Zumba For Beginners Workout Review

Quick View

Zumba for Beginners - the first Zumba workout made - is a fast, fun Latin dance workout that I liked but that many will find frustrating. They don't show you how to do the steps, they just do them. But it's a fast 30 minutes and a fun one. A great primer for longer and more vigorous cardio workouts like the Advanced Zumba workout which is totally killer.

Full View

I pictured Zumba being in a cool club or outside or somewhere a lot more high tech than a little wood floored studio with a bunch of people in typical exercise gear. I guess I had in mind a party or something. Once I got past that, I noticed that Beto (Alberto Perez), the instructor and man behind the craze, rarely speaks. He can't speak English well and he never cues. He just dances. There is a woman named Giselle who does talk now and then but really, if you need cuing and lots of "you can do it!" stuff, this will disappoint.

The Workout

I can't dance at all. I am as clumsy as they come. I am still apologizing to my dog for kicking him when I was in my Tae Bo phase. BUT...for some reason, I picked all the steps up very quickly on the beginner tape. Basically, this is a 30 minute workout with a very fast warm up, and then a series of dances to music played by a band on the set. Or at least it looks like they are playing the music live.

Beto, clad in a backward baseball cap and street clothes, leads the dances with a smiling group of beautiful people behind him. Giselle is his co-instructor and she explains now and then what we are doing and flirts around with Beto during the dances. The music is Latin inspired but at times seems Middle Eastern or even Egyptian, especially during the warm up and cool down phases. Beto takes you through a series of dance steps, all of which are really quite simple. If I can do them without cuing, anyone can! There is an element of interval training here as he gets your heart rate up then slows it down only to repeat that series throughout the tape. I like that. I am not one who enjoys huffing and puffing hard for a long period of time. The short slower dance moves gave me the will to continue.

Beto is a bit cheesy. He flirts around with the women and acts all flustered around the hot bodies, but I don't mind. It's supposed to be FUN and that sort of stuff is fun. I had fun and was able to do Zumba without much cardio effort the first time. The next day, I was sore especially in the legs.

As far as whether I would recommend this to anyone, I would say don't spend a lot of it. Rent it or try to get it from someone who is selling it on eBay. The reason I say this is because some people really hate the fact that there is virtually no cuing at all and that there isn't a lot of talk on the tape. Many need the verbal encouragement from people like Denise Austin and her type who are constantly telling you that you can do it and giving you encouragement. I rather enjoyed just doing the workout without all the jabber. It went by incredibly fast and didn't require much space at all.

My Viewpoint

To sum up: The music is kind of cool, Beto is sort of cheesy and doesn't give you any instructions - you sort of just follow along. Those who prefer a lot of verbal cuing and instruction will not enjoy this tape. Those who just want to have fun and dance around to work off some calories probably will enjoy Zumba. The beginner's tape is definitely for beginners. I was one when I got this workout and, if I didn't get winded and feel like I was going to collapse, you KNOW it's not a big challenge. It's great for those starting out and who want to just boogie and have fun without all the complicated instruction that some videos and DVDs are filled with. It certainly isn't the best workout you will ever get and it surely has a long way to go to compete with a lot of the new dance videos but if you can get Zumba for a decent price and want something slightly different with a Latin beat, go for it. Just know that you won't be given a lot of instruction so go into it with the idea that you will follow along, get your heart rate up, and burn some calories in a very informal setting. And hey, you may have some fun too! 4 stars.

Note: A new 4 DVD set of Zuma workouts was recently released and I believe the beginner workout is completely different from what I am reviewing. This is the first Zumba tape made and mine is on a VHS tape. It may also be on DVD but be sure you get the one pictured if this looks like a workout you may want to try.