7 Reasons to try Zumba (even if you are a non-dancer)

If you are a non-dancer like me you would relate to my experience of trying a Zumba dance class. Starting of this month I pushed myself out of the comfort zone and on to the hard floor of a Zumba class. The first experience was just like getting on a rollercoaster ride.

You give awkward smiles to your fellow riders as you don’t want to show them that you are scared. The class starts in a slow rhythm giving you a false sense that you can do it. Then suddenly it shifts into a faster gear making you question your decisions to get yourself into a difficult situation. Your fellow riders move and sway in a more controlled way and you look at them in awe and envy.

When the class takes a break you become a referee in between your two minds that cannot make a decision if you want to continue the class or run away. The whole hour you try to copy the instructor while struggling to keep upright and suppressing your greatest fear of not getting thrown out of this crazy fast-paced ride. When the class is over and your knees stop shaking and your teeth stop clattering you get an amazing sense of accomplishment. You even catch yourself saying, “that was fun. Let’s do it again.” As I mentioned before a Zumba class is like a rollercoaster ride with some health benefits.

I have actually attended a few Zumba Classes so far and I am still pretty raw with the moves but the benefits overcome the awkwardness so I will continue with the class.

7 Reasons to try a Zumba Class:

1. It’s Fun:

Zumba is fun and fast but frightening for a non-dancer. The loud music with fast beats, the cool instructor (mine is Mr. Vivek Kambe who teaches all over Pune), the classmates who found a way to have fun while exercising, the dance moves you can do and the ones you cannot. Let’s face it Zumba is the closest you will get to a having a dance party in the name of a workout.

It makes you happy as you release a ton of endorphins, it awakens a sense of seduction which gets buried under layers of fat if you are struggling to lose weight, It teaches you new moves on the dance floor, it improves your self-confidence for the next time you want to get on the dance floor, you finish the class with a sense of accomplishment and feeling positive.

Zumba is a form of self-expression, it’s a celebration of one’s motivation to look and feel young.

2. Full Body Workout:

You move fast and you move every part of your body. Your heart rate rises and you twist, turn and shake in ways you never thought you could. As a dance-based form of fitness, Zumba acts as a full-body workout, engaging almost every muscle group of the body in a smooth, comprehensive fitness regimen. This makes your workout more efficient and helps you with creating a completely toned body, just like a professional dancer.

3. Stress Buster:

It is a fun activity that pumps you up with so much endorphins that you forget your troubles for a couple of hours. It releases your stress, it lifts your mood and it tires you enough to have a deep sleep. Making it easier for you to think clearly about the stressful situations in life. I have found Zumba as well as Swimming both effective to destress and to get in a good mood.

4. Improves Coordination:

The instructor gives instructions like a rap singer left, left, right, jump, squat, turn, bend, wave, kick, left leg, right hand, knee, elbow and you try to keep up. In the first few classes especially at the end when your brain starts getting tired you understand how uncoordinated you actually are. You start feeling like a spirit possessing a malfunctioning robot when your body refuses to follow the command. It moves left when you want it to move right. We never think of coordination when we are doing our daily activities like we are on autopilot but when we try to follow a complicated and fast dance sequence we immediately realize how much we lack coordination.

This gets worse as we age. If you want to keep yourself youthful and functional for as long as you live you need to spend some time doing something like Zumba or Boxing or any other dance or martial arts. Teach your body coordination, balance, grace, and vigor while you still can.

5. Increases Endurance:

Hourlong speed movements of Zumba increases our endurance levels multiple times. It makes every muscle of your body tired but you come out of the class grinning like a kid who just won his class race. You know you pushed your limits to finish the class, you can feel your body responding positively to the exercise as you enjoyed a major calory burning workout and would not hesitate to do it again.

6. Good for your Heart:

Loud fast beats of music and fast movements of your body helps get our heart rates higher and the cooldown sequence brings it back to normal. This helps to strengthen our heart.

7. Helps you lose weight:

A Zumba class can have a positive effect on us mentally and physically and should be considered for all the benefits and not just weight loss. We burn more than 600 calories in just an hour. The more you weigh the more you burn so if you are bigger and feel conscious to go to the class remember you would benefit more from it than others and frankly everyone else is also busy keeping up with the instructor. No one is interested in judging you or making you uncomfortable for doing a dance class. Even if they are, just smile and show them your best moves.

Zumba is a high-efficiency, fat-burning workout style that tones your entire body, it targets different muscle groups at once, it makes you sore and it gives you results. It improves your flexibility, your range of motions and it improves your posture.

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