The health-enhancing efficacy of Zumba® fitness: An 8-week randomised controlled study

Abstract

Telephone number (44) 75 5132 1637 Co-author email addressesHannah J. Moir, E-mail: h.moir@kingston.ac.uk; Elizabeth Pummell, E-mail: e.pummell@kingston.ac.uk; Allan Knox, E-mail: allan.knox@uws.ac.uk; Chris Easton, E-mail: chris.easton@uws.ac.uk Acknowledgement and disclosure statementThe authors wish to thank all the participants who volunteered their time for this project and in doing so made the completion of this research possible. No financial support was sought. No conflicts of interest are declared. TitleThe health-enhancing efficacy of Zumba ® fitness: An 8 wk randomised controlled study AbstractThe purpose of this study was to gain a holistic understanding of the efficacy of Zumba ® fitness in a community-recruited cohort of overweight and physically inactive women by evaluating i) its physiological effects on cardiovascular risk factors and inflammatory biomarkers and ii) its mental health-enhancing effects on factors of health-related quality of life. Participants were randomly assigned to either engagement in one to two 1 h classes of Zumba ® fitness weekly (intervention group; n = 10) or maintenance of habitual activity (control group; n = 10).Laboratory assessments were conducted pre-(wk 0) and post-intervention (wk 8) with anthropometric, physiological, inflammatory, and health-related quality of life data collected. In the intervention group, maximal oxygen uptake significantly increased (p < 0.05; partial η 2 = 0.56) by 3.1 mL·kg, percent body fat significantly decreased (p < 0.05; partial η 2 = 0.42)by -1.2%, and interleukin-6 and white blood cell count both significantly decreased (p < 0.01) by -0.4 pg·mL -1 (partial η 2 = 0.96) and -2.1 10 9 cell·L -1 (partial η 2 = 0.87), respectively. Large magnitude enhancements were observed in the health-related quality of life factors of physical functioning, general health, energy/fatigue, and emotional well-being. When interpreted in a community-based physical activity and psychosocial health promotion context, our data suggest that Zumba ® fitness is indeed an efficacious health-enhancing activity for adults.

A Feasibility Study Assessing a Culturally Relevant Physical Activity Intervention for Midlife Filipino Women

“…Main findings from this study indicated that the Zumba intervention led to significant reduction in weight and BMI as well as an increase in flexibility. This finding is consistent with other studies, where a Zumba dance program showed similar positive effects in comparable populations [45,46,49,50]. Specifically, research indicated that following a 16-week intervention, diabetic patients in intervention group gained higher aerobic capacity, flexibility, and intrinsic motivation, in addition to reduction in weight, BMI, and waist circumference [50].…”

“…Zumba is an aerobic fitness program which combines Latin and other international upbeat music with dance moves and can enhance aerobic fitness [43]. A few intervention studies have examined the effectiveness of Zumba on health and physical fitness outcomes among multiple clinical and non-clinical populations [11,44,45,46,47]. A systematic review conducted on the overall health benefits of Zumba reported that it enhanced aerobic and cardiovascular outcomes such as weight loss (1-3.6% reduction), body mass index (BMI) (1.1-3.7%), and waist circumference (3.5-4%) in participants within programs that lasted 8-40 weeks [47].…”

Examination of Body Composition, Flexibility, Balance, and Concentration Related to Dance Exercise

“…Babayigit et al (2014) indicate that weight loss program with a step dance and aerobic dance are as useful tools as the other sports which enable to decrease body fat percentage, in improving weight for university students. The Zumba fitness program was designed to improve the cardiovascular risk factors of the Zumba fitness program for overweight non-exercise women in the study of health benefits (Domene et al, 2016).…”

The potential benefits of Zumba Gold® in people with mild-to-moderate Parkinson’s: Feasibility and effects of dance styles and number of sessions

“…Numerous physiological and psychological benefits of Zumba ® have been identified in healthy populations, including improvements in dynamic balance, quality of life, lower pain perception, less interference with daily activities, higher self-perception of physical strength, and greater autonomy and purpose in life. [27][28][29][30] Since many of these aspects are affected in PD, it can be hypothesized that Zumba ® could benefit this population. However, to date there is no study on this type of exercise in neurological populations.…”