Zumba lasts for about an hour and presents different dance moves coming from regions in Latin America. Some of the included moves are influenced by the meringue, salsa, reggaeton and even belly dance and hip hop. It provides an excellent cardiovascular workout, where you can burn as much as 450 calories an hour. Choreographing the program can be quite challenging, so it is important that you begin each session by doing a few stretches and toning exercises. These should last for 15 minutes, aim to warm up all the major muscle groups during the pre-exercise.

The Choreography

Start choreographing the Zumba workout by doing samba moves for about 5 minutes. You can use the basic forward and back movements, keeping your heart rate up. After that, switch to merengue dance movements for another 5 minutes. The merengue is composed of 3 basic motions, namely the forward basic motions, the side basic motions and the back basic motions. These can be mixed in any way using variations in the posture as you dance.

After 5 minutes, move on to dancing the salsa for 5 minutes. Begin by tapping on the first beat, then step forward using the same foot. Back on the same foot then dance to variations of the motion. You may include reggae, hiphop, reggaeton and a number of belly dance movements during the workout. Mix the movements using the Latin dance moves. You will realize that the fusion of different dances and rhythms make Zumba truly unique.