Last night I decided to try Zumba for the first time. There has been a ton of hype around the start of this class, and I heard that last week over 70 people tried it for the first time at the East YMCA. I had NO IDEA what Zumba was. I was just going in with an open mind.
So what is Zumba?
My best descriptor of the class would be it's Dirty Dancing (you know Baby practicing with herself in the mirror?), Salsa dancing, and Line Dancing, with this Sweatin' to the Oldies undertone. I mean you essentially dance with yourself in a mirror to get your sweat on.
The class I took was 45 minutes, and I will admit, I had some fun. Awkward, but fun. I don't think that it helped that I scored a spot on the front row off to the side where all of the people working on stationary machines could STARE at me : )
The instructor was full of life. She had facial expressions, and zest, and energy to teach the class... almost too much, but I will forgive her for that. The other thing I found interesting about the class was that she never actually spoke to teach the class. She would clap her hands, teach a move, and then we were to imitate. When she wanted us to change, she would clap her hands again.
There were some Latin songs, a country song, one song had a tribal drum sound to it. Uplifting.
All in all, it was a good time. I left happier than when I got there. It's a mid-level workout. You definitely sweat, but I wouldn't call it high impact. I would guess I burned around 300 calories in my 45 minutes there, but that is only an estimate since I did not have my heart rate monitor on me. It left me enough energy at the end of class to run 3 miles, and I felt good.
So what's the verdict? I will try it again. I'm sure it becomes more comfortable with time, and I left with my spirits lifted. You should give it a try also. Here is a link to the YMCA, where you can check out the fall schedule to find a Zumba class that might work for you!
No comments:
Post a Comment