Do you think Zumba is just a fad?

[kat999]

I got one word for ya: Jazzercise.

Just sayin'.

I don't hate Zumba, and I don't wish it ill or anything, but everything in fitness is a fad, and fads come and go.

[andtckrtoo]

I think it will eventually go the way of Jazzercise, yes. But there will be something else to replace it. I have a blast with it, so I'm thankful it's here, now.

[SharonNYC]

Originally Posted by kat999

I got one word for ya: Jazzercise.

Just sayin'.

I don't hate Zumba, and I don't wish it ill or anything, but everything in fitness is a fad, and fads come and go.

Jazzercise is still around: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazzercise

A "fad" more or less defined as a novel trend that quickly fades.

I think Zumba has pretty much out-lasted the fad designation (although that's a subjective perception). I'd say it's definitely a trend, although, again, that's pretty subjective as well.

[Debbie S.]

Originally Posted by SharonNYC

Jazzercise is still around: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazzercise

A "fad" more or less defined as a novel trend that quickly fades.

I think Zumba has pretty much out-lasted the fad designation (although that's a subjective perception). I'd say it's definitely a trend, although, again, that's pretty subjective as well.

I agree, Sharon. I don't think Zumba is a fad, nor is kettlebell training. Kettlebell training originated in Russia years ago. I have a feeling that it will only gain in popularity.

Zumba came out in 1999. Granted it didn't take quickly, but right now it is on FIRE. Their certification classes sell out QUICKLY.

[kat999]

Sharon, I know Jazzercise is still around, but my MIL was an instructor/franchise owner in the late '80s and early '90s and I have heard her stories of how it suddenly and abruptly got very difficult to fill her classes once the heat wore off, after it had been hugely popular just a few years earlier. You have to admit it did have a "boom period," which did definitely end, even if it's reinventing itself and resurging now.

[Sue B]

Originally Posted by kat999

Sharon, I know Jazzercise is still around, but my MIL was an instructor/franchise owner in the late '80s and early '90s and I have heard her stories of how it suddenly and abruptly got very difficult to fill her classes once the heat wore off, after it had been hugely popular just a few years earlier. You have to admit it did have a "boom period," which did definitely end, even if it's reinventing itself and resurging now.

Jazzercise is around, but it's probably having a hard time competing with Zumba for basically the same audience.

If Zumba is a fad, it's one of the biggest fads of recent years. I just got back from a few days at the beach, and even in teeny rural wide-spot-in-the-road Delaware towns, there were roadside popsicle signs advertising Zumba classes! Didn't spot any signs for kettlebells, or spinning or anything else. Plus, the Zumba video game is a smash bestseller.

I'm guessing the Zumba organization must make it relatively easy and inexpensive to get certified and start your own classes, plus you don't have the equipment and space costs like you would for kettlebells or Crossfit.

[Eibhinn]

Fad - "a practice or interest followed for a time with exaggerated zeal"
Source: Merriam-Webster
Example: See recent VF thread titled "Zumba is my life"

I think Zumba is a fad. That doesn't mean it's bad, or that it's going to disappear when the current groundswell of popularity passes, it just means that the market is fickle and operates in cycles (especially the fitness market), and no product that isn't objectively necessary for survival can reasonably maintain massive levels of popularity over the long term, IMO. I think in ten years people will likely still be doing Zumba, but I don't think that nearly as many people will be. I thought of Jazzercise as well. It existed, it was a fad that gained massive popularity for awhile, that popularity tapered off significantly, and it continued along afterward and still exists. And it's quite possible it could regain popularity and become popular again. Or not. It's like bell bottoms, hula hoops, anything else we get swept up in collective enthusiasm, love passionately for awhile, and then most of us bore of it and move on to the next thing and some of us don't. Maybe someday Beto will even release a DVD called "The Last Zumba." (Likely not).

[PeakFitness]

It's less of a fad than feather hair extensions.

[Artist of Eyes]

Originally Posted by skinnygirl

Remember how big step classes were and kick boxing? ...I even remember the rebounding classes(mini trampoline) were packed at the gym i used to go to. Then they all died down.
My trainer at my gym does offer Zumba classes but doesnt put much emphasis in marketing them because he said it was a fad. I don't want to believe it but I am so addicted to Zumba that maybe I just don't want to hear it. What do you all think? Franny

I liken it to Tae Bo. Extremely popular for several years, but then it fizzled out to only those die-hards. I've seen Zumba go from being in no gyms, to being in most gyms, then only offered in select locations. It is popular, but not as popular as it was a couple of years ago. Much like Tae Bo. It had it's place, it once was the rage, but now it's just the same ol' thing and kind of yesterday's affair.

[Debbie S.]

Originally Posted by Artist of Eyes

I liken it to Tae Bo. Extremely popular for several years, but then it fizzled out to only those die-hards. I've seen Zumba go from being in no gyms, to being in most gyms, then only offered in select locations. It is popular, but not as popular as it was a couple of years ago. Much like Tae Bo. It had it's place, it once was the rage, but now it's just the same ol' thing and kind of yesterday's affair.

Was Tae Bo classes ever held in gyms around the world?

Zumba came out a year after Tae Bo. Zumba definitely outlasted Tae Bo. But I think Tae Bo would have lasted much longer if legal issues didn't rear its ugly head.

But Zumba's popularity in gyms really started about 4 years ago and it's still going strong. In fact, much stronger today than 4 years ago. Zumba is still hot!