Zumba and Salsa Can Be a Potent Thigh Blaster

The music is rocking to an infectious Latin beat. The sweat is pouring as the crowd shimmies and shakes. Are they dancing the salsa in Havana, Cuba or Cali, Columbia? They could be, but they are not! They are students in a Zumba With Pam Fitness class. Zumba Fitness is the dance fitness craze that has taken the world by storm and is now poised to take over.

Zumba started in the 90’s when Colombian born, fitness instructor, Beto Perez, forgot his usual aerobics music. He quickly grabbed his cassette tape from his car and for the next hour played traditional Latin rhythms—salsa and merengue. The class was a huge success and Perez realized he was onto something by merging aerobics with dance to a thumping Latin beat. Now, there are over 40,000 instructors worldwide teaching Zumba in over 40 countries.

“The principle behind Zumba is incredibly simple,” explains Pam Andrews, Licensed Zumba Instructor and owner of Zumba With Pam in Bear, Delaware. “There are no complicated moves to learn and you don’t need the coordination of a traditional aerobics class. or a dance partner. Best of all, the music is so infectious that you barely even notice you’re exercising.”

A one-hour Zumba With Pam class uses the four basic rhythms of Zumba based on simplified versions of salsa, merengue, cumbia and reggaeton. You will also experience a bit of calypso, African, tango, belly dance, flamenco and other international dances. Participants are constantly engaged and entertained with the variety of rhythms. It breaks away from the typical 32-count aerobic format and uses the passion of the music as it was meant to be experiences. Even those with two left feet are successful in a Zumba With Pam class because of the natural flow of the simple steps that radiate through the body in synch with the music.