What is Zumba?
Zumba is a very dynamic and exciting class full
of Latin and exotic music flavors. The routines feature aerobic interval
training with a combination of fast and slow rhythms that tone and sculpt
the body. It targets areas such as glutes, legs, arms, abdominals, and the
most important muscle in the body, the heart! It is a mixture of body
sculpting movements and easy to follow dance steps, although you do not have
to know how to dance to do Zumba.
Zumba is a fun, effective, and simple fitness
system that uses the principal of fitness interval training and resistance
training to maximize caloric output, fat burning, and total body toning. The
sexy and explosive Latin rhythms create a party like atmosphere that deliver
results, as well as a "feel happy" workout.
Zumba is fun, different, easy, exotic,
effective, and is rapidly becoming the next fitness sensation!
Surprising your body with new activities, DANCE
forces it to work harder because it is doing unfamiliar movements and using
muscle groups in different ways. In the process you’ll burn more calories
than doing the same old same old routines. Ballroom, Latin, Swing, or any
dancing in general can raise the heartbeat anywhere from 80 to 120 beats per
minute. Sustained in 2-minute bursts over a 45-minute period, dancing will
build the hearts strength and endurance. Dancing is also the perfect blend
of isometric and isotonic resistance, two key ingredients in muscle building
and toning. Besides working every muscle in the body, dancing is good for
your heart and mind.
Did you know that dancing relieves stress, aids
relaxation, builds self-esteem, straightens your posture, helps your social
ease, and boosts emotional and physical health? So grab some friends and
come take a Zumba dance class!!
Some of my class participants in action...
|
|
HISTORY OF ZUMBA
Celebrity fitness
trainer, "Beto" Perez, stumbled upon the concept of Latin inspired
fitness in his native country of Colombia (South America) in the mid
1990's. One day, he walked into his class and realized that he had
forgotten his music. His only option was to grab whatever tapes he had
in his car. Beto’s tapes were the songs that he loved, the traditional
Latin and dance music with which he had been raised. But still, it was a
challenge to improvise a whole class on the spot. Beto rose to the
challenge, and this last-minute improvisation turned into the birth of a
new fitness program, then called "Rumbacize.” The class was in
high-demand and became the most popular class at his fitness facility.
In 1999, after his
success in Colombia, Beto brought the class to the United States, where
he was approached by entrepreneurs Alberto Perlman and Alberto Aghion to
create a global company based on the Rumbacize fitness philosophy. They
officially changed the name to "Zumba," and set a goal to offer Zumba
classes all over the world.
In 2002, Perlman and
Aghion secured a deal with a large infomercial company to launch the
concept nationwide. Hundreds of thousands of videos were sold to the US
market. The overwhelming response created a demand for more Zumba
instructors. So Zumba began training instructors. The instructor
training program was an instant success. By September 2006, there were
over 2000 Zumba instructors worldwide.
In 2003, Zumba
teamed with Kellogg's to develop a fitness campaign for the Hispanic
market. Kellogg's has since expanded the campaign to five additional
countries and has consistently renewed the relationship with Zumba every
year. Zumba has been featured in over 1.5 million boxes of Special K
cereal around the world.
The following year,
in 2004, Zumba launched a successful infomercial campaign in Spanish for
the US Hispanic market and Latin America. More than 2 million DVDs have
been sold in over 30 countries.
In 2006 Zumba
partnered with media titans Mark Burnett (Survivor/ The Apprentice /
Rock star) and Emilio Estefan (#1 Latin Music Producer) to once again
revolutionize the fitness industry. Burnett, Estefan, and Zumba are
working on a top secret project that will finally take the "work" out of
"working out".
Debby with Beto - The Creator of Zumba |
