We all know about the importance of regular exercise and physical activity, especially among older adults. However, due to their age and reduced physical strength, seniors often struggle to find workouts that are fun and engaging.
But what happens when a fitness program combines dance and music with exercise? Well, you get Zumba - an upbeat activity that involves dancing to foot-tapping music. It is the ideal workout for seniors as they dance with others and burn hundreds of calories without even realizing it.
With that in mind, let’s look at why Zumba is important and the major benefits of Zumba for Seniors.
1. Full Body Workout
One of the main benefits of Zumba is that you experience a total body workout. A regular Zumba session usually includes lots of shoulder movements, lunges, arm raises along with the energetic dance moves.
It means that your whole body remains active as you move and sway to the music. So, unlike other exercises, Zumba offers a full body workout which proves to be extremely beneficial for older adults.
2. Better Weight Management
One of the main benefits of Zumba is that it allows you it lose weight in a fun way. Research suggests that one hour of Zumba helps you burn around 500 calories and can also help you maintain a healthy appetite.
In order to make the most of your Zumba sessions, you can also try to engage your whole body and move your arms and legs with the music. Not only is it helpful for weight loss, but it also allows seniors to work on their weight management as well.
3. Improved Mobility
Reduced mobility is a common issue among seniors that eventually affects their overall posture and coordination. Since, Zumba involves the movement of the entire body, it may help improve their balance and mobility too.
As Zumba is known to be a low-impact exercise, it can be really helpful for seniors who suffer from constant mobility issues, muscle aches and joint pain as well. Similarly, it may also help with…
4. Improved Endurance and Stamina
As mentioned before, Zumba is a high-intensity workout that involves dancing to fast-paced music. The whole activity requires you to move your whole body with the flow of the music. This allow seniors to experience improved endurance and stamina after a few Zumba sessions.
5. Enhanced Cardiovascular Health
Although a healthy diet helps maintain cardiovascular health, physical activities like Zumba are also important as they may help lower cholesterol and blood pressure levels.
Being a high-energy workout routine, Zumba also helps increase the heart rate for a few minutes. This, in turn, strengthens the cardiovascular system and may even reduce the chances of cardiac issues. Also, Zumba may help with…
6. Enhanced Cognitive Function
Some of the major psychological changes that seniors usually experience are lower concentration levels, reduced attention span and memory loss. However, regular Zumba workouts can help you avoid these problems.
Since, Zumba involves paying good attention to your body movement, it eventually helps improve concentration, alertness and may even enhance overall cognitive function.
7. Open for Everyone
It does not matter whether you are a professional dancer or if you only dance during family functions. Zumba is open for everyone. The workouts are designed in a way that even a beginner can perform Zumba without worrying about anything else. It is suitable for all skill levels, which means that it also…
8. Promotes Emotional Health
Zumba is a group activity. So, not only are you burning some caloreis but you are also socializing with a number of other people. You become a part of this social environment where everyone just wants to have fun and stay fit.
This is helpful for your emotional and mental well-being as you can now easily connect with others. Since, most seniors are away from their loved ones due to this quarantine period, Virtual Zumba Sessions are a blessing in disguise for them.
As people often say, Zumba is not just a workout routine, it is a different lifestyle. It is extremely beneficial for senior citizens as it allows them to stay fit and connect with other like-minded individuals.
