I always find it interesting when people say Well, theres no way you look like THAT just from Zumba... You must lift or something! Uh... Negative. Now, lets not get it twisted.... I am FAR from looking like a no carb eatin-weight liftin-cross fit crossin-BEAST, but I can say that I do currently have a decent amount of muscle mass on my body. This is attributed to 2 things... #1: DIET. 70%-80% of weight loss, weight maintenance, and overall fitness is controlled by what youre putting into your mouth! The old adage IS true; Abs ARE made in the kitchen! No amount of cardio, weight lifting OR Zumba will counter act a horrible diet (unless you have incredible genes, then props to you!). There is no perfect diet. There are, however, different lifestyle choices for different lifestyles and unfortunately this may take some trial and error to find a plan thats perfect for you. You have to find a diet that truly works for you, and a diet that is most appropriate for your lifestyle, your potential allergies, your ethical or religious beliefs; you get my drift... I personally adhere to the Paleo diet which is a low carb, high protein, all natural plan. I find that it works for my lifestyle and my taste buds, and provides me an optimal opportunity to gain lean muscle and help target my belly fat. At the end of the day, each and everyone of us knows what we should and shouldnt be eating to some extent... And when we CHOOSE to eat bad, CHOOSING to exercising it off merely puts us back at square one. #2: ZUMBA. Yes, I have the body I have now (which is far from where I want it to be) from doing Zumba, and Zumba alone. Now, could I gain more muscle quicker and more effectively with actual weight lifting or with a program like Crossfit? Absolutely.... But, to be honest, I dont feel like it right now. Haha. My point in saying all of this is to highlight some misconceptions about Zumba and its effectiveness not only from fitness buffs and weight lifting snobs, but from the public in general. Zumba is the successful corporate entity it is today because the proof is in the pudding. The science behind it is proven and true. Zumba is a total body, cardio and TONING workout; if done CORRECTLY! Meaning, youre going to get OUT of Zumba what you put INTO Zumba! So, dont show up to class doing a little two step and expect to walk out with a six pack! Take the time to listen and focus on what the instructor is telling you. If the instructor says squat, then SQUAT! If the instructor says suck it in!, then SUCK IT IN! If the instructor says chin up, chest out!, then you get that CHIN UP and POKE THAT CHEST OUT! If the instructor says Twerk!, then you TWE--- well, you get the picture. Now of course, its important to always listen to your body and to be safe. You never want to push yourself to the point of incurring an injury, but theres a fine line between going nuts and injuring yourself, and giving whatever move youre doing that extra MMPH!... In closing Id like to leave you with this... Zumba was formulated to be 70% DANCE/30% FITNESS... The dance aspect is to fool you into thinking youre not doing any work, but riddle me this: If youre truly DANCING (no matter how good or bad) then youve now become a DANCER, correct? DANCERS are considered ATHLETES. ATHLETES have great bodies and could potentially become OLYMPIANS... If youre doing Zumba, then youre basically doing 70% of a workout that ATHLETES do! Besides.... Have you ever seen a fat, out of shape dancer? Exactly. I rest my case. Now, get out there, eat right and ZUMBA!
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 17:36:19 +0000
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