Calories burned during Zumba?

sngnyrslp

I'm going to my first Zumba class tonight, and I was searching the message boards to determine how many calories I can expect to burn. Everyone's saying something between 400 and 1000 calories, and outside websites also say you can burn anywhere from 500-1000 calories. Sounds great. Thing is though, when I enter things like "aerobic dance" or "low impact aerobics" or anything like that into my exercise diary, I'm getting around 277. For me, that's practically NOTHING for a whole hour's work, and I'm a little discouraged. Will I really only burn that few calories? If that's the case, why bother?

NikkiDerrig386

Your best bet is to get a heart rate monitor that tells you how many calories you burned. Everyone is a differnt, size, shape, length, ethnicity, etc.

H_82

I've always heard 800-1000 calories per hour. You have to be movin' & dancin' pretty good though. I love it! I go to a class once a week & can always count on the scale being lower the next day.

sngnyrslp

I can't really afford a heart rate monitor, so even though it's the most accurate, it's not really an option for me. Either way, I definitely couldn't buy one by tonight haha

DrBorkBork

I burn about 500 cals doing and hour of Zumba. Save up for an HRM! Even if you tuck $20 away/month, you can still get one for Christmas

clearwaterfin

Zumba burns alot, but it depends how into it u get, the more u put in, the more u get out of it...I agree w/ getting a HRM, save up for it, it really does help...I love mine...good luck on Zumba class!

justin_time

the most accurate way is to use a HRM, however for a quick easy to use tool based on metabolic averages using your weight and workout intensity level try http://sites.google.com/site/zumbacaloriesburnt