By Natalie Carter
www.newoutlookfitness.com.au
So you’ve seen the infomercials with the bronzed, sexy girl zumba-ing her way to an amazing body, but does it work?
Zumba is the latest fitness in many gyms and community halls. It’s famous slogan “Ditch the workout and join the party” has seen millions flock to classes with friends or purchase the boxed DVD’s through its website or through TV shopping. Zumba is a one-hour, Latin inspired dance-fitness program. Since it began in 2001, 12 million people of all shapes, sizes and ages taking weekly Zumba classes in over 110,000 locations across more than 125 countries. There are also different types of classes: Zumba Toning, Aqua Zumba, and even Zumbatomic (a kid’s class). I’m yet to be a convert so I enlisted the help of some Zumba officiandos to share their experiences.
The First time exercisers:
Having tried running with no results due to boredom, Alison tried Zumba and managed to lose 45kg. She changed her diet but feels Zumba really helped her shift more weight than anything else she had tried before.
However on the other hand, Nadia describes her Zumba experience as “a workout that people do to avoid having to push themselves. I hate running and I don’t particularly love weights, but at the end of the day, you work hard and you get results. Zumba is every lazy person’s best friend.” She tried Zumba before having PT sessions and felt it didn’t match that one of her PT sessions (that includes high intensity cardio and weights). It was only after the introduction of weights/resistance training that she has managed to lose over 18 kilos.
The Mummy:
Lyndall has 3 kids and has been doing Zumba for 4 years and swears by it. “I do cardio and weights. Zumba is mainly for fun and a little change from my other routine. It’s nice to dance and move and work up a sweat, rather than just squat, do lunges and pushups. When asked if she felt she achieved results from her weekly Zumba classes, she said “I don’t know if I achieved any goals. However it was nice I could still be active even 9 months into both pregnancies.”
The regular exercisers:
Gillian tried Zumba but didn’t feel it matched her current fitness regime.”I just found it wasn’t much of a workout”. She was working out 4 times a week when she tried Zumba. “I’m also not into dance workouts”
Similarly, Amanda was a onetime attendee and said “It’s a really go laugh with friends but you need really good coordination,” something she lacked. She was also quick to mention, it doesn’t really break a sweat or get your heart rate up because you’re still learning so doing the movements slowly.
Ling Pang says it’s all down to the instructor. She says “I didn’t mind Zumba but I found my instructor was ok but not very fun”
Nat’s Opinion:
As a fitness professional, Zumba just doesn’t cut it for me. It’s a largely cardio based workout and in my opinion not the way to get the best results. It also has one of my most hated elements as part of its program- holding tiny hand weights whilst moving vigorously. Read more here. However that’s not to say people don’t lose weight or achieve great results from doing it. At the end of the day it encourages people to exercise (or dance) plus they can do it in the privacy of their own homes. You will still burn calories and if you modify your eating habits (diet) then you will achieve some weight loss. Maybe I’m just jealous because I’m un-co when it comes to pre-choreographed routines. Note: I dance REALLY well but just not in a class. I actually got kicked out of tap/jazz class when I was 5 because I wanted to be the instructor…Whoops!
I think the more variation we add into our fitness regime the better. If this means a Zumba class, two weights/resistance sessions and a yoga class; then awesome, that is a well rounded program!
Stay awesome until next time,
Nat.
