1000 Calories in 1 Hr of Zumba- Really?!

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americangirlok
americangirlok Posts: 228 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have a really hard time buyiing that as an accurate figure. I've heard that like 12 times today- I could buy lunch and dinner if I had a buck every time I heard that today. I'm probably 100+ lbs heavier than the person saying it and about 20 years younger and I know that I wouldn't come near that figure. I mean I'm sure someone somewhere once burned 1000 calories in Zumba- but that can't be average right? I don't know it just doesn't make sense to me that that could be an accurate figure. And it was almost like "Zumba is the most superior exercise program ever." I'm sure it's great and if you have fun doing it it's probably a good way to get some exercise in- but I'm just not thinking it's a 1000 calorie/hour end all be all. Am I crazy?
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Replies

  • ihateroses
    ihateroses Posts: 893 Member
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    I'm going to go ahead and safely say that no one burned 1000 calories doing 1hr of Zumba.
  • maggs155
    maggs155 Posts: 258
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    Your calorie burn is also based on your weight. Like when i weighed 248 pounds and i did kickboxing for an hour i would burn over 1000 calories. Now i weigh 187 and burn 800. Dont know if its right but thats why i dont always go by burns for how much i eat. People that eat back exercise calories may be going over because their burns may not be right. I dont trust no exercise machine or anything.
  • 1917Ashley
    1917Ashley Posts: 100 Member
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    Bump.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    an HRM would do you well. Aside from food scales, good shoes, and measuring cups.. that's what I recommend the most.
  • deadbeatsummer
    deadbeatsummer Posts: 537 Member
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    If you really go at it I usually would say about 500-600 calories per hour at the very most.

    This is what my heart rate monitor says.

    I would get one of them if I were you.
  • wahelga
    wahelga Posts: 304 Member
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    Not that I've done Zumba too often but when I did I counted it as dancing and that came in at less than half of that. And I always thought that overstated it too as it was similiar to my burn from cycling and that feels a lot harder
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
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    It's possible... most maximum cardio workouts can burn up to 1,000 but that's literally if you're pushing it for the entire time...
  • muppet21
    muppet21 Posts: 3 Member
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    I have done Zumba and I love it and even doing a Zumba toning class and following it up with a full on one hour Zumba Class, I have never come anywhere near burning that amount of calories! I love my Zumba to bits but I agree with you it is a very overstated figure!!
  • UhOhItsKylie
    UhOhItsKylie Posts: 92 Member
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    I've never done zumba, so I can't really comment on what's a typical burn or not but I'll admit I get raised eye brows when I see people log super large burns for that activity.

    But eh, it is what it is. If they are lying, they are only cheating themselves.
  • SJ46
    SJ46 Posts: 407 Member
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    I hate it when group fitness instructors throw out a randomly high number for calories burned during a class. This number is highly individual. For example, I am a small woman and I burn between 400-500 calories in BodyStep, the instructors like to announce to the class that you will burn over 800 calories in class. Maybe some people burn 800 but maybe some only burn 300 or something in between. The number they shout out is just not true for everyone and I wonder how many people binge after their workout thinking they have an 800 calorie cushion.
  • Lunarokra
    Lunarokra Posts: 855 Member
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    i have done zumba and used my HRM and went up to 800 calorie burn it just deends on your intensity it wasn't that much every time I went but there were certain days the instructors worked us out good. Normal burn 500-600 on lower intensity days <3 ZUMBA
  • YoungDoc2B
    YoungDoc2B Posts: 1,593 Member
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    I'm going to go ahead and safely say that no one burned 1000 calories doing 1hr of Zumba.

    This. Unless you're extremely morbidly obese, chances are, 1000 calories were NOT burned in a single zumba session.
  • kluedesigns
    kluedesigns Posts: 72 Member
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    when i weighed 248 i could hit 1000 calories burned by doing cardio and i use a Polar FT40 HRM -- so while it isn't 100% accurate it isn't out of the ballpark.
  • coffeeluvn
    coffeeluvn Posts: 1
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    I would recommend HRM as well. That will calculate based on your age and weight.
  • mygrl4meee
    mygrl4meee Posts: 943 Member
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    I have been doing zumba for a year now. For Xmas I got a hrm and my calorie burn is between 400 to 600. I don't know if I am getting much lower numbers since I have been doing it a while now.
  • Mindmovesbody
    Mindmovesbody Posts: 399 Member
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    I do and instruct Zumba. I'm pretty small at this point 5'3.5" 133 lbs and I burn close to 500. So someone that weighs lets say 50-100 lbs more than me doing Zumba for an hour can absolutely burn 1000 cals in an hour.
  • vickiessecret
    vickiessecret Posts: 119 Member
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    I would also use a heart rate monitor for an accurate reading. This site over estimates on calories burned for me, compared to my hrm & I just got the polar ft4 with the chest strap & I think that's pretty accurate, since it asks for, age, sex, weight, birthdate. I was really suprised the difference in calories this site gave me compared to my hrm.
  • tryshalyshous
    tryshalyshous Posts: 2 Member
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    Your calorie burn is also based on your weight. Like when i weighed 248 pounds and i did kickboxing for an hour i would burn over 1000 calories. Now i weigh 187 and burn 800. Dont know if its right but thats why i dont always go by burns for how much i eat. People that eat back exercise calories may be going over because their burns may not be right. I dont trust no exercise machine or anything.
    Same here, I try to only eat back half of my exercise calories, just in case Im wrong!
  • americangirlok
    americangirlok Posts: 228 Member
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    It's not really something I want to try. I'm way to klutzy for that, I'm just thinking that's probably not an accurate number. I mean I'm 240ish and 30 years old and for me to rack that up I'd have to maintain a heart rate well over 200! Which is over my max heart rate and probably not a smart idea- provided I were even capable of pulling that off w/ out stroking out first.

    Please note that I'm not begrudging Zumba or people who are into it- I think it's great, not sure it's for me, to each his own. I just think spouting such a high number as a "normal" or "average" burn is misleading- and if you're banking on that deficit you're going to wind up overeating- then think "I must be in starvation mode" and up your calories to over eat some more- or you'll be like "This isn't working!" And give up. I get all tools MFP, HRM, Fitbits, the machine at the gym are all estimations and there's going to be some variance- but I try to offset that by trying to over estimate my intake and underestimate my calorie burns.
  • Sparlingo
    Sparlingo Posts: 938 Member
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    I am 5'0" and 132 lbs at the moment, and I have recently burned 670 calories in an hour of Zumba (mind you, I was killin' it!).

    Based on that, and the fact that there are people that are much taller and heavier than me, I would believe that there are a few people who could consistently hit 1000 calories in an hour in Zumba.

    That said, I'm guessing that there are a lot more people reporting that kind of burn than are actually burning that much.

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