Zumba

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fteale
fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Lots of people seem to log it as burning like 500 cals or so per hour, which I find odd as my extremely high intensity aerobics only comes in at about 400 cals for the hour, and other people who do that class gave up Zumba as they said they hardly raised a sweat. So is our local Zumba teacher a bit useless, is the 400 cals a bit low for aerobics (I burn around 700 cals an hour running, which I find more strenuous than aerobics, by a long shot), or are people here over estimating the cals burned by Zumba?

I like the idea of doing Zumba, so I'd like to know if it is worthwhile as exercise or not.
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Replies

  • myukniewicz
    myukniewicz Posts: 906 Member
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    i wear my HRM when i Zumba, and i burn around 500-550 calories per hour!
  • t_rog
    t_rog Posts: 363 Member
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    I definitely worked up a sweat doing Zumba! Might be your teacher :ohwell:
  • allison514
    allison514 Posts: 3
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    I also use a HRM and average 550 - 625 for an hour of Zumba.

    I also use the HRM for eliptical and treadmill and Zumba burns more calories for me than those alternatives by about 100 calories/hour.

    Without a HRM it is difficult to know your exact burn, as you can individualize and vary the intensity of your Zumba significantly affecting your calories burned.
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
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    How can it burn more calories than a high intensity aerobics session with resistance bands, though? I don't get it? Aerobic dance on here logs at about 250 cals an hour.
  • shmoejo
    shmoejo Posts: 37
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    i also am using a hrm when i am doing zumba and i burn 600 plus depending on my involvement in it, the more i move my hips and engage my core the more i burn it seems.
  • bellawomenswellness
    bellawomenswellness Posts: 99 Member
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    Your caloric burn is based on age, weight, sex and a few other factors. Larger individuals may tend to burn more than smaller. Think Mac truck vs. a Prius. The mac takes more energy to move it.

    Zumba is definitely not a high intensity cardio work out, but you can certainly go all out and get your heart rate elevated into your Heart Rate Zone 3.

    The best advice is to have variety in your workouts and do things you enjoy.

    Also use a heart rate monitor. The MFP calculations for exercises are just generic and not truly accurate.

    Hope that helps a bit.
  • AlisonLS
    AlisonLS Posts: 25 Member
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    I wear a HRM during Zumba and in 30 minutes burn 300-350 calories. I sweat a ton and its so much fun, instead of just logging time in on a machine, I get to dance and have fun.
  • PecanTanDiva
    PecanTanDiva Posts: 162
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    I wear my HRM and depending on the difficulty level and the type of dance, I burn around 480+ calories. I break out in sweat as if I was running. Its fun using the Wii Zumba
  • babycaykes80
    babycaykes80 Posts: 15
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    Zumba requires a LOT of hip action, my instructor said that shaking your "behind" is one of the highest calorie burning activities because it requires the use of so many core/abdominal muscles........maybe that could be why?!?
  • 0Jaime0
    0Jaime0 Posts: 26
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    I love the Zumba on Wii! I actually just bought it a couple of days ago, and I can't wait until all the daycare kids are gone for the day so I can pop it in and go. I had someone tell me its not near a workout....but it is for me! To each their own I guess. And I am not a little person, so this could possibly be why I get a workout with it. Glad to hear someone say something positive about Zumba on the Wii so I don't feel like such a loser - ha! :)
  • JMCade
    JMCade Posts: 389 Member
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    I go to a zumba class that is an hour long and by the time I leave I am soaked in sweat! I am guessing 500 cals, but don't know for suer. I know it gets me out of breath and I drink 24 oz. of water everytime during the class!
  • AEROBICVIC
    AEROBICVIC Posts: 159 Member
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    As a Zumba instructor i tend to burn more cals teaching a class rather taking a class taught by someone else because i know every move that is coming up and i can give 110% to my workouts. when i take another class i don't get the same workout or burn as many cals because i dont know the choreography like i do my own. same goes with anyone else taking a class. the more you take it from the same instr, the more cals you will burn because you can focus on your routine more, put more into it. since all instrs have their own style and personality, you may get more out of one workout than another. one way of getting most out of ur workout in a group fitness class is to not worry about messing up. let your body move, have fun and focus on yourself!!!
  • lindseyross93
    lindseyross93 Posts: 2
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    It might be your level of fitness, and how you sweat.
    I am very fit, unlike a lot of the people in my class, so my heart rate doesn't go up much. I burn around 500 calories an hour.
    I don't sweat much, and my instructor is always wondering why I'm the only person not sweating, it's just because of my body. If you don't sweat much when you run in about the same temperature conditions as your studio is kept (our AC is on, so it's chilly), you probably won't sweat too much zumba-ing.
  • InspiredSAM
    InspiredSAM Posts: 98 Member
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    How can it burn more calories than a high intensity aerobics session with resistance bands, though? I don't get it? Aerobic dance on here logs at about 250 cals an hour.

    That's where the HRM really come into play.
  • amwoidyla
    amwoidyla Posts: 257 Member
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    I think it depends on how your instructor teaches, what songs they do, and the amount of work you put into it.
    My instructor does almost all hip hop songs and there are actually people who complain that her class is "too intense." She tells us we can take it down a notch or do a modification if we need to, but her balls to the wall approach motivates me to work harder.
    I burned 700 calories in my last class!
  • Victoriousinhimalone
    Victoriousinhimalone Posts: 1
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    There are a lot of factors but also people with more weight burn more calories doing the same activity. Like my sister is only 20# overweight I am 100# overweight. My sister and I work out together and I burn more calories than she does doing the same exercise.
  • m76b
    m76b Posts: 1,498 Member
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    450 or 550 calories in an hour!! its fun and not so hard, but your heart rate is up all the time! (polar HRM) :wink:
  • HannahPendrigh
    HannahPendrigh Posts: 147 Member
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    I use my HRM and I usually burn anything from 550-750 an hour depending on how hard I work that day and what iNstructor I have.
  • kashmyre
    kashmyre Posts: 105 Member
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    Also a Zumba Instructor so this:
    As a Zumba instructor i tend to burn more cals teaching a class rather taking a class taught by someone else because i know every move that is coming up and i can give 110% to my workouts. when i take another class i don't get the same workout or burn as many cals because i dont know the choreography like i do my own. same goes with anyone else taking a class. the more you take it from the same instr, the more cals you will burn because you can focus on your routine more, put more into it. since all instrs have their own style and personality, you may get more out of one workout than another. one way of getting most out of ur workout in a group fitness class is to not worry about messing up. let your body move, have fun and focus on yourself!!!
  • linda0372
    linda0372 Posts: 27 Member
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    this link is to a website that calculates the calories burned while doing zumba:

    http://caloriesburnedhq.com/zumba-calories-burned

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