A little celebrity flavour at this year’s Let’s Dance Bhangrathon!
One year came around really quickly to this year’s #LetsDance national campaign – spearheaded by TV personality Angela Rippon – who is all about dance and getting people moving through dance movement!
For the second-year running, on National Dance Day (Sunday 8th March, 2026), BBX Bhangra Fitness laid on a ‘free for all’ mega-class for anyone in Birmingham and the surrounding areas to attend with one mission only – to try out Bhangra dancing in the form of an accessible, fitness workout format. The results were amazing:
1 x BBX Bhangrathon
10 x BBX Bhangra Fitness Instructors
244 x Attendees
This year’s Bhangrathon started with the airing of a special video message sent by the legend herself, Angela Rippon CBE, wishing us the best time dancing together for the event.  Then – joined by a team of 10 BBX Fitness Instructors who deliver BBX Bhangra fitness classes in Sutton Coldfield, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Harborne, Oldbury and Solihull – BBX co-founder Bally Bhogal led the event with a party-style mix of Bhangra tracks to deliver the perfect fitness experience to get in those essential steps, calorie counts and increases in heart rate!
…and let’s not forget…
1 x Dr. Hussain Al-Zubeidi! 😊
We were also honoured to have in the class, Dr. Hussain Al-Zubeidi, the renowned Lifestyle Medicine expert, who is an activist in physical activity and movement, a triathlete, a parkrun leader and a regular guest on TV talk shows such ITV’s This Morning spreading the word about moving to change your life outcomes. At the end of the session, Dr. Al-Zubeidi addressed the class with some brief closing comments on the benefits and importance of dance and other types of exercise for both physical and mental wellbeing.
The Benefits of Dance
But what are the benefits of dance and what have recent studies shown? TV Doctor, Dr. Michael Mosley in
+his Just One Thing podcast episode on ‘Dance’ explained that:
- Dancing reduces the risk of stroke or heart attack by 46% when compared to other types of activities at the same intensity!
- Dancing is associated with the greatest reduced risk of dementia – by a huge 76%!
- Dance can get your heartbeat up over 140 beats per minute and help you burn up to 340 calories, every half an hour.
In his latest blog around the #LetsDance campaign, Dr Al-Zubeidi has implored his NHS colleagues to move more within the workplace and to ‘exercise snack’ to reduce fatigue, stress and to improve focus. Here are his top tips for embedding exercise into everyday routines:
Top Tips for Embedding Everyday Exercise:
- Rethink the space at work: Standing desks and walk-talks: swap some seated meetings for brief walking discussions or use adjustable desks to break up long periods of sitting.
- Build flexibility into breaks: Micro-breaks: set a reminder to stand, stretch, or walk every 45 minutes. These bursts of movement can reduce fatigue and improve focus!
- Active travel: where feasible, encourage walking or cycling to work through cycle-to-work schemes.
- Lead by Example/Visible Participation: when team leaders join a lunchtime walk or share how a brief stretch helped them reset, it sends a clear message that small steps matter.
- Use Easy-to-Adopt Tools: NHS Active 10 app: this free app tracks brisk walking in 10-minute bursts, letting you fit activity into gaps in your day!
Read Dr. Hussain Al-Zubeidi’s full blog on Movement Matters below: https://www.england.nhs.uk/blog/movement-matters-why-supporting-physical-activity-in-nhs-staff-is-good-for-everyone/
CHANGE THE OUTCOMES OF YOUR BY MOVING WITH BBX BHANGRA FITNESS!
- Join our classes via bbx.fitness/find-a-class
- Â Got a question? Email us at information@bbx.fitness
- Join our tribe @BBXBhangraFitness on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook!
Bruahh!
The BBX Team 😊
