind that in my day the dancing was relatively fast, quite athletic, and very aerobic. I haven't worked up sweats like that while dancing in a long time.
I always gain weight when I go to Beantown despite dancing until I am almost too weak to walk. Damn them and their wonderful food!
If you swing dance, you shouldn't drink soda if you want to lose weight. Use water.
When I was in Herrang for a month, I got down to 120 pounds (at 5'-10" 120lbs is verging on creepy, protruding hip bones territory) from the sheer volume of dancing I was doing. I ate like a horse the whole time, too.
Not really the most practical way to drop a few pounds, though. Sensible diet and dancing as part of your exercise routine is probably a lot easier to maintain.
There should be a special thread for people who moved to seattle then lost weight. They dance so fast there....
Alternatively, do you gain weight if you move to a bluesy city?
Yeah, it's called getting pregnant.
ftw
HA!
AT 5' 11'' and 68kgs (150 lbs), lets hope I don't lose any weight!
I like red things. I also like shiny things. I especially like red shiny things.
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