Want to keep fit into old age? Try dancing like Zorba the Greek
IT’S mostly associated with holiday tavernas and the film Zorba the Greek.
But taking up traditional Greek dancing can have major health benefits for pensioners all year round, say scientists.
Those who practised it regularly had stronger legs, allowing them to jump higher than their sedentary counterparts, a study found.
The participants, who suffered from chronic heart failure and had an average age of 73, could also walk faster and further.
The research looked at 40 Greek patients. Half were told to attend three sessions a week of traditional Greek dancing for three months, while the other half continued their usual sedentary lifestyle.
The dance was chosen by the researchers at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki because it is an important part of weddings and other celebrations, and is also popular among older people.
At the start and finish of the study, the scientists tested patients’ ability to jump using a machine called a dynamometer. Their leg muscle strength was also measured, and they had a six-minute walking test.
While Greek dancing is sometimes associated with breaking plates, no crockery was harmed during the study.
The research team found that after three months, those who did the Greek dancing had legs that were 10 per cent stronger than those who took no exercise, jumped 10 per cent higher, and 6 per cent faster. The sedentary group showed no change, according to the study published in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing.
Exercise physiologist Zacharias Vordos said that the activity could help to give older people more independence and reduce their chance of injury, adding: ‘Our study shows that traditional Greek dancing improves strength, endurance and jumping ability in elderly patients with heart failure.’