Zumba’s High-Energy Fitness Program a Culture in Itself

8 April 2011 One Comment

Dione Mason, Zumba fitness and lifestyle coach

By Dawn Gordon

Doing the same tired weight training and treadmill routine at the gym can get pretty boring. It can sometimes even discourage newcomers from becoming committed to working out.

But an exciting exercise regimen is making people of all ages, backgrounds and shapes hop off the treadmill and into its classes. Called Zumba, it is a high-energy fitness program in which you dance off the pounds. Fitness and lifestyle coach Dione Mason has been teaching Zumba for two years. In her more than 10 years in the fitness industry, she says the program brings out a passion in people she has never seen before.

“Zumba gives you permission to release, let go, be yourself and love it,” says Mason. “It’s more than a workout—it’s an infectious culture, a positive movement.”

Alberto “Beto” Perez, a dancer and choreographer from Colombia, founded the Zumba program in the mid ’90s. Perez essentially created a new kind of dance-fitness focused on letting the music move you, instead of counting reps over the music as in traditional dance workouts.

Blending Latin genres such as salsa, merengue, bachata and others, the program transforms the body with easy to follow movements that are not normally used in traditional style aerobics classes.

“I’ve had clients who, for years, did all sorts of abdominal exercises to rid themselves of that little pouch below the waistline,” says Mason. “After they started coming to my Zumba classes, I showed them how to move their waistlines and they literally shook away the fat while having fun doing it.”

Wellness is often categorized in three segments—mind, body and spirit. And dance-based fitness programs have been proven to connect the right and left sides of the brain to help stimulate and improve brain functions. Also, the mid to high intensity movements assist the body in building stronger cardiovascular and muscular endurance systems, which help control your weight and promote a positive self-image.

According to Mason, this is part of the reason why Zumba is so effective. “I start every class by telling my clients that it’s not about being right or wrong,” says Mason. “No one is here to judge you. It’s about feeling the music and letting go. We live in a world full of pressures and stress. When you step into a Zumba class, it doesn’t eliminate problems, but it helps you better cope with life.”