With fitness being an important factor in lives of young men and women in the Capital City, dances with well-orchestrated moves are emerging as a new way to get back or stay in shape. More and more youth and middle-aged people of the Capital, particularly the fair sex, are catching up with exercise dance forms to retain their fitness levels. While aerobics has always been a hot favourite, an exhilarating version of exercise, Zumba has taken the city by storm, literally.
Zumba culture was introduced in Bhubaneswar two years back when some reputed gyms started offering it, says Anupam Nayak, a Zumba trainer of city-based dance studio, Anu's Dance Freak. Set up in 2010, the dance studio with two branches in Patia and Khandagiri has been offering Zumba lessons for a long time now.
Health Benefits
Zumba is a dance fitness programme created by Colombian dancer and choreographer Alberto 'Beto' Perez during 1990s. It involves dance and aerobic movements performed to energetic music. It's a combination of Reggaeton, Samba, Salsa, Merengue and Mambo, and also includes squats and lunges. There are hip thrusts, shoulder shimmies, hands flailing in the air and high intensity footwork - all elements of the workout, weaved in to suit the music. The demand for the dance form is high among women from all backgrounds - be it college-going girls, working women or house-wives.
"As people of the city are more connected to Bollywood songs, I blend the dance with Bollywood and Odia numbers like Rangabati", says Nayak, who acquired Zumba training from Zumba.com in New York. "If you love dance and want to lose weight, Zumba is the exercise for you, he advises. Nayak had recently conducted four Zumba workshops for employees of Infosys, NIFT, Vodafone and residents of Cosmopolis apartment in Bhubaneswar apart from an 'Aqua Zumba' class at a private hotel.
Another gym at IRC Village in Nayapalli, Kalinga Fitness has been offering Zumba for the last three years. Abhishek Das, a trainer in the gym says, as Zumba is a light exercise form and does not require weightlifting or cardio, women prefer it the most. The clients at Kalinga Fitness are trained by Binod Kumar Nayak, an Ollywood choreographer certified in the fitness dance form from Mumbai. Around 30 women hit the Zumba floor at the gym everyday for an hour in the morning and evening. Kalinga Fitness has been participating in Raahgiri in the city and has received good response with a minimum crowd of 300 and maximum of 700 matching steps with the choreographer on Sundays.
According to both Nayak and Das, a Zumba workout works on the entire body. While it warms up all muscles and works on the upper body, the footwork strengthens ankles and calves.
Climate Control
As the climate of Bhubaneswar is very hot, one cannot do Zumba for a long time at a stretch (as rule says 45 minutes of Cardio and 15 minutes for cool-down exercise). Therefore, continue Zumba for 30 minutes and do cool-down exercise for another 15 minutes. This will be a perfect workout routine for fitness enthusiasts of Bhubaneswar, Nayak says.
Quick Tips
Leave the cubicle and experience nature. Take a 'true break' and don't just surf the Web on your mobile. If you do not have access to a jogging park in the neighbourhood, stroll along a quiet, calm street early in the day. Jogging or dancing for 30 minutes to one hour can be of great help for the body. Continue Pranayam or hand and leg stretches if your work requires you to sit for long hours, suggests Nayak.