Giulia Ralph is a qualified Nutritionist, Strength & Conditioning Coach, Weightlifting Coach, and Personal Trainer. She has a Bachelor of Health Science in Nutrition and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Human Nutrition.
Zumba calories burned depend on various factors. Still, you’re curious to know how many calories you can burn because of the Latin dance-inspired workout. Besides, combining exciting dance with exercise feels like an escape from boring activities.
In this Zumba calories burned article, you’ll realize how exciting the trending workout can be while you lose weight. You’ll find that rhythm, soul, and weight loss are possible in one workout with Zumba exercises. Let’s see how many calories you burn and how to lose weight.
Some Zumba calories burned in 30 minutes are as follows (14):
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The Zumba calories burned depend on your body, age, goals, and exercise intensity. For example, a higher body mass index (BMI) requires more energy to perform a task because you’re moving more mass around. Let’s help you understand how to manually calculate calories burned before sharing calculations.
The basal metabolic rate (BMR) is how much energy your body uses at rest in order to maintain basic bodily functions.. Garnet Health suggests your BMR determines 60-70% of your daily calories burned before exercising (3). They also share a BMR calculation method for men and women.
Fortunately, you can use Garnet Health’s BMR calculator to simplify the math (3). That said, here’s an example for women and men:
The calculator simplifies precise BMRs. However, you must also know metabolic equivalents (METs) to know exactly how many calories you burn. You burn one MET per minute during rest. Zumba has three intensities, which increase the METs you burn.
However, Healthline explains how a MET value of four means you’re burning four times what you typically would at rest during an activity (13). A brisk walk already hits four METs, while jump rope hits 12.3. Increasing the intensity of Zumba allows you to multiply your BMR with METs. For example, the man’s BMR example above would burn 1.17 calories per minute.
Imagine the same man increasing his workout to vigorous-intensity Zumba at 12 METs. He then burns 14.04 calories per minute. He will burn 421.2 calories in 30 minutes if he’s fit enough to last that long in a vigorous Zumba routine. Calculators simplify the math, but doing the groundwork math will give you accurate calories burned per hour for your body.
A small study at the University of Wisconsin focused on the average calories burned in 40 minutes among 19 young women (15). The women burned 9.5 calories per minute on average, with the average session burning 369 calories. However, averages don’t work for everyone. Let’s at least focus on calculating calories burned by weight and intensity.
Let’s use a calorie-burning calculator that shows how many calories you burn according to weight, intensity, and workout minutes. It won’t be as accurate as doing the manual calculations, but you’ll have an idea of your calories burned during Zumba. This Style Craze Calories calculator shows the following calories burned in 30 minutes (14):
| Weight | Low-Intensity | Moderate-Intensity |
|---|---|---|
| 140 lbs. | 217 | 250 |
| 150 lbs. | 232 | 268 |
| 160 lbs. | 248 | 286 |
| 170 lbs. | 263 | 304 |
| 180 lbs. | 279 | 321 |
| 190 lbs. | 294 | 339 |
| 200 lbs. | 310 | 357 |
Read more: Calories Burned Playing Tennis: Your Guide to Fitness on the Court
Use the same calorie-burning calculator to see how many you can burn by intensity and weight over 60 minutes (14). Remember that these calories depend on weight and intensity to give you a rough estimate. You’ll calculate the exact calories burned manually.
| Weight | Low-Intensity | Moderate-Intensity |
|---|---|---|
| 140 lbs. | 433 | 500 |
| 150 lbs | 464 | 536 |
| 160 lbs. | 495 | 572 |
| 170 lbs. | 526 | 607 |
| 180 lbs. | 557 | 643 |
| 190 lbs. | 588 | 679 |
| 200 lbs. | 619 | 714 |
The Health Research Funding Organization suggests Aqua Zumba is an excellent alternative for sensitive joints as a low-impact exercise (2). The water also adds more resistance to tone your body. Here’s how many calories you burn by weight:
| Weight | 10 Minutes | 20 Minutes | 30 Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 120 lbs. | 90 | 180 | 270 |
| 150 lbs. | 114 | 228 | 335 |
| 200 lbs. | 140 | 250 | 380 |
| 250 lbs. | 180 | 320 | 450 |
High-intensity Zumba would burn more calories if you can last 30-60 minutes. Here’s how many calories you burn by weight if using high-intensity Zumba routines (14):
| Weight | 15 Minutes | 30 Minutes | 60 Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 140 lbs. | 142 | 283 | 567 |
| 150 lbs. | 152 | 304 | 607 |
| 160 lbs. | 162 | 324 | 648 |
| 170 lbs. | 172 | 344 | 688 |
| 180 lbs. | 182 | 364 | 729 |
| 190 lbs. | 192 | 385 | 769 |
| 200 lbs. | 202 | 405 | 810 |
Please note that these burns may not be realistic. For example, While An hour-long high-intensity session burns calories, the intensity and duration may not be suitable for individuals starting Zumba.
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How can you maximize your weight loss goals? Medicine Net says Zumba is an excellent weight loss tool if you do it 2-3 times weekly with regular strength-training sessions and eat a healthy diet (11). Moreover, you may experience the following benefits while doing Zumba:
Zumba is better than the gym for cardio, allowing you the freedom to enjoy dance-like movements. That said, it depends on your fitness goals. Zumba targets most body areas, but basic movements don’t work the biceps, triceps, or back muscles (11). A gym provides opportunities to target the muscles you don’t exercise during home workouts.
Some Zumba classes use dumbbells to target the missing areas. Pick your Zumba routines carefully if you aren’t doing the suggested 2-day strength training weekly (11). Harvard also found that strength training can help lower the risk of various diseases and help your muscles function better (6).
Weightlifting, yoga, push-ups, and other resistance-style workouts at the gym improve your overall well-being while helping you lose more weight. Harvard says that performing two 30-minute training sessions that target every major muscle group weekly is enough (6). Knowing this, use the gym and Zumba for maximum results.
. That depends, You’ll burn 268 calories in 30 minutes if you weigh 150 lbs. and jog at a moderate pace. However, you’ll burn 251 calories in 30 minutes if you weigh the same and jog at seven METs intensity to match the moderate intensity of Zumba (4).
Livestrong recommends interval-style Zumba training for belly fat (9). Nothing can spot-reduce belly fat, but switching between low and high-intensity Zumba in a session may help to reduce belly fat with a calorie deficit. Let’s help you create a calorie deficit.
First, determine how many calories you burn naturally with your BMR with the calculator (3). Then, count your daily calorie intake and consider how many you burn doing Zumba. Finally, Medicine Plus suggests creating a 500-calorie deficit daily to lose on average 1 pound weekly (1).
So, it looks like this: You eat 1800 calories daily and subtract your BMR of 1400 calories before removing the 400 calories you burn with Zumba. Now you’re breaking even. In terms of maintaining your current weight. You would need to reduce your calorie intake to 1300 to create the 500 deficit in this example.
Women should consume 1800-2400 calories daily, and men 2000-3200. Cutting calories for short-term weight loss is healthy but doesn’t create extreme deficits for long. In that case, increase your calorie burn to have a deficit.
The University of Wisconsin’s research suggests standard Zumba burns an average of 369 calories in 40 minutes (15). Meanwhile, Strong Zumba is a fast-paced, high-intensity cardio workout incorporating strength training for muscle endurance and whole-body toning.
High-intensity Zumba burns 283-405 calories in 30 minutes. They appear similar, but a study comparing standard and Strong Zumba found that the faster-paced workout had additional benefits (12). Individuals reduced body fat and circumference more with Strong Zumba.
One pound equals approximately 3500 calories. So, Medicine Plus recommends burning 500 calories more daily than you consume to lose around 1pounds weekly (1). The healthy monthly weight loss target is 4 pounds if using the recommended calorie deficits.
Read more: Calories Burned Playing Golf: Driving Calorie Burns to Meet Your Weight Loss Par
The best Zumba training plan for 10 days challenges you to progressively burn more calories. You’ll start slow with 20 minute-sessions before working toward 40-minute sessions with greater intensity to burn more calories (14).
Don’t push yourself too hard if you battle with the increments. Instead, stay on your previous day until you feel capable enough of jumping intensity and duration increments.
| Day | Duration | Intensity |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 minutes | Low |
| 2 | 20 minutes | Low |
| 3 | 20 minutes | Moderate |
| 4 | 25 minutes | Moderate |
| 5 | 30 minutes | Moderate |
| 6 | 30 minutes | Low |
| 7 | 30 minutes | Moderate |
| 8 | 35 minutes | High |
| 9 | 40 minutes | Moderate |
| 10 | 40 minutes | High |
Yes, 30 minutes of Zumba will help you lose weight. Firstly, the Mayo Clinic recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio weekly (7). That gives you five days to do Zumba each week. Meanwhile, you burn 250-357 calories in 30 minutes of moderate-intensity Zumba (14). However, changing your diet and adding strength training can enhance your weight loss results (11).
The Mayo Clinic states that 30 minutes of daily cardio is good for your health(7). They also recommend increasing your moderate-intensity cardio workouts to 300 minutes a week to lose more weight. Daily 42-minute sessions are possible when your fitness levels rise.
Different dance styles burn different calories. However, the Fred Astaire Dance Studios suggests that you burn these calories per hour, which may vary with weight, age, and gender (5):
The Zumba calories burned are impressive, whether you’re doing low or high-intensity jives. Add a low-calorie diet, strength training, and progression to reap the rewards. The 10-day challenge is steep. Still, give it a try today, allowing yourself rest days in between or staying on one level until you’re ready for the next.
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