25+ Best Dance Workouts on YouTube

Dancing can immediately lift your mood, shake away any stress from the week, and also boost your fitness!

However, you might not have the time or budget to invest in dance classes or you might feel uncomfortable joining a live class. So today, I want to share the best dance workouts on YouTube.

These dance exercises are free and you can do them in the comfort of your own home. You don’t need to get ready for the gym and you can dance as long as you have time. Get a quick 10 minute dance cardio in or exercise for 60 minutes!

If you are a dancing beginner, you might enjoy dancing at home where no one can see you so you can let go and be as free as you’d like.

Benefits of working out at home

#1 Time saving

Working out at home can save you time. There is no need for a commute to your next gym. Simply get dressed and get started.

You also have the opportunity to do a quick 10-minute workout at home. If you go to the gym, you always have to commit to hours for the car drive and class duration.

But at home, you can sneak in a 10 or 20 minute workout and save lots of time. This can increase the frequency of your workouts during the week!

#2 Save money

There are thousands of great workout routines on the internet. You can find instructional exercise videos on YouTube for any type of fitness!

Make a training plan and add different workouts every day. From yoga to HIIT, these are all free and therefore save you lots of money.

#3 Flexibilty

Besides saving time, you can also be more flexible throughout the day. Maybe you want to workout very early in the morning or late at night. Maybe you like to workout during lunch break. With at home workouts you don’t have to rely on gym hours.

You are also not forced to follow the speed of the gym class instructor and can go at your own pace during your home workout.

Lastly, you are not bound to one facility. You can do home workouts in your basement, in your garden, or even when you’re away in a hotel room.

7 Health benefits of dancing

Dancing has so many benefits and I am sure there are some benefits that you didn’t know of. The health benefits of dancing will motivate you to get started with your dance workout routine!

#1 Entering the Flow-State (psychological benefits)

Flow has been identified as a key psychological construct in positive psychology, a growing field of interest in psychology, particularly with regard to positive subjective experience (source).

In many sports you can enter a psychological state called “Flow”. This is not just during dancing but can happen in other sports, as well. In the flow-state you focus more on the exercise itself than the outcome. The experience of the exercise provides you with a feeling of reward and accomplishment.

Enjoying the exercise so much that you forget the world around you helps motivate you to come back to the exercise on a regular basis.

On the other side, if the outcome of the exercise is the only reward (weight loss, muscle gain) and you are not enjoying the experience of it, you will need more discipline if you plan to stick to it. So try to find joy in your choice of workouts.

#2 Strength building

During dancing you jump, lung, and squat a lot. These are all body weight exercises that train your lower part of the body and build strength.

Dancing is also great to build abs. Many dance forms move your upper body like a standing crunch, training your abdominals and obliques.

#3 Benefits of aerobic and anaerobic exercise

Moderate dancing can be compared to aerobic exercise but you can also enter anaerobic exercise with a higher intensity dance, like lots of jumping, fast movements, large movements, and full body movements that target multiple muscle groups.

During aerobic exercise your body uses oxygen to burn carbs and fat for energy (burning calories). During anaerobic exercise your body taps straight into your body’s glycogen stores. Both exercise types have their positive effects and both are good for weight loss.

Aerobic exercise will also strengthen your cardiovascular system while anaerobic exercise will strengthen bones and build more muscles.

Choosing a dance routine that goes from slow dancing to more explosive and fast movements makes the perfect, fun HIIT routine.

#4 Can prevent chronic disease

The CDC states that “Regular physical activity helps improve your overall health, fitness, and quality of life. It also helps reduce your risk of chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, many types of cancer, depression and anxiety, and dementia.”

The CDC also recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week, plus muscle-strengthening activities at least 2 days a week (source).

This would translate to 30 minutes of dancing 5 times a week. The dancing would have to be moderate to intense. As mentioned above, you will strengthen your muscles during dance, but if you want to add more strength training to your routine, check out these at home workouts.

#5 Improves memory

“A recent NIA-supported study from the University of Wisconsin led by Dr. Ozioma Okonkwo found that even moderate physical activity may increase metabolism in brain regions important for learning and memory.” (source)

Physical activity, in general, is beneficial for memory function. Learning a dance workout routine can also train memory.

#6 Improves coordination

During dance, your arms move with your legs. Oftentimes, arms move in a different direction or make a different movement than your legs.

Dancing improves your arm and leg coordination. This is an important physical skill and can benefit other sports, such as swimming.

#7 Boosts self expression and creativity

Dancing can be an expression of your emotions or state of mind. It is considered an art just like painting. If you are into choreographing it will also boost your creativity.

How to get started with dancing

If you are a dancing beginner, I suggest starting with a repetitive workout dance; a dance routine that repeats one move 4-8 times, so you can keep up. Aerobic, beginner Zumba, and cardio dance routines would fall into this routine.

The two biggest factors in finding the best beginner dance workout are finding a routine that is easy enough so you don’t give up and finding a dance style that fits your personality or mood. You need to enter the flow state to more easily stay motivated long term and have fun doing it.

Below, I have summarized many different dance workouts for you to choose from. If you try a couple and don’t like them, try something different!

#1 Find your favorite song or singer

It is also a lot of fun dancing to your favorite songs! Go over to YouTube and search your favorite singer or song, then type “dance”, “dance workout”, etc. after and hit search. You might find a great workout or dance routine to your favorite song like my example below!

#2 Make a playlist

Every time I find a great new dance workout I add it to my playlist. I have created a special playlist for dance workouts.

You can sit down for one hour and search all different dance videos, click through them to see if you could see yourself having fun with the dance workout, then add it to your playlist. If you don’t end up enjoying the workout, delete it from the list.

It is beneficial to have a playlist because you basically have a workout plan in place. Whenever you want to workout, open your playlist and click the one that fits your current mood.

#3 Find your favorite style

Maybe you already know what kind of style you prefer, but maybe you simply don’t know yet. Finding the right style can definitely help you with workout motivation.

You can set up different playlists for different dance styles, as well. Find slow dance workouts and add them to a “warm up” or “cool down” playlist, or organize workout styles by intensity.

Best Dance Workouts on YouTube

Now that we have discussed why regular dancing is so great for health and how to get started, here are some best dance workouts on YouTube that you can try for free in the comfort of your home!

These workouts are all without equipment but you can add ankle weights or wrist weights to your routine for additional resistance and intensity.

If you like these videos, be sure to check out the best Pilates workout videos under 15 minutes.

The Fitness Marshall (Hip Hop)

The Fitness Marshall creates hip hop dance videos to the newest and coolest songs. I usually pick about 5 songs from my favorite list and follow them for a great workout.

On this channel, the workouts are organized by sweat intensity so you have an easy time finding the perfect fit.