Zumba DVD Review and Giveaway!

I was contacted by Shine from Yahoo, a website that "covers family, health, fashion, beauty, finance, career, food, relationships and much more", to review Zumba's Total Body Transformation System for their at home fitness segment on their Get It Guide.  How did they know that I am Zumba obsessed?  And that I love at home workout DVD's?  I'm as happy as a little girl!










I have only taken Zumba in person and was wondering how it would translate to an at home experience.  For those of you not in the loop, Zumba is a dance fitness class that uses international rhythms and non verbal cuing (no talking, more dancing!) to get your body to move and shake until you are all hot and sweaty.  I was skeptical before my first class.  I enjoyed dance but how would I fare with the sexy samba or sizzling hip hop?  After the class I fell in love and have been preaching the gospel of Zumba for over a year and just recently became a Zumba instructor.  I adore my instructors and classmates:  How could these DVDs be a similar experience?




The Zumba system comes with two one-pound toning sticks (they shake like maracas!) and six workouts:  Zumba Fitness Basics, Zumba Fitness 20-minute Express, Zumba Fitness Cardio Party, Zumba Fitness Sculpt and Tone, Flat Abs, and Zumba Fitness Live!  The exclamation point is theirs, but I was very enthusiastic with the amount of product that came in the box.  That is A LOT of Zumba!



The workouts are primarily hosted by the feisty Tanya Beardsley (my teacher at my training) and Beto Perez, creator of Zumba.  Zumba Fitness Basics introduces you to the steps and rhythms that will be used in the series, and once you have the moves you can pick your poison with the other workouts.  I liked the Cardio Party the best because it was the longest and had the most dancing.  The only thing jarring was the talking!  In class the instructor rarely speaks; instead, they lead by hand gestures and demonstrating the moves.  On the DVDs there is a lot of chatter.  It's not bad if you've never done Zumba before, but if you've taken a live class it kind of takes you out of the moment.  I love the feeling of losing myself with the music and I can't when I am listening to instruction.



I did enjoy the Sculpt and Tone DVD, but only for the toning sticks.  One pound weights are not challenging, but they do add a fun musical twist as you move around.  I loved the fact that the "sculpting" moves were set in time to the music like a body pump class.  I do wish they were heavier!  Unless you have zero experience with weight training you will soon outgrow the toning sticks.



Overall, I think this is a fun system that will get you results if you also watch your eating and you are consistent.  I think the DVDs are a great introduction to Zumba and when you feel comfortable, you should log on to Zumba.com (it's all over the box, the DVDs, and in the workouts) and find a live class where you can experience what it is all about!  It is way more fun than your workout has ever been!



Want to try it out for yourself?  Shine is providing me with one Zumba system to give away!  Simply leave me a comment below or tweet to me at my Twitter handle @fosterfitness and let me know why you want to try Zumba!  I'll choose the winner soon and Shine will send you your own kit to start your Zumba transformation!