Zumba Dance Workout

The Zumba dance was discovered during the 1990s when an aerobics instructor from Colombia, Alberto Perez, realized he had forgotten the music he normally brings to his aerobics class.

This led him to use the music tapes he already had which were music played to the salsa, samba, merengue and a few other Latin dances.

The movements from these dances along with that of aerobics resulted in the creation of a new dance fitness program which he named Zumba.

Dancing has always been noted for its effectiveness in burning off calories.

Generally a person can burn between 140 to 500 calories an hour when dancing although this greatly depends on the type of dance, its intensity and the person’s weight.

For example doing the Cha Cha or Salsa would help you burn more calories than the Waltz or Tango. If you were over weight you would also burn the calories faster.

The same applies to the Zumba dance. The heavier you are the more you burn.

For example, if you weigh around 150 lbs and did a 45 minute Zumba dance workout you would burn around 300 calories. But if you weighed 250 lbs and did the workout for the same period of time (45 minutes) you would burn about 500 calories.

For those unable to find a Zumba class to attend to there’s always another alternative: DVD’s.

Alberto Perez has introduced 3 types of DVDs for people to choose from.

For the beginner there’s the 20 minute Zumba dance workout called the "Rush."

For a 40 minute workout the "Activate" DVD is available.

For the 60 minute workout one can select the “Exhilarate" DVD set.

The Zumba dance fitness program will not only get you sweating and burning those calories and fat but also get your heart pumping and give you a full body workout.

Always make it a point to wear comfortable clothes during your Zumba workout since you will be sweating a lot. I've found cotton leggings and a cotton T-shirt are ideal to wear along with a sports bra.

Make sure to drink plenty of water during your workout to give your body back the fluids it loses through sweating.