It's been a while since I've done one of these fitness class reviews. It's about time I got to another one, right?
One thing you may not know about me is that I love to dance. I didn't play on a sports team, I went to dance classes. I took them from kindergarten through my junior year in high school. Jazz, tap, ballet, point. I loved it. In college, I would dance at every party and my friends and I would go dancing whenever possible. I don't know if I was actually any good, but at the time I thought that I was and we were having fun.
Given my love of dance and music, it's a tiny bit odd that I married a guy with no rhythm who hates to dance. (The fact that I love everything else about him outweighed this minor flaw!) It means I haven't gone dancing in years. So when I decided I really needed to shake things up with my workout routine this year, I decided to try the Zumba class at our gym that's held Tuesday nights. I don't have to leave work early to get there and I can even fit in the extra strength workout I want to do each week before the class starts!
If you're not familiar with Zumba, it's a Latin-inspired dance fitness class that uses high energy music and burn many calories. There are six types of classes, including aqua zumba and zumba toning, but the class I took was the basic type. The class last night was full, about 40 people, of all ages and ethnicity and both female and male! I spoke with a woman before class who has been going for a while and loves the class and instructor, Heather Fay, who is apparently very popular. I found out quickly that she has a lot of energy and kept people going. She wasn't critical and didn't go around the room correcting people's forms or how they were moving. She literally just danced and let everyone dance along with her, and it makes sense because the website describes Zumba as a dance fitness-party.
Truth be told, I was lost for about 75% of the class, but since a most of the students knew the routines, I imagine that after another class or two I'll be right in step. As Heather said at the start of the class, "there's no thinking in Zumba. Just feel the music and dance!"
Class Info:
Type: Zumba
Location: New York Sports Club - Wall St
When: Tuesday nights @ 7pm
Instructor: Heather Fay
This class was fun and really didn't feel like a workout, even though it really was. I can't wait to go back next week!
If you've tried Zumba, I'd love to hear what you thought about it! Do any of you runners reading this take fitness classes as cross training or to just mix things up?
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last night's workout -
55min Zumba class
3x12 lat pull down
3x12 seated row
3x10 hip abductor
stretching
today's workout -
50min/5.6mile elliptical
3x10 cable push down
3x12 overhead triceps extension
3x10 cable pull twist
stretching
