It’s week two at Dance Your Ass Off and the contestants are off and running, or rather dancing. This week was disco week, and we saw the contestants working hard in the gym this week to get them ready to hustle.

Last week the contestants lost a combined 85 pounds, and with this weeks’ combined loss, they’re up to a total loss of 121. Those are big numbers and they’re working to lose that weight in both the gym and on the dance floor. DYAO trainer Lee Wall tells us about the extra leg work he had them doing this week to prepare them for their ’70s dance moves.

I cannot promise that all mental health professionals take their own advice, but I try not to speak outside of my own experience. I suppose I could say the same thing for dance instruction. Recently, when working with a fairly new salsa student, I encouraged him to try to get the pattern of the basic step cemented by just walking around his house left-right-left-pause, right-left-right-pause, stepping toe to heel rather than heel to toe. While I worked with him for almost an hour just reviewing all the details of the basic step, I was reminded yet again what a great workout just this basic dance step can be. If you really concentrate on proper technique and body isolations, you are using a lot of different muscles, and I find just one song can have me out of breath.

One of the sassiest hits of the summer television season has finally hit the airwaves. Dance Your Ass Off premiered Monday night on the Oxygen network and was met with instant fan attraction.

The premise is simple – take one part Dancing With the Stars, one part Biggest Loser, add a Tony-award winning host, and just a dash of a $100,000 prize and you’ve got the recipe for a hit weight loss reality show. Twelve contestants were selected to do what many have done on DWTS, dance the weight off. They’ll also pair their training with fitness and nutrition guidance from the likes of Biggest Loser’s Dr. Huizenga.

Host Marissa Jaret Winokur, from “Hairspray,” said “you don’t have to starve yourself and be miserable to lose weight.” This is a principle that has made Biggest Loser’s weight loss program so approachable to millions. If you make healthy changes while doing what you love, then you’ll no doubt see your goals met.

Check out this premiere recap, then read below to learn more about Dance Your Ass Off.

We’ve heard about the incredible weight loss celebrities enjoy after a stint on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars. Did any of them really ever have that much weight to lose? Well, now there’s a new dance-off show where people who do stand to lose some weight will have their chance. Monday, June 29, Dance Your Ass Off, or DYAO, will premiere on the Oxygen network, a high-energy show helping people achieve their dance floor dreams while fitting into a smaller dance uniform.

DYAO is hosted by Marissa Jaret Winokur, best known as Tracy Turnblad in Broadway’s hit musical Hairspray, who will serve as an energetic and positive leader for the 12 contestants ready to move it ’til they lose it.

Jason, Matt, and I have all blogged about the importance of music to our workouts. There has been a lot of research about the effect of music on mood and even matching tempo to heart rate. There also appears to be a magic number for volume; Spinal Tap had it right all along.

Dr. Neil Todd and his team has been cited extensively on their research regarding the sacculus, an organ in the inner ear that helps regulate balance. The sacculus is attached to the hypothalamus by the vestibular nerve. The hypothalamus is the part of the brain that helps regulate appetite, libido, temperature, anger, and fatigue. They report that this connection could explain the rush that many feel when their balance is effected through carnival rides, bungee jumping, or even swinging as a child.