Step into a New Year this year with Fred Astaire

The Fred Astaire Dance Studios of Madison and Pewaukee are teaming up to prove that moving can be fun and fitness can be enjoyable when you dance your way to a more active you this New Year! We all know that walking is a great way to get from A to B, but most of us don't recognize how important walking is for our overall health. The truth is that Americans are thousands of steps behind other countries when it comes to physical activity, and the effect is showing up on our national waistline! According to a study released in the Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (October 2010), American adults take an average of just 5,117 steps per day, much less than adults in other countries; Japanese adults average over 7,000 steps per day, and their Swiss counterparts are reaching almost 10,000 steps per day, a number that is touted by many in the health community as the ideal number for maintaining health.

It is no surprise to discover that counties that report higher average daily steps also have lower obesity rates, ranging from 3 percent to 16 percent. In contrast, almost 34 percent of American adults are obese, and more struggle with health conditions related to a sedentary lifestyle. Adding just 30-40 minutes of movement to your day could help bridge the gap, and a dance lesson is the perfect way to get that extra boost! An average ballroom dance lesson amasses between 2,500 and 3,000 steps in just 40 minutes... more if you are engaging in a more complicated dance; an advanced mambo lesson can equal as many 5,000 steps!

In the spirit of New Year's resolutions and getting our students more active, Fred Astaire gave each of our students a special pedometer for the holidays, allowing everyone to track their movement throughout the day. To add incentive, we've thrown a little healthy competition to the mix: the Madison and Pewaukee studios will be checking to see who has the most active students this New Year by tracking the number of steps our students take between now and Winter Ball in February... whoever loses the contest has to cheer for the OTHER team at the competition!

So help out your Fred Astaire Pewaukee team: get out and get moving! Make sure to check in with Audrey at the studio to log your steps, and join us February 24th-25th for Winter Ball 2012 as we cheer on the Pewaukee team!