So, you fancy trying a new class for 2020 but which class is best for you? Two of the most popular classes are Zumba and Yoga? They are both extremely good for you, very enjoyable and both extremely beneficial at keeping you fit and healthy.

Let’s start with Zumba and the benefits:

Zumba is a high energy dance workout to Latin style music.
It’s great fun – you’re more likely to stick at an exercise if you enjoy doing it.
It targets many different muscle groups which gives you a full body workout.
It’s good for looking after your heart as, being an aerobic exercise, it gets your heart rate up. You will sweat!
It’s great for losing weight, burning between 600 and 1000 calories in an hour.
The upbeat dance moves and music help to relieve stress and make you feel happy. When you are dancing your body releases endorphins which interact with your brain giving you positive and happy feelings. It’s also very effective at reducing tiredness and improving concentration.

Zumba improves co-ordination – the first time you try it you might think that you’re never going to get the hang of it but keep practising as the dance moves generally stay the same thereby improving your co-ordination.
Zumba is for everyone at any age or ability, combining dance moves with strength training, working the core muscles and improving posture, muscle strength and mobility.

And Yoga:

Yoga is an ancient form of both physical and spiritual exercise which combines exercise, breathing and meditation.
Yoga is great for improving flexibility, posture, balance and reducing joint pain – the more you practice yoga, the more pliable your muscles will become. Inflexibility can be the cause of poor posture which can cause back, neck and other joint and muscle problems. It helps to improve balance which can mean fewer falls in older people.
It can improve joint pain eg pain in your knees can be caused by tight hips, and once your hips start loosening through yoga, your knee pain will improve. The same with tight hamstrings which can cause back pain.

Yoga helps to build strong muscles and bones which help prevent arthritis, back pain, falls in older people and osteoporosis. It also prevents cartilage wear out. Cartilage is like a sponge which squeezes out fluid and soaks up fresh nutrients. Yoga moves your joints through their full range of motion to ensure that this happens and to stop them wearing out. The same principle applies to the spinal disks between the vertebrae which also need to be moved with backbends, forward bends and twists to keep them supple.
Yoga helps you to slow your breath and relax. It can help to reduce blood pressure and lower your heart rate which in turn helps with stress, anxiety and depression, leaving you feeling happier. It can also help you to sleep better and deeper. Reducing stress can help reduce stress-related illnesses such as headaches, depression and IBS.
Yoga can help to lower blood sugar levels in people with diabetes thereby reducing their risk of heart disease and other related problems.
Yoga helps with concentration and memory by teaching you to focus on the present, and on your breath and the position.
There are many different types of Yoga our Freestyle Fitness Yoga which is a workout for your muscles based on fitness, strength, flexibility and balance, and does not include meditation.

Both Zumba and Yoga are good at burning calories, so it all depends on what you want to get out of it. Zumba is an energetic, fun-packed dance party which will burn calories, make you feel happy, improve co-ordination and relieve stress. Yoga will also burn calories, make you feel happy, improve co-ordination and relieve stress but it will also help to build muscle and improve flexibility and concentration in a much more relaxed, controlled atmosphere.

Try both, sometimes we need to let go and throw ourselves into Zumba and sometimes we want to exercise in a more relaxed, quiet way.

We offer both Zumba and Freestyle Fitness Yoga at W Fitness so come along and try them out! Simply call us to book in on 0113 345 2550 or you can book in here.

Timetable

Zumba

Monday @ 6:30pm

Wednesday @ 9am

Saturday @ 10am

Sunday @ 9am

Freestyle Fitness Yoga

Tuesday @ 9am

Sunday @ 9:30am

[Wednesday @ 1pm is a virtual class]