Ditch The Workout Join The Zumba Party

Zumba - the fitness dance craze, is taking over the nation, and classes are popping up everywhere, and there's a good chance that one is happening near you. BritEvent's Amanda Arnold, who just happens to be a Shrewsbury-based Zumba instructor, tells us more about the fitness phenomenon.

Ditch the workout join the Zumba Party

Zumba is taking over the fitness world, and with a typical class burning off anything from 500 to 1000 calories it's not that surprising.

The music is the magic behind this new exercise craze, as Zumba classes sweat it out to the loud and thumping beat of Latin American dance tunes.

Crowds are shimmying along to village halls, church halls and sports and leisure centres nationwide to join in with this new way of keeping fit, with the simple principle behind it being, 'get fit, have fun'. Zumba is considered exercise in disguise, with the benefit of no complicated moves - and with music so infectious you hardly know you are exercising at all, you can actually party yourself into shape.

Zumba has taken the US by storm, and is well on its way to taking over the UK as hundreds of instructors courses are sold out within just hours of them being advertised.

How original Zumba Party got started

This exhilarating fitness craze was started by dancer and choreographer Alberto "Beto" Perez during the 1990's in Colombia, when he inadvertently forgot the fitness tapes for the aerobics class he was teaching. His only other choice was traditional Latin Salsa and Merengue music he listened to in his car, to which he improvised a class using Latin inspired dance routines.

After Beto's success in Colombia the dancer took his Zumba Fitness to the US in 1999, where it became one of the fastest-growing, dance-based fitness crazes in the country, promising to give you great body-beautifying benefits.

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Zumba Shrewsbury

What to expect from a Zumba Workout

In a one hour class, you will be expected to get to grips with the four basic rhythms of the Zumba workout which include merengue, salsa, cumbia and reggaeton. Other styles may include mambo, rumba, flamenco and hip-hop. Music will be varied so that it includes both fast and slow rhythms that help to sculpt and tone your perfect body.

Most Zumba classes are based on cardiovascular exercises, so bring a bottle of water as you'll certainly sweat out those calories!

Any type of fitness clothes are fine for Zumba, but try to wear something cool yet comfortable.

The benefits of Zumba

The benefits of Zumba range from fast weight loss, body sculpting, increased strength and stamina, along with better co-ordination and a feeling of wellbeing and happiness.

In doing just a one hour Zumba class you can feel the tension just melting away; with crowds of enthusiastic people smiling while they sweat, whoop and move together as one in time to the music, you can certainly feel the endorphins kicking in.

Zumba classes for all ages and abilities

There are Zumba classes for anyone and everyone, from the ages of 16 70.

Zumba Gold classes have been designed to be a little easier than Zumba Basic and are aimed at individuals who have very little exercise experience or older people. One of the Zumba Gold routines even includes a workout from a chair, making classes accessible to everyone.

Zumba Toning involves the use of Toning Sticks that enhance rhythm and tone targeted areas of the body including arms, abs, glutes and thighs whilst combining high energy cardio work with the Latin infused Zumba moves.

Aqua Zumba is a pool party with a twist. Using the Zumba formula, Aqua Zumba blends together the exhilarating feeling of a Zumba class together with traditional aqua fitness.

Zumbatomic is a new Zumba programme for kids, and is set to hit the UK very soon. Aimed at kids from as little as 4 12 years olds, the classes in the US have been known to increase children's self-confidence and coordination, as well as boost their metabolism.

Zumba in the Circuit promises to give you a total blast in just 30 minutes. Through a series of strength exercises at timed intervals combined with the Zumba dance moves, this time effective and efficient class is a great one to do during work lunch times.

All of these Zumba classes are now available, and with village halls around the country fit to bursting with Zumba 'parties', it won't be long before UK Zumba Instructors will be cashing in on even more Zumba techniques.

You don't need to travel far for your classes, BritEvents.com are having more and more classes around the country added to the site on a weekly basis, so check us out or go to Zumba.com to find your nearest class. Alternatively, if you're a Zumba instructor and want to add your classes to our site, please register for an account by clicking 'Add an Event' at the top of the page.