Zumba - Calories Burned in 1 hour?

bjredo

Any ideas on how many calories one would burn in a Zumb class that lasts hour? I used the Aerobic option under exercise since the site does not have a Zumba option.

emhunter

I use a polar watch and I'm a 27 year old female. I usually burn about 650 calories in my zumba class.

gogojodee

I have a HRM and I tend to burn 350-400 cals per hour for Zumba. I've never gone over 425.

AmyBetty

I just did a Zumba class this morning and my HRM says 610cal. I work fairly hard and get into it with a good sweat going.

bjredo

Okay, thanks for the advice. What is an HRM? I need to get one. Thanks!

jenrusow

I have a polar heart rate monitor (HRM) with chest strap and in my one house zumba class, I usually come in between 500-600. If I don't wear it, I typically count it as 500 on MFP.

ImperfektAngel

My zumba class is very difficult, when I would wear a HRM, I could burn anywhere from 400-600 cals in an hour

Erica27511

Wearing an HRM (heart rate monitor) WITH chest strap is the most accurate way of knowing. I burn 645 calories in a one hour class. That includes the last song which is a cool down.

morgansmom02

Depends on your weight and how hard you try! There is a zumba calorie calculator online. Just google it!

MellyGibson

You can search "Zumba Calorie Calculator" online...it will give you a good approximation.

morgansmom02

Okay, thanks for the advice. What is an HRM? I need to get one. Thanks!

You can get one from Amazon

Beatlegirl66

HRMs don't work for me because I take a beta blocker pill. My Zumba instructor told me that you burn between 700-900 calories in an hour of Zumba. I thought that seemed high, but then when I got Zumba 2 for the Wii, it said I was burning close to 50 calories a song.

muchadoaboutme2000

There is a website that a lot of people use to calculate their Zumba calories but I feel like it TOTALLY overestimates. I basically take that number and the number of calories burned on here doing aerobic dance and work out the difference. There are some days I work much harder in class or the teacher decided she wanted us to pass out and there are some days where it drags slightly or we get the pregnant teacher. It all depends on the day. I am 5'8" and 240. There's a girl in my class who is within 2# of me and she burns 700/hr class. If I work hard in class, I say 700 if not, I go with a lower estimate but never under 600. Eventually I will get a HRM or a fitbit but for now, I'm guessing. I also think it makes a difference if you're doing it on your video game console vs a class. I work WAY harder in class. The group drives me. Either way, it's a great burn and SO much fun

Erica27511

You can search "Zumba Calorie Calculator" online...it will give you a good approximation.

If you eat your exercise calories back, this may not be a good place to get the calories you burned from. It told me for low I burned 945, mid 1150 and high intensity 1280. WAYYYYYYY off.

Wearing my HRM with chest strap has me burning 645. And I am at a high level intensity dripping in sweat

MellyGibson

You can search "Zumba Calorie Calculator" online...it will give you a good approximation.

If you eat your exercise calories back, this may not be a good place to get the calories you burned from. It told me for low I burned 945, mid 1150 and high intensity 1280. WAYYYYYYY off.

Wearing my HRM with chest strap has me burning 645. And I am at a high level intensity dripping in sweat

Wow - for me it's pretty much spot on - maybe off by 50 cals or so (I use a HRM & FitBit). Good to know that it varies so much.

bjredo

Thanks everyone for the tip on the HRM Calorie counter and your feedback on the Zumba class! My class is a solid one hour high intensity class so I think I may be on the high end of the calories burned scale. I appreciate it.

robhigareda

I'm not trying to diss Zumba here, I think it's a perfectly valid workout class, but everyone always seems to way overestimate the calories burnt in Zumba, If you're lucky and you've been doing Zumba for a long time, know how to execute the moves and can actually keep up with the instructor, you might on an average 125lb girl burn 400-500 calories. I don't think anyone can burn 800 calories doing Zumba (unless you're very large)

marieautumn

zumba isnt really that high impact...i wore my HRM and burned 340 in 1 hour....i usually burn 500+ on the treadmill for 1 hour walking at an incline.

Lyerin

I'm not trying to diss Zumba here, I think it's a perfectly valid workout class, but everyone always seems to way overestimate the calories burnt in Zumba, If you're lucky and you've been doing Zumba for a long time, know how to execute the moves and can actually keep up with the instructor, you might on an average 125lb girl burn 400-500 calories. I don't think anyone can burn 800 calories doing Zumba (unless you're very large)

As with everything, it depends on how much effort you put into it. According to my HRM, I burn (at my current weight) burn somewhere between 400-550 calories in a class. The class is an hour class, but the actual excercise time is around 50-55 minutes. I'm totally drenched in sweat by the end.

That said, I generally underestimate the calories a bit, that way I don't worry that I've put down too many.

robhigareda

Probably a good practice. I tend to prefer underestimating.

emhunter

I got my HRM/polar watch at bodytronics.com. They have them at the cheapest price! They are a MUST to track calories burned.