All about Having Fun: Women’s Experience of Zumba Fitness

Abstract

This study explored women’s subjective experience of Zumba, a new, popular form of group fitness. We interviewed 41 racially/ethnically diverse adult women from the Los Angeles/Inland Empire (California) area who had taken Zumba in the previous year. The women reported taking Zumba for the purpose of exercise and did not challenge the notion that exercise is imperative. However, they reported positive experiences of Zumba, contrasting it with other fitness forms, which they characterized as boring, stressful, painful, lonely, and/or atomistic, and with other dancing, which they characterized as more restrictive. They perceived Zumba to prioritize fun over work and process over outcomes; value individual autonomy and personalization rather than strict conformity; and engage the participant as more than just a body to be shaped. They felt freer to engage in behavior that is considered to violate structural gender norms, but their experience did not translate to an explicit challenge to the gender structure.

Lights out, let’s dance! An investigation into participation in No Lights, No Lycra and its association with health and wellbeing

“…The free-form delivery of NLNL was highly acceptable among these women. The importance of fun and enjoyment achieved though dance participation in NLNL is similar to studies investigating dancing [27,38]. Both types of dance focus on fun and enjoyment rather than any fitness or weight-loss objectives.…”

“…The model of delivery of NLNL implements many evidence-based strategies to engage women in physical activity such as a focus on fun, flexible attendance and participation rather than perfection [27,[35][36][37]. The physical activity of dancing in the dark, to what one participant described as an "eclectic set of music", is fun.…”

“…Both types of dance focus on fun and enjoyment rather than any fitness or weight-loss objectives. Zumba group fitness classes are instructor-led, however participants are encouraged to vary moves in rhythm to the music, encouraging autonomy [27]. NLNL progresses the positive aspects of other modified dance sessions such as Zumba and allows total movement autonomy, and no dress-code for participants, in a what dancers reported as a judgment-free environment.…”

“…A study into women's experiences participating in Zumba found the prioritization of fun and individual autonomy rather than strict conformity was motivating for participants [27]. A main theme from this qualitative study was that "dancing is fun and exercising is not", which raises the question whether individuals who participate in dance for fun participate in other types of organized activity or is there something unique about dance which motivates them [27]. Another modification of organized dance is No Lights, No Lycra [28].…”

“No Amount of Baths Is Gonna Make You Feel Better”: Seeking Balance, Wholeness, and Well-being in Everyday Self-Care

“…Biomedicine is not the only institution selfcare resists or challenges; those who practice contemporary self-care also deviate from the norms of other institutions of care or body work, including fitness, dieting, and cosmetic surgery. Women participate in "fun" or holistic exercise, such as Zumba or Hybrid, that focus on the process itself -integrating emotions and the mind -rather than solely emphasizing the bodily outcomes of dominant exercise practices (Nieri and Hughes 2016;Markula 2004). "Healthy" dieting practices are constructed as positive, empowering choices, and "mindful eating" is advocated as a way to resist conventional norms of restriction and the injunction to attain thinness (Cairns and Johnston 2015;Vogel and Mol 2014).…”