Thoughts on Zumba?

Just do it! Personally, my friends tried to get me to do zumba with them for almost 2-3 years before I ever went. I kept saying I don't dance or some other excuse. Then I finally did it and loved it. It is so much fun. Prices will vary but where I live the average is about $5 per class. I would check out local churches and see if anyone holds free zumba. That is how I am able to do it, a local church holds Zumba 3x week. I'm very poor and am glad I found out about the free zumba classes.

I Zumba!! I have 0 coordination, and i'm sure i look like an idiot doing it haha But it's sooooo much fun! There's an older guy that comes to class every day. He just sways back and forth for the most part and moves his arms around. Every level of fitness can do it. Just keep your body moving, and do the steps you can

*Edit* My gym has classes all the time, so i don't have to pay any extra for doing it. Not sure what prices are outside of gym's.

I've been doing it on Xbox One and really love it! It's pretty easy and a good way to get your heart rate up. Good luck!

The good thing about Zumba is that nobody cares how you look or how uncoordinated you are. Personally I love it. Its fun and not the same thing over and over again. I'd way prefer to dance to some fun music than run on a treadmill for an hour. You burn lots of calories (not as many as some people claim so be careful when you log it). The main thing is that you get what you put in. If you go all out and move the whole time you will burn more. Where I live you can go to a rec center and pay a drop in fee for a class. Try it out and see for yourself. Relax and have a good time. There are so many classes everywhere now so it should be pretty easy to find a class. I leave the class sweating every time. Im sure there are people who don't think that it is worth it but I know quite a few people who have lost large amounts of weight doing Zumba 3-4 times a week. It really is a great cardio workout if you just go for it. Try it out and have a good time.

I started taking Zumba classes and I have like.. NO dancing coordination at all! I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! Im a heavy person and before I started working out, I had little to no exercise at all. At my first class I got about 80% of the steps and man did I sweat like crazy! Don't worry about other people looking at you dance either, because everyone has their own interpretation of the dance anyways. So as long as you're move your arms, taking your steps, and swinging your hips, you are good to go!

Love it...it's fun. Just keep moving easy cal burn.

I tried it on xbox and I felt like I was just wayyy to out of shape to do it for more than 5 minutes so I started walking with Leslie Sansone on youtube.

I felt like this too. I kept stopping and thinking "wow this is the beginner level? My god!" But every time got easier and after only four times I am able to get through the whole thing and actually focus on doing the moves to the (semi) fullest.

I think it's fun, but so easy for me that I don't think it burns all that many calories.

Do it. It's really good fun - everyone is so busy concentrating on not falling over they won't notice if you're going the wrong way!! Happy, feel good music, motivating and fun plus it's good exercise - what's not to like?

Don't wait to start Zumba. Anyone can start, does not matter what your fitness level is. You do not have to do high impact moves, you can start with following the moves but doing it low impact and as you get fitter you can put more effort into the moves. Zumba is such fun, it's like going to a dance party. I never have to force myself to go, I love it so much and if I miss it, I get really disappointed. Even if you don't have a lot of coordination, the more you do it, the better you get at it. Don't think about it, just do it! Good luck and have fun.

I personally can't stand it. Though I love to dance, I'm more of a run fast and lift heavy kind of person. I do however see how Zumba appeals to people who don't nessesarily like exercise (or even do and just want to mix it up). Anyone can do it...and it makes working out fun. Definitely give it a go!

My experience: an instructor can make or break your love for Zumba. I had a really crappy one recently (think Prancersize-ish), but I've had really high energy, awesome ones, too. Just isn't my thing.

So true on the instructor part. I've heard about instructors singling people out and making fun of them because they couldn't make the steps! I love my instructor though, she teaches multiple classes there including ballet for toddlers. i'm pretty sure to be a good Zumba instructor you need to be a nice, energetic person.

I've was a dancer for the majority of my life, heard about Zumba and decided to give it a go. I tried a couple classes but got bored very quickly with the instructors/classes offered near me. That's when I discovered Zumba for the wii. I have to say if you have a video game system like wii or xbox - buy a game! You can learn at your own pace and the games even have step by step tutorials if needed. The key is to keep moving - if you miss the steps or can't keep up, just keep going, you'll improve with practice. If it's just too much going on to keep up, try getting the footwork down first. Add the arms in when you feel comfortable. I've been playing since the first game and now I'm hooked on Core and World Party. I pick up the steps super quick but I still miss steps and make mistakes - but so what. I'm having fun and getting a great workout.

One note: don't trust the calorie burn that MFP gives you for doing Zumba, it's a bit overstated. If you have a HRM go by that, or give yourself some leeway and don't eat all of the calories back that it gives you. I'd say 50% is safe, and you can probably even go a little higher than that.