I can’t believe I missed it!
Yesterday was National Chicken Dance Day! Aside from being a favorite of children and wedding DJs, doing the chicken dance can help you meet physical activity goals to improve your health.
According to the 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities, doing the chicken dance could burn as many calories as participating in an aerobic dance class.
Chicken dancing isn’t specifically listed in the compendium, but it probably falls under category code 03031: general dancing (e.g., disco, folk, Irish step dancing, line dancing, polka, contra, country).
This type of dancing is listed at 7.8 METS, which is a geeky exercise scientist way of saying that you could burn about 10 calories per minute doing the chicken dance. Note: This is a rough estimate, of course. The actual amount depends on your body weight and how vigorously you do the dance.
That may not seem like much, but it’s a lot more than you would burn sitting at your desk at work or on the couch watching TV at home. So, why not celebrate (belatedly) National Chicken Dance Day by getting up and shaking your tail feather during breaks at work and TV commercials at home!
Dr Parr Says... 