Fitness Karaoke Style

One morning last year I woke up with aching leg muscles but as I had not done any kind of exercise the previous day, I was puzzled as to why. Then, when I swallowed and found my throat dry and sore, I remembered the previous evening – we’d had a karaoke party at our house!

 Now I'm a big fan of karaoke and I have to admit I do like to hog the microphone but I had never thought of karaoke as a form of exercise – let alone one that would leave me with aching muscles. Singing Karaoke is not a static activity, far from it; you have to work that stage, or living room floor, move to the rhythm and of course, crouch down now and again to croon to your audience who are listening raptly from their comfortable seats on the sofas.

Thinking about all this, I began to see that singing karaoke in your living room is potentially a great workout. What a discovery! No need to go to the gym, or sweat it out on a run. All I need to do is belt out some of my favourite tunes with feeling. Sing with my whole body as it were. Sadly, I had not personally discovered the next fitness fad.  Fame and riches were not to be mine on this occasion, as apparently, karaoke fitness is already all the rage!

Karaoke yoga, karaoke spin classes… it’s a whole new world of fitness I never even knew existed.  Did you? Take a look here and see! But forget about the spin and yoga part for a moment, you don’t need to add anything to karaoke to make it a workout. If you really get into the groove and feel the moment, you’ll be working your body up on that ‘stage’ and working up a sweat as good as any gym class! Here’s what’s really going on when you’re belting out your favourite tune through that microphone, pretending to be Bon Jovi or Taylor Swift!

Burn some calories 

 Singing in itself burns calories, on average around 130 per hour but just singing along to the radio in your car is only the beginning. Once you’re singing standing up, with a microphone in your hand, the number of calories burned jumps up again. Think strutting your stuff across the stage like a real rock star, or belting out those ballads with your arms flung out wide and your legs taking you into a half squat as you build up to the chorus. When you get lost in your karaoke moment, every muscle in your body is lost in the moment too, and you don’t even realise how active you are!  

Sing your way to a six-pack! 

 Not only does singing burn calories, but …wait for it, it can also help you on your way towards that six-pack! How? I hear you cry; well, normally when we breathe, we just expand our ribcage, but when you sing, you use your diaphragm, the large dome-shaped muscle across the bottom of your rib cage.  This muscle is in turn part of your ‘core’- those muscles that you strengthen to get that six-pack. Since muscles don’t work in isolation but together in unison, strengthening your diaphragm by singing should then assist in strengthening your overall core. Now that’s a bonus!   So, Karaoke in the pub while sipping on a bottle of beer? No you don’t!  It’s off to the gym to karaoke at a spin class, while sipping on a bottle of water.  See? Exercising can be fun – and you won’t even know you’re doing it!

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