Not a Watered-Down Workout

Aqua Zumba provides a pool dance party that goes easy on joints, but not on results.

- Cheri Henderson

BACK IN THE mid-1990s, Zumba added some Latin seasoning to fitness training by putting aerobic dance moves to salsa or merengue music.The craze’s latest iteration: Aqua Zumba, fitness training described by its creators as “an invigorating, low-impact pool party,” perfectly suited for people with injuries, joint problems or an aversion to dancing in public.

The one-hour classes, taught locally at various YMCA locations, take place in chest-deep water with maximum water resistance to equal the calorie burn of land-based Zumba and achieve full-body toning.

According to certified fitness instructor Michelle Brightman, Zumba class participants burn 600 to 700 calories in an hour, whether on land or in water.