Zumba - the Ultimate Dance Workout

Just in case you have been missing me, you will have to excuse my absence from the blogging world for another few days. :-) I've been so caught up with work & studies for the past one week that I didn't have time for cooking or blogging! Unlike many of you who have the responsibility of not just cooking for your blog, but also for your family and that too not just once, but 3-4 times a day; I enjoy the privilege of 'trying' dishes at my will. And if I don't cook for a day, a week, or a year, hell won't break lose! :D In fact, my mom begs me to stay out of the kitchen & into my books! :P And my dad says that I'm a just a kid & I shouldn't be straining myself in the kitchen! :D


Anyway, daddy's little princess couldn't cook anything for the past one week so she thought she could write about one of the workouts she has come to love.. ;) (okay, I'm not so gooey, generally! I swear! :D) This is not a review about any specific Zumba Workout DVD- just a general post on the dance form.
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ZUMBA is the largest dance fitness program in the world. A simple search on YouTube yields 1000s of Zumba videos. My very first Zumba video was this - 

Install Java to play. You absolutely MUST play the video! :D

I was searching for dance fitness videos & found this. And Boy! What fun I had dancing to Shakira's tunes! :D The best thing about Zumba is that ANYBODY of ANY AGE can do it! You have the basic steps, of course. But you can do your own movements... The idea is to incorporate dance & aerobic movements into a workout to give you a fun experience.
You will find various styles of Zumba : Hip Hop, Salsa, Mambo, Reggaeton, Samba, Bollywood & Belly dancing... My personal favorites are Hip Hop & Reggaeton. You can try various styles & choose the one you love the most!

Zumba workouts include fast music to give you the cardio burst as well as slow music to give you a rest-period without actually having to stop. You also have some essential exercises like squats, lunges all set to the rhythm to give you the required muscle toning. Its the whole package: Fun & Fitness!

Will you lose weight? Probably. I don't carry soooooo much weight around that I could try every workout & tell you how much weight I lose per workout! :P But, the Zumba-Gurus claim that you will definitely lose weight... *IF* you combine it with a healthy diet program. (that is the case with every workout you try) But the difference being, you never realize its a workout! Its just half hour or one hour of pure fun. You wanna have fun? Then, Zumba is your answer! :D

I'll be posting about specific Zumba DVDs I've tried too.. Stay Tuned ;)