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Difference Between Hip Hop Abs & Zumba

Nov 8, 2011 | By Andy Josiah

Hip Hop Abs and Zumba are trademarked, dance-oriented fitness programs that were founded in the United States and Colombia, respectively. The fitness and dietary supplement company Beachbody LLC, based in Santa Monica, California, developed Hip Hop Abs as one of its many home exercise programs. Zumba inspired the establishment of Zumba Fitness, LLC, which is headquartered in Hallandale, Florida; it remains the company's sole brand.

Origins

Hip Hop Abs was established in 2006 by U.S. fitness trainer and choreographer Shaun Thompson, better known as Shaun T, in response to Beachbody's search for an intense workout program to promote. Zumba preceded Hip Hop Abs by at least a decade. It was founded in the 1990s by Colombian dancer and choreographer Alberto "Beto" Perez. He brought Zumba to the U.S. in 1999 after becoming successful with the program in his homeland.

Approach

Although both Hip Hop Abs and Zumba base their exercise on dance, the two approaches differ. It can benefit the body as a whole, but Hip Hop Abs is primarily designed to toughen and sculpt abdominal muscles with hip-hop dances -- as the name suggests. Zumba, on the other hand, has a more holistic focus. Its approach is to target every aspect of physical fitness based on Latin-inspired dance. It is actually promoted as dance disguised as exercise.

Format

The Hip Hop Abs program comes on DVDs. Customers get four DVDs: "Secrets to Flat Abs," "Fat Burning Cardio," "Ab Sculpt" and "Total Body Burn." A nutrition guide, workout calendar and 24-hour online support are included with the discs, for a package price of around $60 as of 2011. Zumba also offers a DVD package called the "Zumba Exhilarate DVD Experience." Costing about $90 as of 2011, it includes DVDs that represent the seven class types, according to age and type of exertion: Zumba; Zumba Gold; Zumba Toning; Aqua Zumba; Zumbatomic; Zumba in the Circuit; and Zumba Gold Toning. However, Zumba is primarily a class-based program, with thousands of trained fitness instructors available at places such as gyms, fitness centers, dance studios and educational institutions.

Popularity

According to Beachbody, Hip Hop Abs was the best-selling workout video program in the U.S. in 2007. Zumba, however, is the more popular fitness program. The "Daily Telegraph" of Britain reported in 2009 that there were more than 20,000 Zumba instructors in 35 countries. Also, as of 2011, it has yielded a pair of video games, "Zumba Fitness" and "Zumba Fitness 2," published by Majesco Entertainment for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii gaming consoles.

References

Article reviewed by Teresa Mullins Last updated on: Nov 8, 2011

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