Healthy Hoboken: Just Dance!

I've had a hard time squeezing in a run the last few Saturdays. And although the sunny weather is great for a quick jog... it's also great for backyard BBQs.

I could go before the BBQs, but let's be honest: Saturday mornings are never an ideal time to run. On weekdays I love an early morning run.

By the time I'm ready to go, my friends are calling to say the burgers are on the grill and the beer is flowing in one of the Mile Square's many establishments. And suddenly I'm shoving my running shoes aside while I grab my flip-flops and Aviators and head out the door.

I could go after the BBQs, but do I even need to explain why this is unrealistic?

How will I fit in my calorie-burn for the day, you ask?

It's simple: when the BBQs wind-down, we always end up on the dance floor at McSwiggans, Mulligans, The Shannon, 10th and Willow or whatever bar we choose for the night.

You're probably thinking there is no way I burn enough calories to justify skipping a run. But that's not the case. I don't drink excessively—maybe a few beers throughout the day—and have had enough before we get to the bars, so I just keep a beer in my hand so it looks like I'm keeping up with my friends. 

"If you are dancing for three hours you most likely burn more calories than taking a run or walk," says Hoboken Boot Camp Instructor David Cabral, "because you will be moving your whole body for a longer period of time."

So that's what I do. I'm not saying I'm any good—in fact, I'm incredibly awkward on the dance floor—but you won't catch me sitting for a minute. 

I asked Karen Esrick, a fitness instructor at Hoboken's NYSC, just how many calories she thinks I'm burning.

"On average, you can burn up to 50 calories from just 10 minutes of dancing," she says. "You can get a total body cardio workout in from sweet moves like jumping, throw in a little Jersey shore fist-pump action, go a little old school with some running man, and work those quads and get low to the ground."

It's that simple. If you ever took a dance class, you know how to do the running man. And who from Jersey doesn't know how to fist-pump?

But, if you want the dancing to pay off, you have to put in some effort, said Boot Camp instructor Cabral. 

"I do think that dancing is a great exercise but once again it depends how you are dancing. Any type of movement can help burn calories because we are forcing our bodies to work," he says. "[It] depends on the intensity."

Cabral says if you are willing to take it up a notch, you will definitely feel the burn. "Let's look at Salsa dancers," he says, "They move their feet, hips, and arms at a high intensity. They don't stop moving for about three to five minutes at a time."

Even if you're too shy—or perhaps too sober—to get on the dance floor, don't sit at the bar. Esrick says that standing burns 12-30 more calories an hour than sitting. Cabral adds that this is because you are activating more muscles by standing.

Next time you're feeling guilty about skipping a run on a day when you'd rather BBQ outside, just listen to the advice of Lady Gaga: "Just dance, it'll be okay!"