 rgupta
Ram Gupta is a management consultant.
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People dance or people exercise. The former is done for creative satisfaction and the latter for weight loss and fitness. But what if you could combine the two, and get the best of both worlds? It may not sound like such a new idea, but with Zumba, the latest dance-exercise weight loss mantra catching on around the world, this combination becomes more fun and effective than ever before. Here are some details on how Zumba helps for losing weight.
What Is It?
Zumba is the brainchild of Alberto Perez, an aerobics instructor, and it involves a combination of dance rhythms of varying intensities, all borrowed from different Latin dances. The music is also Latin, and the whole session involves intervals of fast paced, vigorous dancing, punctuated by spells of slower and more relaxed movements. A typical session is an hour long, and the music tracks play non-stop, which means that there is no period of complete rest. In other words, your body burns a serious amount of calories every second of that one hour!
How Many Calories Does Zumba Burn?
The calorie count expended by Zumba is the most impressive part for weight loss aspirants. An hour of Zumba can burn anywhere between 500 to 850 calories, depending on your body weight and fitness levels. For example, a 150-lb person is expected to burn about 535 calories during an hour of Zumba. Compare this to moderate swimming, which for the same person would burn less than 420 calories an hour, racquetball at under 500 calories an hour, and jogging at 680 calories an hour. In other words, Zumba is great for weight loss!
How Popular and Genuine Is Zumba For Weight Loss?
Zumba may appear quite spontaneous, but it is anything but random. Ever since it was created in 2001, this dance-exercise routine has spread to over 110 countries, and 10 million people. The instructors are all fully trained, and there is a full-fledged Zumba academy in the US, where they are required to get a license. Besides, there are different kinds of sessions, customized for people with different levels of fitness and dancing skills. So, whether you are a beginner or someone who is already quite fit and a competent dancer, you can gain a lot from a Zumba class.
By bringing in intense spells of dance-exercise and periods of light movement, Zumba incorporates the principles of interval training. This is known to burn more calories than single-paced exercise, dancing or aerobics, and accelerate fitness levels faster. Indeed, with Zumba, you will not only burn calories, but also tone your muscles, boost your metabolic rate and improve your flexibility.
While Zumba is great for weight loss, it is also a lot of fun. One great plus point is that during your hour, you don’t feel like you are grinding out an exercise. This helps you stay motivated and interested. In fact, the Zumba Academy advertises some cases of people who lost up to 100-lb, with Zumba as their only cardiovascular exercise. So, do check out your neighborhood class. Zumba might just be the kind of weight loss workout you were looking for!
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