Zumba is an exercise fitness program that involves dance and aerobics. It was found in the 1990s in Colombia accidentally by a Colombian dancer and fitness trainer, Alberto ‘’Beto’’ ‘’power pedal’’ Perez.
He forgot his playlist for the normal workout routine at home and he grabbed some Latin music CDs from his car and abandoned the constraints of a normal workout and started dancing like he would dance in a club. His class followed along, loving and sweating to the salsa and rumba beats.
Zumba is an insanely good exercise with its many benefit. It is the perfect exercise for people who don’t like strenuous exercise activities, people who don’t want to go to the gym or go running as well as people who just can’t.
Zumba is fun and stress relieving and can be done by anyone ranging from little kids to older adults because of the different types of Zumba classes.
Zumba involves dance and aerobic movements performed to energetic music. It is usually a combination of hip hop, samba, salsa, mambo, soca and a couple others. It involves lunges and squats as well.
The classes are led by a licensed Zumba instructor and these classes are usually about an hour long. In an hour Zumba class, it is possible to burn about 500-1000 calories, depending on the energy put into the exercise. There are 9 types of Zumba classes. These are:
- Zumba gold: this class is for beginners and older people. It is usually not as strenuous so that the class don’t find it difficult to keep up.
- Zumba step: it is a class that mainly consists of routines for the lower body. It mostly consists of rumba routines and step aerobics.
- Zumba toning: this is for people that do their workouts with toning sticks. It combines different routines that target the abdominal muscles i.e. the abs, the arms, thighs and other muscles of the body. It combines cardio and strength training and gives a strong core.
- Aqua fitness: this involves the Zumba instructor on the sidelines and the remaining of the class in shallow water such as the pool.
- Zumba in the circuit: this type is done as circuit training. it combines circuit training with dancing and usually lasts for just 30 minutes cause of how strenuous it gets
- Zumba kids and Zumba kids’ Jr: for children from ages 7-11.
- Zumba gold toning: this is for older people. Its a bit more strenuous that Zumba gold. It is for those that want to put in more work and helps improving muscle strength. It also improves posture, mobility and co ordinance in older people.
- Zumba sentao: all of the routines in this type of Zumba are performed on a chair. It makes use of body weight to strengthen the core of the body and tone the entire body.
Zumba has been found to be helpful for older adults, as well as everyone else as it helps keep their cardiovascular fitness. According to popular study and survey, zumba fitness training has been described as being invigorating and free.
It has been found to have both physical and mental benefits. It burns as much calories as running for the same amount of time.
After 8 weeks of performing Zumba fitness training, it was found that some women had their quality of life jumped by nine percent and their self-esteem increased by sixteen percent.
According to a study on its psychological benefits, people who perform Zumba fitness training feel more independent and with the sense of their life being more purposeful.
Zumba instructors are licensed and every Zumba workout is different from each other because of different instructors. Each instructor tailors the workout with their own different fitness routines but still keeping the fundamentals of Zumba to provide a strong aerobic and muscular workout.
Make sure the instructor is fully qualified to teach Zumba and they comply with health and safety regulations to ensure you get the best from the training. Zumba moves the entire body which helps weight loss and keeps the entire body fit and lean. Anyone can do Zumba, even if you are new to exercise.
There is no special equipment needed for Zumba and you can perform Zumba in the comfort of your home. You can perform Zumba alone or with family or friends to make the experience more exciting and fun.