Zumba Fitness News
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More interesting news found along the way during my exhaustive search for 'yummy' Zumba stuff :-)
Dance Your Way to a Hot Bod!
I thought this post was really great - had to share :-)
Momlogic's Winter: Zumba, a new fitness craze, is sweeping the country so fast that I had to check it out here in Los Angeles. Days later, my butt still hurts.
I consider myself a fairly fit woman, logging in four-plus workouts a week, drinking sugar-free cranberry juice daily and giving random lectures to friends and family on the importance of veggies. However, nothing could have prepared me for the butt-breaking combination of salsa, hip hop, cardio and strength training known as Zumba. All I could say during every combination was, "Thank you, God, that I have rhythm."
Walking into the dance studio at 7 a.m., there was a whopping total of four other die-hard workout junkies. However, I found out some things very quickly:
1. When an instructor is late, he will make up for it by working you harder .
2. Small classes mean that he can yell at you like a Nazi easier and also...
3. Find out if you're taking an advanced class in the beginning, versus the end of the class.
The workout began with a quick dance-inspired warm-up and was followed by multiple salsa, merengue and hip hop combinations--with 3-pound weights in tow. Despite the early hour, the salsa music was amazing and my legs were remembering everything. I felt pretty good until we had to pull out the barre--the next 15 minutes was a grueling combination of butt-killing leg lifts to the back and side, 30 plus calf-raises on each leg, and push-ups and crunches in between sets.
"You gotta lift higher and go faster than that! WORK THOSE BUNS! BURN THOSE BUNS!" Wil kept barking in my ear as I was attempting to hold in my abs and not cling to the barre. After the barres were put away and squats and booty-shaking done, he had us pull out the mats for floor butt-work. Not lifting my leg high enough received a motivating poke as the Nazi/instructor loomed over me. But at the end of the class, he rewarded us with a soothing stretch.
I am currently feeling the endorphin kickback and relaxation that only a good workout can give. My trouble-spot tummy feels toned and the wobbly bits were engaged. And while I was thinking that the man was insane the entire class, I'll be going back soon for more.
According to a recent news ad:
Zumba is a fun and exciting fitness program inspired by Latin American dance. It combines Latin rhythms with cardiovascular exercise to create an aerobic routine that is fun and easy to follow. The name Zumba is derived from a Colombian word meaning to move fast.
Zumba utilizes the principles of fitness interval training and resistance training to maximize caloric output, fat burning, and total body toning. It is a way of mixing body sculpting movements with easy-to-follow dance steps. The upbeat Latin rhythms take the work out of working out.
If that is not enticing enough, 'the class' (the class mentioned in this news ad is in Maine) is taught by a 53-year-old mother of four who proclaims to "live, eat and sleep Zumba." Watching her in motion is inspiring and it is no mystery why the class is full of happy people of all ages. Currently the age range of dancers is from 16 to 60 and they welcome more. Come join the fun and shake away your stress in this upbeat environment.
Samba Lines at the Gym
By MIREYA NAVARRO, LOS ANGELES
From New York Time, July 10, 2008
WITH a name like Zumba, the exercise class defined by its Latin rhythms and party atmosphere was not exactly an easy sell at first.
“Zumba?” people would ask. (It connotes buzzing like a bee, or going fast, in Spanish.)
Worse, it could have run the course of any other fitness fad: Word of mouth excitement. Feverish following. Media attention. Hardcore fans. Then on to the next fitness craze.
But five years after arriving in gyms and dance studios, Zumba Fitness (www.zumba.com) keeps expanding, most recently into schools, senior centers and unconquered territory like New York City, and some foreign markets.
A session of Zumba, a cardio-dance routine, can feel like a trip to the nightclub of a cruise ship, where a well-toned crew member teaches you to wiggle your hips and do the fast footwork for a mix of dance styles to the thump of loud music. While Zumba crowds are not plied with alcohol, people often throw away inhibitions — they pump their arms, applaud, let out “yeahs” — as they work out.
More than 3.5 million Zumba DVDs have sold through infomercials and about 20,000 instructors in 40 countries now teach Zumba, 15,000 of those in the United States, said Alberto Perlman, the chief executive of Zumba Fitness, in Hollywood, Fla.
Recent additions include ZumbAtomic, a program on DVD for children 5 to 12 ; Zumba Gold, classes for people 60 and older; and Zumba Toning, a sculpturing program using weighted sticks that sound like maracas, offered on DVD and through classes starting this year. Still to come are water exercise classes called Aquazumba, and a guide to all things Zumba (including a nutrition plan) to be published next spring.
The man who started it all, Alberto Perez, 37, said he still does not fully grasp the empire he has created.
“Remember when Forrest Gump started running and people followed him?” Mr. Perez said. “I feel like the Forrest Gump of dance.”
MR. PEREZ, a former aerobics trainer from Colombia, said he stumbled upon his fitness concept by accident. In 1986, as he was about to teach a class in Cali, Colombia, he realized he had forgotten his aerobics music tapes. He grabbed his own music from his car — salsa and merengue from El Gran Combo, Las Chicas del Can and other popular bands — and improvised the class.
From then on, he said, his students refused to go back to the old tum-tum-tum-tum aerobics beat. He taught in Bogotá, Colombia, and, in 1999, in Miami, where he got together with Mr. Perlman and another fellow Colombian, Alberto Aghion, to offer Zumba videos through infomercials.
The enthusiasm for Zumba is now in evidence in cities like Los Angeles, where more than 100 instructors offer classes. Most students are women, but the cross-section of ages, from 20 to 60 in one class, speaks of Zumba’s wide appeal, despite its challenging pace.
Over the course of an hour, a Zumba class will span a variety of dance rhythms, like mambo, cha-cha, cumbia, and merengue, with the occasional hip-hop or belly dancing move thrown in. Because instructors are free to put their own stamp on things, a sampling of classes in the Los Angeles area at prices from $10 to $15 a class yielded somewhat different styles.
Lisa Blasco at Anisa’s Dance Studio in Sherman Oaks, Calif., lent her class an old aerobics feel with shouts and clapping. Gina Amato at Do It Now Fitness Club in Los Angeles was quieter, focusing on movements like the upper body undulation of belly dancing.
At different sites in the San Fernando Valley, Juan Pablo Santana, a former aerobics trainer, kept an intense pace that combined dance with aerobics.
And at classes in Beverly Hills and Culver City, Wilson Williams, known to his followers as Wil, combined Zumba with boot camp: he makes his students do 10 push-ups and 30 crunches in between music sets and sometimes dance while holding 3- to 5-pound weights.
During his Friday afternoon class at Your Neighborhood Studio in Culver City, he instructed: abdomens in and out. But when most abdomens seemed to be on strike, he stopped the dancing and barked: “Do 30 crunches and teach your tummy to listen to you!”
Talk to his sweat-drenched students, though, and all they recall is the fun. “I wouldn’t call it a party, but it’s such a great way to dance,” said Barbara Linton, a health food caterer and avid walker in West Los Angeles who has been attending Mr. Williams’s classes for the last four months. “It’s high-spirited, it’s uplifting. It’s brought me back to listening to music while I’m cooking.”
Health club industry representatives say Zumba is benefiting from higher attendance rates for group exercise classes and from a dancing trend in fitness that some clubs attribute to popular reality shows like “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Dancing With the Stars.”
The International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association says dance classes have steadily expanded among its 5,700 member clubs. A census by the organization found that 1,017 of its clubs had dance programming this year, compared with 749 in 2002 and 603 in 2001.
DESPITE a sluggish start in New York City in 2006, Mr. Perlman said, instructor workshops in the city are now selling out. Lori Lowell, the national group fitness director for Gold’s Gym International, the country’s largest health club chain with nearly 600 clubs, says Zumba remains popular even at locations that started the classes five years ago.
She said the classes, offered at 120 locations, continue to grow, and attributes Zumba’s success to its simplicity. “Easy moves, not a lot of talking or choreography,” she said. “Because of the music, people are not afraid to try it.”
For clubs, Zumba’s appeal is that it requires no licensing fees or investment in materials, just a Zumba-trained teacher. (The training program is not rigorous: an eight-hour workshop is all it takes to become an instructor, with continued learning through CDs and DVDs and online access to new steps, music recommendations and tips.)
Ms. Lowell said the program could benefit from more stringent certification to maintain quality; Mr. Perlman said this was in the works for next year.
Zumba draws those adept at Latin beats, and about 30 percent of both instructors and those who attend classes are Latino, Mr. Perlman estimated.
Rosemary Lavery, a spokeswoman for the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, said Latino membership among health clubs has been on the rise, now accounting for 19 percent, compared with 15 percent in 2005, but she couldn’t say how much Zumba had to do with the trend.
On a recent Saturday night at the Spectrum athletic club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., for a Zumba dance-a-thon held by Mr. Williams, Fred Partiyeli, 44, said he enjoyed the classes but understood why he was among only a few men. “Men mostly like to exercise the upper body and chest,” he said. “They want to feel that their muscles are tighter. Zumba makes you sweat and you need a lot of coordination. If it goes too fast, I can’t follow.”
Some studios advertise that Zumba can lead to an 800-calorie loss per class, but Ms. Lowell said too many variables are at play to make such claims. Aerobics classes can burn 350 to 700 calories, she said, depending on the person.
Amy Wetzel, 24, said she has lost 28 pounds since January with Zumba, but she has taken five to six classes a week.
Fitness experts say Zumba is likely to endure. “People want to do something that’s a lot of fun,” Ms. Lowell said. “Where time flies by, and it’s not that complicated. They don’t want to think too much.”
Zumba Your Way to Fitness
Author: Vicki F. Chavis
Published: May 23, 2008
Thanks to Vicki Chavis for writing this awesome article on Zumba for all of us Zumba lovers and potential Zumba fans!
Working out shouldn't be drudgery, but often is. In a Zumba class you move muscles, burn calories and have fun while dancing to an irresistible Latin beat.
Spreading like wildfire, Zumba (pronounced zoom bah) has an ever-growing fanbase of mostly women, aged 10 to 100, who claim that Zumba is the best party around. The Zumba fitness philosophy is simple: interval cardio and resistance training to maximize caloric burning, fat burning, and total body toning all set to an irresistable Latin beat. You move, you sweat, you love the music. And then you keep coming back for more.
What is Zumba
Zumba is a fitness program inspired by Latin music and dance moves such as the Cha-Cha, Merengue, Salsa, Mambo, Calypso, Belly Dance, and Rock & Roll thrown in for good measure. It's more like dancing than exercise, although Zumba is aligned with AFAA (Aerobic & Fitness Association of America), ACE (American Council on Exercise), and CANFITPRO (Canadian Personal Trainer Association). Touted as the biggest fitness trend for 2008, Zumba has over 3 million people in over 35 countries around the world losing inches while trimming and toning every muscle in their bodies.
The History of Zumba
Celebrity trainer, Alberto"Beto" Perez, stumbled onto the concept of Latin-inspired fitness in his native country of Colombia one day quite by accident. He showed up to teach an aerobics class without his music and had to improvise by using his own music on tapes from his personal collection in his car. His beloved music was comprised of what he'd been listening to his whole life, a blend of Latin and international songs. His challenge was to improvise an hour-long workout and from this modest beginning - a last-minute improvisation - a revolutionary fitness program was created. His Zumba class became the most popular class at his fitness facility. Not long afterwards, "Beto" took his idea to the United States, where a global company was launched in 1999.
Zumba is All About Fun
The workout begins slowly with simple steps, then moves to a medium pace. As soon as the instructor has the class warmed up, the music pulls you in and no matter how well you know the steps, the music is a magnet and you are pulled along, swept into the Zumba party atmosphere. You can burn as many as one thousand calories per class. Zumba participants achieve long-term benefits while experiencing exhilarating, energizing, sexy movements that inspire and uplift. Prepare to get hooked on this dynamic and effective fitness program after your first class.
Where Do You Zumba
As of 2008, Zumba has over 11,000 certified intstructors in thirty-five countries, sold over 3 million dvds, and changed the lives of an estimated 2 million Zumba fanatics. By the time this article is published, those numbers will have blasted to a new high. Why? Because, as they say at Zumba, it is the "best party around and Zumba makes fitness fun!" Whether you want to participate in a local class or ramp it up a notch and become a Zumba fitness instructor, opportunities are available in many cities in North America, and internationally as well.
Zumba Gold for Older Active Adults
For the 78 million baby boomers across the United States, a milder version of Zumba exists. It is called Zumba Gold and offers the same exciting, stimulating music set to a lower impact version of regular Zumba. No matter your age or ability, there is a Zumba class for you. Baby boomers continue to press the limits of youth and vitality. Zumba Gold is a way to keep body and spirit alive and regenerated. As any good Zumba instructor will tell you, "it's exercise in disguise, so ditch the workout and join the party!"
Live...laugh...love...ZUMBA!
Vivez...Riez...Aimez...ZUMBA!
For all you Zumba Fitness lovers out there, please check out our Blog:
Zumba With Heather.
If you want to know what Zumba Fitness is, it is a latin dance-based fitness class that's guaranteed to be fun!
This site was designed by Heather Diodati
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