Differences in energy expenditure, amount of physical activity and physical exertion level during a Zumba fitness class among adult women who are normal weight, overweight and obese

One of the most popular expressions of massive group classes of aerobic physical activity is Zumba fitness. The aim of the study was to compare and relate the energy expenditure and the amount and intensity of physical effort during a Zumba fitness class in women with different Body Mass Index (BMI). Body displacements of 61 adult women who performed a one-hour Zumba session were evaluated with triaxial accelerometers. In order to observe the effect of BMI women were divided into normal weight (N.=26), overweight (N.=21) and obese groups (N.=14). The average number of steps was 4533.3±1351 and the percentage of total class time of moderate to vigorous intensity (% MVPA) was 53.8±14.4%. The metabolic intensity average was 3.64±1.1 MET, with an energy expenditure by total body mass of 3.9±1.6 kcal/kg. When analyzing groups, the normal weight group had a greater number of steps (5184.2±1561.1 steps/class) compared to overweight (4244.8±1049.3 steps/class) and obese women (3756.9±685.7 steps/class) with P