{"id":98510,"date":"2025-08-28T10:46:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T10:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/98510\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T10:46:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T10:46:10","slug":"this-enjoyable-workout-rivals-running-and-weight-training-for-fat-loss-new-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/98510\/","title":{"rendered":"This enjoyable workout rivals running and weight training for fat loss, new study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

While we are all for more movement here at WH, we also understand that working out<\/a> can sometimes feel like, well, a chore. If you\u2019ve had a rubbish day and you know you\u2019ve got a tough solo session ahead of you, motivation<\/a> levels can, understandably, be low. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s why it\u2019s key to find movement that you enjoy, particularly if sustainable weight loss is your goal. It\u2019s relatively simple, really: if the workout is fun, you\u2019re probably going to have an easier time sticking at it. And scientists think they\u2019ve found just the workout: dance. <\/p>\n

What did the study find?<\/p>\n

In a systematic review and meta-analysis (essentially an analysis of data combined from multiple studies) published in PLOS One<\/a>, researchers identified significant improvements in body mass, BMI<\/a>, waist circumference, body fat percentage and body fat mass for people with overweight and obesity following their participation in dance programmes.<\/p>\n

Compared to control groups, the dance participants lost an average of 1.9kg, reducing their fat mass by 1.6kg, their waist circumference by around 3cm, and they experienced a 2.2% greater reduction in body fat percentage. <\/p>\n

What to Read Next<\/p>\n

Interestingly, there was no significant effect on waist-to-hip ratio; however, the researchers think this could potentially be because the fat loss effects of dance are \u2018distributed throughout the entire body, rather than being concentrated in a specific anatomical region.\u2019<\/p>\n

Related StoryWhat does this mean for us?<\/p>\n

The dance types studied varied, and while they were all seen to be effective, the researchers concluded that \u2018creative\u2019 dance types were more effective than \u2018traditional\u2019 dance. In other words, if sustainable weight loss and changing your body composition are your goals, you might be better off opting for a Zumba<\/a> class rather than a tap dancing session. Equally, though, finding what you enjoy is most is also important. <\/p>\n

On average, participants attended three sessions per week, ranging from 40 minutes to 90 minutes in duration. According to the researchers, while three months or more of dancing was most effective, positive effects were still identified earlier than that.<\/p>\n

Why is dancing so good for you?<\/p>\n

When something is viewed as more of an activity rather than a traditional workout, it\u2019s easy to assume it\u2019s not as worthwhile. However, that\u2019s certainly not the case, and as the researchers highlight here, dance is a valuable but perhaps overlooked form of aerobic exercise<\/a>. They say that this, combined with the fact that dancing tends to be very enjoyable \u2013 regardless of whether it\u2019s in the club, at the gym, or at your local community centre \u2013 means people are more likely to continue with it and develop longer-term exercise habits. Indeed, the study found that the overall dropout rate for the dance group was low. <\/p>\n

The bottom line<\/p>\n

As the researchers themselves highlight, since the studies included in their analysis varied in the type of dance workouts used, more high-quality studies are needed to investigate how and why \u2018the high adherence and enjoyment of dance’ support fat loss<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, it adds to a growing body of research on dance’s health<\/a> and fitness<\/a> benefits, showing that positive changes aren’t limited to the weights section or treadmill. <\/p>\n

Related Stories\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Hannah Bradfield is a Senior Nutrition Writer across Women\u2019s Health UK\u00a0and Men\u2019s Health UK. An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Hannah graduated from Loughborough University with a BA in English and Sport Science and an MA in Media and Cultural Analysis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She has been covering sports, health and fitness for the last five years and has created content for outlets including BBC Sport, BBC Sounds, Runner\u2019s World\u00a0and Stylist. She especially enjoys interviewing those working within the community to improve access to sport, exercise and wellness. Hannah is a 2024 John Schofield Trust Fellow and was also named a 2022 Rising Star in Journalism by The Printing Charity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A keen runner, Hannah was firmly a sprinter growing up (also dabbling in long jump) but has since transitioned to longer-distance running. While 10K is her favoured race distance, she loves running or volunteering at parkrun every Saturday, followed, of course, by pastries. She\u2019s always looking for fun new runs and races to do and brunch spots to try.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While we are all for more movement here at WH, we also understand that working out can sometimes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[5720,11394,6647,102,56,54,55,1169],"class_list":{"0":"post-98510","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-dance","9":"tag-fat-loss","10":"tag-fitness","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom","15":"tag-workouts"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}