What to wear for Zumba fitness classes

Ditch the workout and join the party!

All people recognise the importance of regular exercise and a lot of people do something about it like running, swimming or going to the gym. But it is fair to say that all but a few ‘strange’ people find their exercise regime mentally stimulating and that is the biggest reason for people giving up. Put simply, they get bored! Bored, bored, bored. With no mental stimulation the mind has nothing to focus on but the pain of exercise, and who enjoys that? …yes, those ‘strange’ people I mentioned earlier, but they are weird.

What normal people need is an exercise regime where they don’t notice they are in an exercise regime. By keeping the mind busy during exercise you distract the senses from the pain your body is experiencing, and the mind is kept very busy when learning and repeating choreographed moves as in a dance.  That is why Zumba is the answer.

What is Zumba?

Zumba is a dance fitness program created by Colombian dancer and choreographer Alberto “Beto” Perez during the 1990s, and is a fusion of strong latin beats, which even the most uncoordinated flat-foot can move in time with. It is impossible to resist moving in time with a Latin beat and it gets even the most dedicated sour-pusses on to their feet, it has an energy all of its own. This music is the key ingredient to Zumba classes, where the score, created with specific beats and tempo changes, transitions the workout from one toning, strengthening or cardio move to another, thus targeting every major muscle group in the body. During a Zumba class you can expect to hear beats from the following dance styles: Cumbia, Salsa, Merengue, Mambo, Flamenco, Chachacha, Reggaeton, Samba, Belly dancing, Bhangra, Hip hop music, Axé music and Tango. With these rhythms it is almost impossible to be out of time with the rest of the class – almost.

You’ll be so busy caught up with the Latin beat, dancing like Shakira, that you won’t notice and you won’t care that you are putting your body through an interval training session with fast and slow rhythms and resistance training, toning and sculpting your body whilst burning fat at a huge rate.

With the energy of the Latin beat, and the structured workout Zumba classes give you the ultimate non-workout exercise regime.

Now all you need are the right shoes and clothing.

What clothing to wear for Zumba?

Zumba is a high performance activity and it demands high performance clothing. Luckily the dancewear industry has spent $millions on researching and developing fabrics that stretch, breath and wick sweat away from the body far more efficiently than sports clothing bought from the high street and the best is available from the pages of Dancemania Dancewear.

Women and men will do well to buy jazz pants and dance top to start with, and these come in a massive variety of colours and styles.

Crop top and jazz pants

What our customers typically buy:

Women:

For those who like to show off their middrift a Meryl Crop Top and for the more modest a sleeveless dance top. All these tops go well with either flare jazz pants, classic leg jazz pants or cropped cotton leggings.

If you are self-conscious about your body shape and wished you could suck it all in, smooth it all down and hold it in place then read our article How to look & feel great for dance fitness as it gives good recommendations on shape & control compression base layers that were made for dancers.

Men:

Have a better than average choice of mens dance clothing at Dancemania but a clear favourite is a men’s tank top from Capezio, which gives a classic clean cut look, matched with drawstring dance pants, also from Capezio.

What are the best shoes for Zumba?

[Update! If you are looking for shoes for Zumba then please read our updated post, What are the best shoes for Zumba fitness?]

There is a clear leading shoe for Zumba and that is Bloch’s Amalgam.

Bloch Amalgam shoes are ideal for Zumba

These shoes are ideal for Zumba because they are light, breathable, designed for high impact dance and they come in a great range of colours. Better still, as well as leather, they are also available in canvas.

So, your shoes can be black and sober or brightly colourful, but it is important that you wear shoes made for dance as standard trainers will not allow you to connect to the floor in the same way proper dance shoes will. Luckily you have a fabulous range to choose from at Dancemania Dancewear.

If you would rather have a trainer style shoe for Zumba then our most popular is the Bloch 538 Boost DRT Dance Sneaker, which is available in four colours.

Zumba turns a workout in to a performance and as Dancemania’s core customers know nothing focuses the mind and body like a performance.

Zumba on the Wii

Dancemania was selected by the makers of Zumba fitness the video game to try it out and review it. See what Sophie thought about it and find out why she gave it an 8/10 by reading her blog Zumba on Wii

More Zumba related posts

How to look great for dance fitness
New Dance fitness shoes arriving in 2012
What are the best Dance fitness shoes for men?
Zumba on Wii
What to wear for Zumba fitness classes
What are the best shoes for Zumba?
Capezio BOLT Dansneaker great for Zumba

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Last updated by Dancemania at February 18, 2013.