The Absolute 10 Best Dance Exercise Videos
Having a workout routine is fantastic for mental and physical health, but you don’t have to limit yourself to the treadmill or the weight room to see results. Dancing is one of the best ways to have a complete cardio workout without ever having to touch a pair of running shoes or dumbbells, and you can do it from the comfort of your home with some amazing videos.
Dance exercise videos are a great way to have a fulfilling dance workout while staying motivated from start to finish. YouTube is filled with some of the absolute best dance exercise videos by POPSUGAR, MadFit, The Fitness Marshall, and more.
Read on for the ten best dance exercise videos found on YouTube. We’ll also discuss the benefits of incorporating dance into your everyday workout. Topics include whether dance can help you lose weight if a 30-minute session is long enough for a quality workout, what dance moves are best for exercising, and how many calories you can burn.
Can You Lose Weight from Dancing?
Dancing is a fun way to work out your entire body and can certainly help you lose weight. There are several types of dancing that can help you burn different amounts of calories, depending on the style of dance and the session length.
High-intensity dance styles, such as hip hop and salsa, are likely to burn more calories and increase strength faster than slower styles, such as ballroom and waltz, which are likely to improve balance and coordination but burn fewer calories.
If running or other forms of cardio are dangerously painful, difficult, or don’t align with your lifestyle or preferences, dancing is an exceptional alternative that can help you lose weight just as easily. Individuals with a high body mass index (BMI) can lose two to three pounds a week through dancing, and those with a lower BMI can lose one to 1.5 pounds a week.
The potential for weight loss with dancing is definitely present, but it largely depends on your dance sessions’ intensity, length, and frequency. High-intensity sessions that last between 30 to 60 minutes daily will yield maximum weight loss results.
The Absolute 10 Best Dance Exercise Videos
Dance exercise videos are exceptional at providing both new and experienced dancers with step-by-step visuals of how to dance efficiently for the optimal workout. Instructors will either show you all the necessary moves ahead of the workout or as you go.
Listed below are 10 of the absolute best dance exercise videos found on YouTube. These videos are extremely diverse in style, length, and level, so there is something here for everyone.
Video 1
30 Mins Aerobic Dance Workout by Shemaroo Good Health 24/7
Description: This half-hour aerobic dance workout is high-intensity from start to stop to finish with no rests or breaks. Your trainer, Bipasha Basu, is surrounded by a small team of workout supporters that do the routine with you every step of the way. The upbeat music accompanies easy but effective exercises that progress from a simple warmup to an intense workout to a quality cool down.
Bipasha won’t tell you the workout ahead of time, so you’ll need to do some quick adjustments in this video to keep up. However, she will motivate you as you go and tell you what each exercise does for your body, so you know exactly what you are working out and why.
Video Length: 29:58
Best For: Quick learners looking for high-intensity
Video 2
30-Minute Hip-Hop Tabata to Torch Calories by POPSUGAR Fitness
Description: Inspiring trainer Keaira LaShae leads you through a quality hip-hop Tabata workout great for people just getting started in the dance workout world. Keaira stresses that performing these exercises is more about passion than perfection, and she will describe each one before transitioning.
A fantastic feature of this video is that Keaira is accompanied by two workout supporters, Anne and Casey. For each intense exercise, Anne will demonstrate a moderated version. Casey will demonstrate a more intense version so individuals of all levels can participate and follow the trainer that best suits their fitness level.
Video Length: 30:17
Best For: Individuals of all fitness levels
Video 3
34 Minutes of KIDZ BOP Dance Along Videos by KIDZ BOP
Description: Kids need to workout too! This workout features adorable kid trainers as they perform killer hip-hop dances to KIDZ BOP covers of classics on their 2021 album. Songs include “The Cupid Shuffle,” “Fight Song,” “Break Free,” and many more.
This workout video’s general vibe is to get kids moving and excited about being active as they dance away to their favorite songs. However, just because it’s kids dancing in the video doesn’t mean the workout is a cakewalk. This video will keep you moving for the whole half hour and is great for parents that want to exercise with their younger kids.
Video Length: 34:07
Best For: Kids and Families
Video 4
15 MIN DANCE PARTY WORKOUT by MadFit
Description: This workout might be considered a bit short compared to others on the list, but sometimes we simply don’t have time for an hour-long dance session. This upbeat dance party workout by Maddie Lymburner of MadFit is an exceptional, high-energy workout you can fit into any schedule or use as an intense cardio warmup to supplement your workout session.
The music and Maddie’s sparkling smile are the main motivators to get you through this fun but difficult routine. She won’t show you the dance moves ahead of time, so we suggest quickly watching the video once before you jump into the workout to be familiar with the moves.
Video Length: 15:38
Best For: An intense, quick workout or cardio warmup
Video 5
Boy Toy Dance Fitness By The Studio by Jamie Kinkeade
Description: Let Jamie and The Studio members take you through a dance floor workout experience to hit songs from the most iconic male singers of the past decade. Jamie will give you a heads-up on some of the moves, but most of the time, you strive to match her energy and swagger as you really get into the music.
Although the routine in this workout is definitely enough to burn some calories, the overall vibe is to use dance as a fun form of exercise rather than a high-paced workout marathon that leaves you constantly gasping for air.
Video Length: 44:11
Best For: Dance floor moves, fun, and moderately leveled users
Video 6
Latin Dance Aerobic Workout by LauriShowler
Description: Shake things up with a Latin dance extravaganza as dance instructor Lauri Showler takes you through a vigorous Latin workout routine in front of a class of everyday people just trying to dance through a quality workout session.
The setup of this video is much more candid than others on the list, as Lauri films a real dance session in a dance studio rather than creating a YouTube dance production. This is a great motivation for the average person that doesn’t want to keep up with professionals.
Video Length: 50:32
Best For: Intense and lengthy Latin dance workout
Video 7
Sia – Cheap Thrills Dance Workout by TheFitnessMarshall
Description: It’s impossible not to be excited about a dance workout when you’re watching the lovable energy and personality of TheFitnessMarshall. Although this video alone isn’t long enough to be a complete workout, it is certainly intense enough to be a quality cardio warmup.
TheFitnessMarshall will announce the high-energy hip-hop moves as the video progresses, and each exercise is easy to follow and keeps your entire body moving.
Video Length: 3:53
Best For: Quick and intense warmup
Video 8
Belly Dance | Full body Workout | Hagalla Style! by Leilah Isaac
Description: A truly unique dance experience, Leilah Isaac will take you on a belly dancing workout journey as she describes the routine’s moves and keeps you endlessly motivated.
She’ll start with an easy warmup anyone could perform, but as you really get into the intense core workout, she’ll mention some belly dancing moves that might be unfamiliar to most beginners. Luckily, she is exceptional at showing you exactly how the moves are done so even new dancers can try them.
Video Length: 21:52
Best For: Basic knowledge of belly dance moves
Video 9
Salsa x Samba Workout by MrHelioFaria – dancefunfitness
Description: Follow MrHelioFaria as he dances through a fun, high energy combination of salsa and samba moves in front of a breathtaking natural landscape. This routine is filled with fast-paced steps that are quick enough to be a quality workout but simple enough that anyone could participate.
Video Length: 33:03
Best For: Making salsa and samba moves easy for everyone
Video 10
AFRICAN DANCE WORKOUT by Afrifitness
Description: No doubt about it, African dance can be just as intense as any other style on this list, and Rachel shows you its full potential in this dance workout. The moves in this routine force you to move every part of your body as you listen to some energetic African music and Rachel’s unending motivation. Luckily, the upbeat moves are easy enough for anyone to utilize this video for a quality workout.
Video Length: 25:38
Best For: Moderate workout introducing African dance
Is Dancing for 30 Minutes a Good Workout?
Yes, 30 minutes of dancing is a good workout, under the right circumstances. The best way to have a good dance workout in this timeframe is to perform high-intensity dances filled with rapid movements that incorporate your whole body.
However, high-intensity dances aren’t suitable for everyone, especially if you’re striving to lose weight and struggle, keeping up with some of these fast-paced routines. If this is the case, the key to a quality 30-minute dance workout is to just keep moving and limit your resting periods.
A great way to keep yourself going through high-intensity dance workouts is to pair the routine with fast-paced, high energy music to keep you motivated all the way to the end.
(Whether you are looking for a full dance course online or you are just looking to learn to dance online, we’ve got you covered!
What is the Best Dance Exercise?
Dancing is filled with numerous steps and movements that create a form of art with your body, but the goal here isn’t to create art. It’s to work out. Therefore, we want the best dance exercises that will engage the entire body and yield maximum results.
Listed below are some of the most intense dance styles and their best dance moves that will keep your feet moving constantly and leave you exhausted by the session’s end.
| Type of Dance | Description | Best Moves for Weight Loss |
|---|---|---|
| Hip Hop | This dance style was born on the streets and included a wide range of moves and styles that lend themselves well to dance workouts. Hip-hop moves typically incorporate all body parts and emphasize quick and rigid movements. | • The SpongeBob • Running Man • The Reject Step • Windmills |
| Belly Dance | Although belly dancing might not incorporate your entire body like other dance styles, it is still an intense dance workout, particularly for your core. This an Arabic dance style original to Egypt and focuses on quick, fluid hip and stomach movements accentuated by elongated movements from the legs and arms. A few sessions of this will give you rock hard abs in no time. | • Figure Eight • Egyptian Twist • Undulation • Layered Shimmies |
| Salsa | A Latin inspired dance style salsa is possibly the pinnacle of high-intensity dancing centered around quick feet and rigid posture. Typically, this dance style is performed with a partner, but it can also be done alone as long as you maintain the proper posture and balance. Although anyone can use salsa dancing for a high-intensity workout, it definitely isn’t for the faint of heart. | • Tornados (Partner move) • Shines (Solo Practice) • Barrel Roll (Partner Pattern) • The Lady Hammer |
How Many Calories Do You Burn While Dancing?
The number of calories you burn while dancing depends on the three basic elements we have mentioned previously.
- Session intensity
- Session length
- Rest frequency
If you are dancing for one hour with limited to no breaks and the dancing significantly high in intensity, you are likely to burn somewhere in the vicinity of 300-800 calories. If you perform the same session for half the amount of time, most individuals will burn somewhere between 130-165 calories.
Time isn’t the only indicator of how many calories you might burn. The type of dancing is also a significant factor because it dictates how much and how quickly your body moves throughout the session.
A 150-pound individual that participated in an hour-long session of slow-paced ballroom dancing is estimated to burn 215 calories. Comparatively, the same individual performing an intense jazz routine for the same amount of time would burn about 487 calories.
Calories burned are unique to the individual and dependent on various factors such as BMI, metabolism, gender, lifestyle, diet, and overall fitness. Some individuals can burn calories fairly easily, while others can perform the same activities at the same intensity with reduced results. This is why there is a wide range of potential for calories burned during a dance session.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, if you are looking for a quality workout session but dread lifting weights or running for miles, dancing is the perfect alternative for you. Dancing allows you to burn potentially the same number of calories as jogging and lose weight just as efficiently. There are also numerous high energy and intense workout videos on YouTube. You could utilize it 24/7.
Incorporate dance as a workout warmup, a quick 30-minute power session, or a lengthy hour-long, high-intensity marathon. Stay healthy, stay motivated, and keep dancing.
(If you enjoyed those videos, and are interested in starting your own class, check out this article about how to create an online dance class!)
