ZUMBA for Fitness Fun

Have you ever heard of Zumba? It is a latin dance-exercise that has been popular for several years. Just recently they brought in a trainer to our community here in Siena. I have been to several classes and just love the pulsating Latin rhythm and aerobic dance steps. The music itself makes you want to dance and have fun. I found out that I am using muscles that I don’t use in my regular workouts. It has a lot of core and oblique muscle work. Zumba burns 500-1000 calories in a one hour session, especially if you really “get down” with it. It is just plain FUN!  If you hate exercising and love to dance this is for you. It will help you to stick to your exercise.  The best part is you really don’t have to know how to dance at all. Anyone, young, old or in between can do it. If you like music and want to have fun, this is for you!

Our Zumba class starts with a warm-up session, then breaks into the main session and ends with a nice slow cool down. The hour just flies by. Annie, our instructor does different routines each time, so it is never boring and each class is fresh and fun. Zumba mixes it up with body sculpting movements and dance steps from cumbia, merengue, salsa, reggaeton, hip hop, mambo, rumba, flamenco and calypso. Zumba targets many areas of the body such as your legs, arms, glutes, abdominals and the heart. The routines are a mix of aerobic/fitness interval training with a combination of fast and slow rhythms that help to tone and sculpt the body.  Zumba is wonderful for your mind, body and attitude.

Zumba originated in Columbia, South America in the 90′s. The creator, Alberto “Beto” Perez, was a fitness instructor in Miami. One day he forgot his regular music for class. He took the Latin music tapes from his car and improvised with some dance steps for his class that day. Everyone loved it and the rest is history.  It Is and has been a great success.

I found a few You Tube videos of Zumba classes, but since Annie is our instructor and even though this is not the best video for clarity, I thought you might enjoy it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvPOpLr9TaM[/youtube]

You can see for yourself Zumba is loaded with lots of red-hot dance steps, great Latin music that keeps you moving and grooving and even shaking the weight off. It is really bunches of fun. If you haven’t tried it I highly recommend it.  If you live in Siena the classes are Monday and Friday mornings at 8:00 AM. Yep, 8:00 AM.  It starts your day out right and you will be looking forward to the next class. Remember to bring a towel and lots of water. You will do some sweating!

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