Is Zumba dead?
Hi friends! How’s your evening going? Tuesday nights are a little treat because I don’t teach; it’s just a fun evening to hang out with the fam. We went to take Bell and Caro to the dog park, but we couldn’t find Bella’s harness ANYWHERE. After searching high and low, the Pilot and Liv set off to PetSmart to get her a new one, and as they drove away, Bella stood by the door and cried, because she had seen the Pilot messing with the leashes. It broke my heart. 🙁 To make up for it, I was sure to give the dogs extra chicken while I prepped dinner. I think they forgot about their worries.
(Caro has the begging pose down.pat.)
It was a lovely night for chicken tortilla soup. It wasn’t on the meal plan for this week, but it sounded so good and comforting.
Margaritas are always the right answer. 😉
The Pilot is reading Liv bedtime stories, so I thought it would be fun to put on my Zumba ZIN DVD and learn a new dance for this week. The DVDs have been pretty blah lately. I posted about this quite a while ago, but as a Zumba instructor, you pay $30 a month (I think the price has increased for new instructors?) to get your materials (you get a DVD + CD every other month, and a CD every month). This is a great perk that they offer, especially when the music and choreography are good, but when the music is blah and the choreo is extra blah, it’s not really worthwhile. I’ve been thinking about canceling my ZIN membership for months, and I’m going to wait until the next DVD and decide from there. (If you cancel it, you are still a licensed Zumba instructor for one year following cancellation.)
Friends who Zumba: have you noticed that it’s not as popular as it once was? I joked that it was becoming the mom jeans of the fitness world, and I’m going to ride that neon Zumba wave until THE END, but I’m curious to see what will take its spot in the dance cardio realm. Anything new that I haven’t discovered yet??
Just wanted to say hello and hope everyone is having a great night <3
See ya in the morning with some things that almost screwed up my fitness life haha.
xoxo
Gina
Check in with today’s workout here!
Some recipes for National Pancake Day:
Protein pancakes minus protein powder
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I’ve wondered the same thing about Zumba! I will be curious to hear what others think. I’ve just felt like it’s sort of run its course and I don’t get excited about it anymore.
I definitely feel like there was a huge Zumba wave a few years ago. But my gym still offers 5 classes a week so it still seems popular. Oh you now have me intrigued! I’m excited for tomorrow’s post 🙂
On the dance cardio front, I know Mixxedfit is becoming super popular in the Seattle area. Right now it’s more of a local thing, but growing quickly. I have heard a lot about it (my mom is an instructor) and everyone who does it seems to love it!
i just checked out a youtube video- looks so fun!!
I once loooooved Zumba, but I couldn’t stick with it. There was never a consistent class time that I could always make – fast forward to nowadays, and I do at-home workouts.
Maybe you could become PiYo or Turbo Jam certified! 😀 that’s what I’m doing!
Personally, I’m not a fan of Zumba, but at one of the gyms I teach at, the classes are HUGE! I teach Pilates right after one and there are about 75 people getting their Zumba on each week, packing the room.
I go to Lifetime Fitness in Westminster, Co., and Dance Jam is by far the most popular class on the schedule. The format is identical to Zumba, but the dances and songs are pop/hip hop. This is the only place where twerking at 10am on a Monday feels so right.
Not an instructor, but I got the new Zumba system with the step and found it really meh.
Interesting hear that the zumba wave might be ending. I personally never got into it- I’ve gone a few times and always enjoyed it, but it seemed like my choices to attend a class were always really expensive (since I don’t have a gym membership). It almost seems like strength workouts are the new trend- between crossfit and barre (which I realise barre is less intense strength, but still definitely working the muscles), those seem to be the most popular that I hear about.
AKT in Motion in NYC is the most fun workout I have ever done and Anna just released a DVD (and has streaming classes). I have tried everything and it has me hooked. The DVD and streaming options are good but there is nothing like a live class with the disco ball twirling…check it out the next time your travels bring you this way! I am a “first time commenter” and long time reader — love your recipes and the book. Have been doing your quick HIIT workouts on nights when I don’t have a lot of time and they are an amazing way to get my heart rate climbing quickly. There is no excuse with those workouts! My kids start every morning with an amazeball….
thank you so much for saying hi and leaving a comment! 🙂 love that your kiddos are amazeball fans, too
i will definitely check out that class next time i’m in the area! it sounds amazing
thanks again for reading <3
xo
I think Zumba is still the most popular cardio class around (where I live anyway). Although I have lost my mojo for it a bit, I still love it when I go. One of my Zumba instructors has become certified in Bokwa but I haven’t seen it take off yet. Not sure what the next big thing will be!
I love Zumba and I miss it so much. I am 8 months pregnant and I just take the classes right now. I think it will still hang on for while because it reaches so many gym goers at all levels. I do think POUND could become its next biggest rival. I took one pound class and loved loved it.
I love Zumba, but my old instructor has cut down to one class a week and has started offering kettlebells and Piloxing instead.
I am not a huge fan of Zumba, simply due to my lack of coordination. However, at my gym the Zumba classes sell out on a regular basis. People here love it. Zumba and Spin seem to be the most popular classes.
Hahaha, yes, I would agree that Zumba is the “mom jeans” of the fitness world.
305 fitness is really popular in New York. It’s more choreographed dances to club music but it’s really popular and fun!
that sounds like a blast!
I still LOVE my weekly Zumba class, but mostly because I found an instructor who incorporates a ton of hip hop and “club dancing.” If were straight Zumba , Zumba the entire class, I probably wouldn’t go :/ I live in a very rural area in East Tennessee so Zumba is the only option we have. I’m glad I found my awesome teacher because I look forward to her class each week!!
I think Zumba is still veryuch popular. I teach at a number of gyms in the south Florida area, and Zumba classes still are very busy. I teach various classes but Zumba isn’t one of them, although I’ve taken a few classes. There is a new class called pound it where you mix dance moves and actually use drum sticks. I’m not sure exactly how it works, but the music is always pumping and people seem to enjoy it.
Have you tried any of the Les Mills dance inspired classes? Sh’Bam and Body Jam.
i tried bodyjam years ago, and it wasn’t my fave. still haven’t tried sh’bam
I have yet to try them, so I can’t speak for them either. When I do dance inspired classes I often spend so much time trying to figure out what to do with my feet and arms and don’t get any sort of a workout, so I often shy away from those classes 🙂
I love Zumba so much but I agree that the Zin volumes have been a bit blah. I really need great music to pump me up and they just haven’t been that great. That being said, everytime I take a great class I’m reminded of why I love Zumba so much.
As far as dance cardio goes, I’ve seen a huge development in classes where the dancing is a lot more fitness based and it almost reminds me of 80s aerobics but it is more accessible to the general public (AKT in Motion, Body by Simone, 305 Fitness, etc).
I do love Zumba, but the classes are not fitting in my schedule now. I have been loving Bodyflow and Pure Barre as of lately. A new Orangetherapy opened up so I want to try that next. Missing some cardiopilates =)
i am late to the party because I only recently got into zumba. The classes at my gym are always packed, particularly for a specific instructor. I think that makes all the difference, like with any group fitness. I do feel mom jeanish at times but its so fun! And a great workout.
Zumba is NOT dead!! But also, we instructors don’t even look at the ZIN DVDs… Zumba has taken a new turn to Zumba aka Dance Fitness, a more HIIT kind of workout that includes hiphop music from Beyonce, Iggy, Tinashe, Ciara, etc, songs that are popular NOW. When it comes to Spanish music, we use Wisin, Yandel, Marc Anthony for Salsa, Romeo Santos for Bachata, Prince Royce, Tito el Bambino and more for more up-to-date “Zumba” (but actually a new kind of dance fitness) routines that people go crazy for.
do you still stick to the 70/30 rule, or is it more hip hop and current stuff?
SO funny- I was literally just thinking about this the other day. My Mom is VERY into Zumba right now and is loving it. At my gym…its been disappearing! It’s been replaced mostly with WERQ. I took WERQ once and liked it! Hope you’re doing well <3 <3 PS- sorry I so rarely comment- I promise I read each post 🙂
Do you think it’s possible the harness was left out and one of the dogs took it and hid it? Our cat hates wearing a collar and every few weeks he manages to take it off somehow. Last time I found it buried in my closet under clothes.
haha maybe! we still haven’t found it!
it has been so long since i’ve had a good margarita!
I definitely think that Zumba is not AS big of a fad as it has been in the past, but I do know a lot of ladies that ONLY do it as their cardio. I think they will have a heart attack if gyms stop offering it. I never got into it, but I still think it is one of the best options for people that do not enjoy working out, but like to dance.
There are so many fads that come and go…it can still make a comeback!
I can’t take the sad puppy dog eyes my pups give me when plans change for them…it is heartbreaking!
I have been a Zumba instructor since 2009, and I feel the same about it. I don’t even bother watching the DVDs anymore and the covers of pop music on the Megamix CDs don’t appeal to me at all. Most of the time the songs have already been overused by the time they are provided to us through Zumba. I teach in a small private dance studio, and don’t have very large classes so I rarely make enough to cover my Zin fees and other costs of instructing but I love to dance, and love my loyal students. I have seen several other local private studios in my area closing within the last few months which leads me to believe others are feeling the same way. To be honest, after the home office sent out the survey asking about nutrition bars and make up lines I started to get a very bad feeling about it. I feel like they have totally jumped the shark, and it’s a bummer.
No to nutrition bars and makeup lines. Ick. Maybe they should just revamp the music and add to the class format? I’m not an instructor, I just really enjoy latin dance workouts.
yes ew to that. i really hope they do something to freshen up the music and format
i agree, it is a bummer. i’ve also been a ZIN since 2009, and i feel like the CD and DVD quality has really gone down (which is ridiculous because they’re making $$$$$$ from their instructors)
I have never done Zumba…two words…not coordinated! Haha! It looks fun though!
On a separate note, I tried your egg, banana, oat blender pancakes this past weekend and fell in love! Had them both Saturday and Sunday! I added a touch of vanilla and cinnamon and they were fantastic! Thanks for the recipe!
I’ve noticed a lot of WERQ classes popping up as well as more general “cardio hip hop” or “cardio dance” classes that don’t require a certified Zumba instructor. It seems like Barre classes are the *~*cool/ hip*~* classes in my area at the moment!
I have also noticed WERQ in the Chicago area. Although only a few gyms offer it. Most still offer Zumba. I think the problem with any type of fitness class is lack of consistency with the instructors. Especially with Zumba, it’s hard to find classes where the instructors play good music and have a class that is high in intensity so you get a good work out. It seems to me that many Zumba instructors are too caught up in the “dance” part of the class and not the fitness part. I also think that many zumba instructors want to cater to all the levels of fitness in their class and end up having a class that is blah. My favorite instructor always keeps the intensity up and despite the fact that many of the students are not that fit and a little slow at catching onto the dance moves, they still come every week and her class is packed. Everyone knows they are guaranteed to get a good workout, even if they can’t do everything.
I think that Zumba will be like Jazzercise … It will still be around, but a new dance class will take over as the most popular. Personally, I like the Jazzercise format better than the Zumba format, but I haven’t done a class in quite a while. I’ve mostly been doing mat pilates classes, group cycling and too much running.
I say go for a Jazzercise class again! They’re so different now, so hip and funky. And its challenging too. I too prefer the format that Jazzercise use. It’s standardized worldwide.
This might seem odd, but my Grandma did Jazzercise for 30 years and she’s still in amazing shape. It set her up for great health in the long haul I think. I’ve never taken class personally.
I agree, give Jazzercise another try. I’ve been at it for several years and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. The music is pumping and really gets me going.
About 2 years ago Boston opened a studio solely dedicated to Zumba (The Z Spot)! I’ve started going again because of them. The instructors really make or break it for me. I want ones that are very active and add in some hip hop into it (which I’ve found all the Z Spot instructors to be like this). Some instructors are too laid back/slow and that makes it feel mom-isn to me.
i’ve heard about that studio- so awesome. i would love to check it out next time i’m there
I have never found a Zumba instructor I like or was consistent. But I LOVE TurboKick (live version of TurboFire/Jam). As a Chalene fan I think you would love it!
Gina, Have you heard of Intensati? I think it would be right up your alley.
yes, i’ve tried it once! LOVE
Have you done WERQ? It was offered at my husband’s medical school (which I no longer get a free gym membership now that he’s done, waaah!) and it was so much fun!
no, but i’d love to try it!
I live near NYC and “dance cardio” is pretty popular around here. As another poster mentioned, it is reminiscent of dance aerobics. I think the current trend was kind of started by Tracy Anderson, and it seems many of her former instructors are now opening their own studios. Zumba has certainly died down in this area, but there are still many classes to be found. I used to go with my mom every week, but it was more for her benefit as I feel pretty spazzy when I zumba. I did buy the iPad app this year and have used it a few times. The workouts are short and fun and I can flap my arms like a chicken and no one sees me!
Spinning and boutique spinning studios are big now too.
I am a ZUMBA instructor too, and I have to say it seems like it might be starting to phase out a bit. I heard that they are going to be really focusing on “stomp” type moves going forward and that they are really trying to integrate ZUMBA into as many styles as possible. I know a few instructors who have moved into U-JAM in place of ZUMBA. I also TOTALLY agree with you that the last several ZIN cd/dvds have been so meh!
I’m so interested to read what you all are saying about this! I do Zumba videos at home because getting out is a bit much for me these days. (Three kids, busy hubs, etc.) I love doing it at home, but I love latin music. I don’t think I could hang in a hip-hop, pop class. It’s not my thing. I hope latin dancing doesn’t go away, because I already miss traditional rhythms being replaced by reggaeton.
If you haven’t tried it – Jazzercise. New classes – Strike, Core, Fusion, Strength60, Dance Mixx. They’re pumping it out!! You think you know them but, unless you try a class, you won’t know. #thenewjazzercise
Zumba better never die! I love it!
Yeah, the median age at the Zumba classes at my gym creeps higher every year, it seems. I still love it! Somebody told me about this class a friend of hers takes, it’s basically cardio hip hop done in a darkened room with dance lights/disco lights. I would LOVE to try that!
Hi! Long time reader, infrequent commenter *waves*
Gina, I do think you’d love WERQ 🙂 I’ve been teaching it for awhile (originally started as a Zumba instructor), and the format of a WERQ class is very similar to Zumba. However, WERQ uses only pop, rock, and hip hop music that is currently trending or has trended in the past year or so. Participants recognize almost all the jams, so I find many of them more easily get into the dance groove early in the class. It’s super fun, super sweaty, and focuses on both fitness and fun (instructors must have a group fitness or personal training certification). It’s good stuff!
*waves back* hi! 🙂
so many raves about werq in the comments! i need to find a class! it sounds like it’s right up my alley 🙂
Totally! 🙂 Cue the sad trombone, though, because WERQ classes haven’t really hit the southwest US yet. If you travel elsewhere, be sure to check werqfitness.com to see if a class if offered nearby for you to try!
i will definitely seek out a class next time i’m traveling!
As much as I’d love to say Zumba isn’t dead, I think I’m in denial. I see old videos of my mom with 80’s aerobics leotards under those gawd awful g-string things and leg warmers with her perm bouncing. She’s having a blast and she was super fit, but that fad died and so will this one. I will always love it, though. <3 And, I will always do upper body Zumba in my car when the songs come on.
Haha!! Me too! I love Zumba driving!! 🙂
I teach WERQ dance cardio fitness and it is SO FUN! It’s pop, rock and hip hop dances. I highly recommend it!
I heard about a more hip-hop style dance cardio (and less latin-inspired moves like Zumba) is popping up around my neck of the woods. I would love to do more hip-hop styles since I’m not coordinated enough for the latin stuff. LOL! =D
Dude I am also on the WERQ train. Zumba will always be my first dance cardio love, but WERQ is SO SO SOOOO much fun. The music is always amazing (mix of r&B and top 40) and the intensity is similar to zumba. I find myself hearing music on the radio (coughcough Uptown Funk) and immediately checking the WERQ schedule for the next class so I can shake my booty to it. You should definitely track down a class or find a vid and check it out!
As a Les Mills instructor, you might be interested in their Sh’Bam certification! The YMCA I work for had low numbers and dropped the class, but I know a lot of people still liked it. It just might not have been the right fit for our Y, or the time slot might not have been right for that class. I took a little sampler of a class, and it’s definitely more “technical” than Zumba. As a dancer, I think it’s something that you would totally love! The instructors that we had are former dancers and they loved teaching it! Just something you might want to check out!
ZUMBA here in Thailand is HUGE people LOVE it, I think that its one of those waves that will always be popular SOMEWHERE just maybe not where you are located and in the big cities where people want what is HIP and cool. Its interesting trying to forecast the fitness trends I think Crossfit will hit a wave end soon too! Thanks for sharing xo C
I’ll admit that I’ve never done Zumba, but I’ve never done it because it’s not my kind of workout. When I have seen Zumba classes being taught they don’t seem that high energy, but that may be a reflection of the teacher or the people I am watching. It did seem to be all the rage a couple years ago, but I don’t hear about it as much anymore.
I was in a (really intense) cycling class at Equinox the other night in Los Angeles and as our instructor was motivating the class, he yelled out, “If it was easy it would be called ZUMBA!” Sad, right?
The truth is, I Zumba AND cycle, but I do think that the overall perception of Zumba has fallen in the fitness world. I wanted to prove that instructor wrong, so I monitored my heart rate & burn for my next Zumba class and was surprised to see that I burned MORE calories in Zumba than in cycling! (620 vs. 580), though my avg. HR was higher in cycling (161 vs. 153). Granted, my Zumba class was about 10 minutes longer than cycling. Perceived exertion is everything! Just because Zumba *feels* easy doesn’t mean it is!
I have started taking Zumba at a dance studio because my Equinox offers a very sparse Zumba schedule. I’ve tried a class called Cardio Hip Hop at LA Dancefit and LOVE it! It’s a lot like Zumba in that it’s an easy to pick up follow-along format, but the music is all hip hop. Highly recommend it to anyone who’s in the area or can find a similar class!
hahah oh nooooo! and yes, the calorie burn is awesome; i burn more calories in zumba than i do running, but i feel like i’m working so much harder when i’m running
i will definitely look for that class next time i’m in LA
Sorry, Gina, but Zumba was never alive for me. I took one class and HATED IT so much that I’ll never do it again. I absolutely cannot stand having a room full of women “wooing” at me for an hour. And at my gym it’s DEFINITELY the “mom jeans” of fitness. Give me a kettlebell class any day and I’m in heaven! Dancing and I are just never going to be friends.