Zumba ups quality of life, emotional health

Here's another reason for you to join Zumba classes!

According to a study, indulging in Zumba dance class for three days in a week can not only make you physically fit, but also improve your quality of life and emotional health.

Zumba is an aerobic fitness programme featuring movements inspired by various styles of Latin American dance and performed primarily to Latin American dance music.

This research consisted of implementing a brief exercise intervention based on the famous fitness and wellness programmes.

Quality of life is a broad concept comprising various aspects of our life. More specifically, it is divided into eight important dimensions: social, emotional, physical state, physical pain, physical functioning, vitality, mental health and general health.

Yaira Barranco Ruiz and Emilio Villa Gonzalez from the National University of Chimborazo (Ecuador) conducted the study for five weeks.

The physical exercise programme was carried out three days a week at the end of the workday, through one-hour classes.

This experiment caused significant improvements in most quality of life dimensions.

Researchers explained, "It is interesting to note that the emotional dimension, which was the one with the lowest values at the beginning, was the one with the highest values at the end of the exercise program and, therefore, the one that experienced the greatest improvement."

The team carried out a new, larger study, with an intervention of 16 weeks (corresponding to an academic semester), where health-related physical condition, body composition, metabolic panel and nutritional habits were analysed.

The research appears in the Health Education journal. 

-ANI