Zumba Class For Weight Loss

The international success of Zumba, a Latin aerobic dance exercise, attests to the fact participants feel exhilarated enough to look forward to their next class and return regularly to achieve significant, measurable weight loss. Zumba classes provide you with an hour of eminently danceable tunes and choreographed moves designed to burn 300 to 700 or more calories. This level of exertion compares favorably with running and swimming, but in a painless package that may well attract you even if you consider yourself averse to exercise.

Features

Zumba fitness classes combine Latin dance forms including salsa, meringue, bachata, cumbia, cha-cha, capoeira and belly-dancing, as well international music showcasing African rhythms and Indian bhangra hits. Your Zumba instructor mixes tempos so that you put forth maximum effort on uptempo choreography and gather your breath on slower songs. Instructors cue the moves and sometimes take requests. The instructor and high-energy class members can inspire you to dance harder than you would with a DVD at home and burn more calories.

Effects

Because "Zumba is based on interval training, it will take heart rate up and then drops it down, so you're constantly pushing your body through the songs," says Adelicia Villagaray, a certified Zumba instructor in Baltimore, Maryland. "You burn so many calories because you enjoy the music so much. If a song moves you, you put energy into it." This principle of interval training, originally designed for elite athletes, works well for average exercisers, too, MayoClinic.com reports.

Benefits

Villagaray and other instructors around the nation report cases of participants losing 50, 70 and 100 lb. or more relying on Zumba dancing as their sole cardio exercise. In addition to the calorie burn, Zumba, like other forms of dance, serves as a social activity that can lead to friendships, such that you and your workout buddies band together to lose weight. Zumba may appeal if you cannot find the motivation to go to a gym to walk on a treadmill, but will put a dance class on your must-do list. As a stress-reducer, it can also prevent nervous eating.

Types

If you are new to Zumba or exercise in general, take a Zumba Gold class aimed at beginners or active seniors. You may want to watch a regular Zumba class for one session to get a feel for the steps before diving in. If you want more body sculpting, take Zumba Toning, which uses weighted, maraca-like sticks to build arm strength.

Strategy

Zumba classes focus on having fun, enabling you to forget about the time and any feelings of fatigue. Participants are often shocked to see the scale after regularly attending Zumba classes, Villagaray says. If you want to lose weight steadily, she recommends taking a calorie counter to several different instructors' classes to see which offers the biggest burn. Take the most active class two or three times a week; if you really want to burn off weight, take classes five times a week, allowing for rest days. Combine Zumba with a healthy diet designed to cut 500 calories a day, and strength training, for best results.