Guest blogger Lynn Langway, a former Newsweek editor, takes Zumba, Jazzercise, and spin classes in a futile effort to combat her restaurant habit. She writes regularly about health and trave. You can find her at lynnlangway.com and @travelcentricny, as well as at the gym.
Blame it on Jennifer Lopez or “Dancing with the Stars,” but the Latin-flavored dance workout called Zumba has become the hottest trend in aerobics since Jane Fonda hung up her leg-warmers.
Zumba blends hiphop moves with steps from merengue, cha cha, and other Latin dances–its catchy trademarked name is a play on “rumba”–and a 150-pound person can burn 400-600 calories in one fast-paced, 60-minute class. Created by a Colombian aerobics teacher and launched in Miami, FL as a business in 2001, Zumba has since sashayed into 90,000 locations in 110 countries where millions shimmy every week to an infectious mix of world music—salsa, reggaeton, Bollywood pop, and more.
Zumba follows in the successful footsteps of other aerobic dance programs–Jazzercise, for example, is still going strong after 42 years–and has pumped up its profile with shrewd marketing. You can buy Zumba DVDs, music CDs and video games, dance at charity Zumbathons, enroll in the Zumba Academy for instructors or take Zumba classes designed for kids, seniors, and aqua-aerobics fans.
But the real power behind Zumba’s popularity may be the simple fact that it’s so much fun. “It’s the only workout I do that doesn’t feel like work,” says Alison Livanos, 31, who also jogs and spins regularly. She takes the same Sunday morning class that I enjoy in Port Jefferson, N.Y., where 20 of us, ages 20 to 65+–sometimes including an intrepid man or two—sweat happily to J-Lo, Shakira, and Daddy Yankee. There are no calisthenics or weights to lift, and the cheerful choreography is fairly easy to grasp. “Most everyone enjoys cutting loose on the dance floor at parties or weddings,” says our energetic-but-patient teacher, Samantha Davidson, 41. “Zumba brings that fun-loving vibe to fitness.”
Like other aerobic dance classes, Zumba can combat obesity and benefit your heart, bone density, and balance, says orthopedic surgeon Angela Smith, MD, a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine. Dance can be even better for your body than running, she notes, because it fosters “quickness, agility, and flexibility’” by using many different muscles at varying speeds. To avoid injury, she cautions, new students should start slowly and talk to the instructor about modifying steps to accommodate any knee or hip problems they might have. Dancers should also wear cross-trainers or dance sneakers with good arch support and roomy toe boxes. And they should pick shoes that allow smooth side-to-side movements—the better to glide across the gym without a glitch.
CONNECT THE DOTS
Learn more about the benefits of aerobic exercise from the American Heart Association. To find the right footwear for aerobic dancing, see this guide from the American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine. Find inspiration to break through your diet rut! And to read about other healthy dance classes that both sexes can enjoy, check out our blog posts “Do Real Men Take Ballet?”
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