Last Updated on February 14, 2024 by Lifevif Team and JC Franco
If you love to shake your tail feathers on the dance floor, but dread a mundane workout at the gym, perhaps Zumba is for you. But does Zumba offer the type of workout you are looking for? Is it enough to boost your body to health and fitness? I say that it is …
With so many benefits to be expected, why aren’t you on your way to your first Zumba class right now? Need some convincing? Let’s take a look at each of the simple (yet transformative) ways that Zumba can benefit your life below.
These are 20 benefits of doing Zumba:
1. It gets your heart pumping (and thumping).
Unless you really enjoy running, you probably don’t want to spend 30 minutes or more per day running around the neighborhood to get your heart rate up. Cardiovascular exercise is vitally important for heart health. According to the CDC, heart disease is the primary cause of death in the USA each year. Of course, you want to make sure that your heart is the healthiest it can be, but you also want to have fun. Zumba provides the perfect way to get your heart pumping its way to good health while having fun.
2. It melts away fat and excess weight.
According to Healthline, just one hour of Zumba can burn between 300 and 900 calories. It’s safe to say that an hour of Zumba is going to melt away pesky fat and obliterate calories more enjoyable than an hour of weight pushing or even running around the block.
3. It perks up the brain.
Any exercise that challenges the brain and your thought processes is going to give it a good workout. When you Zumba, you are required to learn and carry out dance patterns that keep changing from one song to the next. This truly challenges hand-eye coordination and also boosts right-left brain activity, thus perking up the brain.
4. It gives muscles a reason to strengthen and grow.
You can will your muscles to grow in size and strength, but that’s not going to produce results. The only way to strengthen and build muscle is to work them, and that’s precisely what Zumba does.
5. It puts stress in its place.
If stress is taking over your whole life, you need to do something about it before you lose hair (and your sense of humor, too). High-energy exercise is a great way to diminish stress. Zumba offers a dynamic and powerful workout that incorporates heaps of fun. While relaxing the mind and giving you reasons to focus on the dance (and music!), tension is relieved not only in the body but in the mind, too.
6. It gives you a reason to interact with other humans.
Zumba is a great way to meet new people and get your weekly dose of human interaction. It’s also the perfect reason to go out and be around people, without having to “socialize”, if you don’t want to.
7. It gets your butt off the couch and out the house.
You aren’t going to get fit or meet new people on the couch. In a Zumba class, you will get in shape and meet new people. Expect fun, laughter, and of course, exhaustion…then you can recline on the couch – you will have earned it!
8. It entices the happy hormones out of their hiding place.
Serotonin and dopamine are known as our “happy hormones”. Unfortunately, they are shy hormones and don’t make themselves available to us at all times. To get a good boost of happy feelings, you need to lure those hormones out of their hiding place – and to do that, high-energy “full-on” exercise, such as Zumba, is required.
9. It’s great for coordinating your coordination.
If your coordination is sketchy, you might think that you’re too old to rectify the problem. The good news is that you are not. Coordination is not, exactly, something that you are born with – it is something that you can learn. There are various exercises that challenge hand-eye coordination and left-brain activity – Zumba is one of them.
10. It kicks every muscle group into action (no lazy muscles allowed).
Have you ever been to the gym and found that you only focus on the same muscle groups each time? That means that you aren’t getting a full-body workout. For a full-body workout, aerobic exercise, such as Zumba, is ideal.
11. It welcomes endurance to the party.
If you find that you are dead-tired by the time you reach the top of a flight of stairs or when you do a quick walk around the block, your fitness and endurance levels are struggling. You can greatly enhance your fitness and endurance levels by incorporating high-energy aerobic exercise into your fitness regimen.
12. You can do it just about anywhere.
Don’t have much time to exercise, but need to stay fit and trim anyway? Zumba! You can Zumba your way up and down the passage, on your way to breakfast, in your lunch break, or even in your living room before bed. The more you move, the fitter you will be.
13. It teaches you the moves (now you can strut your stuff on the dancefloor).
Ever felt unsure of yourself on the dance floor? Now you can tear it up with absolute confidence because you will have the moves taught to you by a professional. How could you go wrong?
14. It puts high blood pressure down.
If high blood pressure has started to call the shots in your life, it’s time to take action. Having high blood pressure is a serious concern, but you can call on high-energy exercise, such as Zumba, to save the day. Zumba gets the heart pumping, helps you lose weight, and busts stress, which is the perfect way to put blood pressure down and keep it in its place!
15. It makes confidence bloom within you.
Have you ever felt a bit hesitant to be 100% yourself 100% of the time? Many people do, and that’s because of a lack of confidence. By learning Zumba and getting good at it, you will develop a bit more confidence in yourself. Walk into a room without cringing, know that you look great, hold your body perfectly – Zumba can be a great way to achieve this.
16. It enforces a healthy living mindset.
You aren’t going to be able to keep up in your Zumba sessions if you are eating burgers and getting overly drunk every night. Zumba is high-energy and requires a certain level of fitness. The more you Zumba, the fitter you need to become. If you aren’t looking after your body and making unhealthy lifestyle choices, you are going to feel completely out of place as your Zumba group progresses without you. If you love Zumba, you will learn to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
17. It’s, potentially, the most fun you will have all week.
For many people, Zumba is the highlight of the week. It’s not just because it’s high energy and enjoyed with thumping happy music, but also because Zumba groups are packed with people oozing positive energy and encouraging each other every step of the way.
18. It increases oxygen levels.
The more oxygen your blood cells and body parts get, the more efficient they can be at fighting disease, as well as keeping strong and healthy. Oxygen helps the body increase energy, reduce stress, and improve mental clarity. Because of the high-energy nature of Zumba and the fact that it truly gets the heart pumping, you can expect more oxygen flow to the entire body.
19. No skills are required – just show up and learn to dance.
Do you need to know how to dance when you start Zumba? No, you don’t, because you will be taught to dance. More than that, you will be taught to listen to the music and then express yourself in a high-energy, fat-melting way.
20. It’s, most likely, readily available at a fitness studio near you.
You don’t have to go far to find a Zumba class in your area. In fact, you should find Zumba classes readily available and advertised at fitness studios near you. If you don’t have a class in your area, get onto YouTube and learn from the many videos available.
Are You Ready to Zumba?
If you are impressed with the abovementioned benefits of Zumba, it’s time to book your first class and get excited. Zumba will not just change your life – it will enhance it on every aspect and level.
This article was co-authored by our team of in-house and freelance writers, and reviewed by our editors, who share their experiences and knowledge about the "Seven F's of Life".
JC Franco
JC Franco is a New York-based editor for Lifevif. He mainly focuses on content about faith, spirituality, personal growth, finance, and sports. He graduated from Mercyhurst University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business, majoring in Marketing. He is a certified tennis instructor who teaches in the New York City Metropolitan area. In terms of finance, he has passed the Level I exam of the CFA program.
