Zumba – The Optimal Fitness Choice

These are some of the many questions that one can think of when you chose dance as a form of exercise. In a real case scenario for a fitness activity would one join a dance class or a gym?

An activity that can be continued over a period of time that gives you happiness and motivates you to keep going back to class and perform better all for the reason of good health should be considered as the best form of exercise for you.

Zumba is a dance fitness program created by Colombian dancer and choreographer Alberto "Beto" Perez during the 1990s. Zumba involves dance and aerobic elements. The choreography incorporates hip-hop, soca, samba, salsa, merengue and mambo. Squats and lunges are also included. Zumba Fitness, the owner of the Zumba program, does not charge licensing fees to gyms or fitness centers. Approximately 15 million people take weekly Zumba classes in over 140,000 locations across more than 185 countries.

Let’s understand the benefits over traditional fitness methods.

Music: Firstly dance involves music, good music, fun music, music of your choice that brings out an element of you. Music plays an important role to eliminate you from thinking and worrying and channelizing your negative energies through a positive medium. Music has a great psychological impact on individuals; it helps you traverse into another world, leaving all your worries and problems, and sometimes even helps you get better solutions to them.

Rhythm: Everything in our body works in rhythm. Your heart beats in rhythm, we have a sleep rhythm, and we have a food rhythm. Dance gives you a psychological rhythmic balance, through body and mind, movement and music. Grove to one of your favorite tracks you will know exactly what it means.

Expression: Dance they say is best form of self expression. When we have bottled up emotions within us, we are filled with energies, but of a negative kind. We need a way to channelize these energies in a way it benefits us. Then what better way than dance. It takes away your negative emotions, transfers them into energies, and utilizes it for improvement of health and mental stability. Dancers are said to be happier and rather stable people.

Fitness: Dance, firstly, is a great form of cardiovascular or as we say endurance training. It takes your heart rate high and makes your heart stronger. Hence helping you remain active through the day, without feeling too tired or lethargic.

Most importantly people love going to a dance class, there are higher chances for it to be a form of a regular activity rather than just a recreational activity. Every individual in a dance class is smiling and release their stress in a much positive way, benefiting their mind and body. Try out a Zumba Fitness class and feel the difference, Feel the fitness high that you would never feel in traditional forms of exercising. Do something that makes you happy. Let’s do some Zumba!!!

How to Dance Salsa

The Salsa dance originated in the 1970s in New York City, with strong Latin American influences (Cuba and Puerto Rico) and is a lively, sensual dance with basic steps that make it easy for beginners to pick up. Read on for some tips that will keep you moving on the dance floor.

Mastering the Basics

Start in the closed dance position. The leader takes his partner's right hand in his left and places his right hand on her left shoulder blade. The follower should keep her left hand on his right shoulder, with her arm over his.

• Or start in the hand-in-hand position. The leader has his palms facing upwards, and the follower takes his hands with her palms down. This allows for more freedom of movement.

Have good posture. When dancing, you should always keep your spine straight, your chin up and your shoulders back. Your chest should naturally then puff out a bit. Your body should be held with strength at all points.

      o   Always look up. Keep your head held up or tilted to look at your partner. Do not look at your feet or your partner's. Looking at your feet is a dead giveaway that you're nervous and not sure what you're doing.

      

      o   Keep your arms bent at a 90 degree angle from the elbows. In this position, your hands are most easily accessible to your partner. Your arm should rest on horizontal plane.

Move your hips. Most of the movement in the Salsa comes from the hips, so you will want to keep your hips loose. Don't be afraid to sway your hips. Even if you're just moving your foot, know that a slight hip movement goes along with it. If you move your right foot out, your right hip juts out a bit, too.

Choose a salsa song that has a 4/4 beat (four beats to the bar) and a fast tempo. You'll want music that lies somewhere between 160-220 beat per minute. Before you start a song, make sure that you can keep up with the speed and identify the beats for your steps.

·         Count as you listen to the song. If you count out the beats in the music, you will be able to find the Salsa beat and identify which steps go with which beat. If you can't keep count while you're listening to the song, it's best to choose a different one.

·         4/4 time is counted in 8-counts. You'll be doing one standard Salsa step in 8 beats. so what will happen is on the count 4 and 8 there will be a pause. If you are having trouble hearing where the pause is you can try counting out loud but saying the 4 and 8 inside your head.

Easy songs to try this is cha cha music rather than salsa as it is similar rhythms but much slower.