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In honor of Zumba Open House Week at Healthworks, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite parts of the class – the music. It’s the part that gets me pumped up and makes the class feel less about working out and more about having fun. Though the workout has its roots in Latin culture, my favorite Zumba class took me around the world as I experienced the tunes of Bhangra, Samba and Reggaeton all in one express session.
Here’s peek at a playlist from one of Brooke H.’s Zumba classes. (Click on the links to get a preview of what to expect at this week’s Open House – the sounds are sure to get you ready to groove in class)
She Wolf – Warm up
Fuego – Cumbia
Bailanlo – Salsa
Batucada – Samba
Bounce and Move – Soca
Pam Pam – Reggaeton
Mundian to Bach Ke – Bhangra
In the last blog I said that I was going to attend my first class and report back. Well I’m happy to say that the Zumba class was the most fun I’ve had doing anything that could be called exercise. I sweated and smiled for a whole hour–certainly a first for me. The class was taught by Iliana whose energy is positively contagious. Her manner and the Latin beat would make even the most confirmed couch potato get up and move. I also very much enjoyed her friendly open manner. We all wore name tags and she definitely fostered a real feeling of community in the class.
Most importantly I could do it. I lasted for the whole hour. Each of the approximately 10 songs we danced to had about 4 different moves, that weren’t difficult to learn and with plenty of repetition, I was (mostly) able to keep up. Some of the steps were quite quick, so sometimes I did three steps to her four, but I still got a good workout.
I had my heart rate monitor on and glanced at it from time to time. It was mostly about 130–good enough for me–especially since it stayed up there for an hour. I am now busy looking for other dance type classes. I realize I’ve found my niche. I’m going to dance myself thin. I’m so happy to have a fun alternative to the dreaded elliptical and treadmill. I won’t give up the stepmill. Even though I hate it, you get a lot of bang for your buck on that one. I highly recommend Iliana’s class at Back Bay on Thursdays at 9:30 am.
I’m off to Florida to see my mom tomorrow morning. All on my own–no doctor, no trainer, no gym–we’ll see how I do. (Of course, I will have my mom who at 84 is still hopeful that I will lose weight!
– Cheryl
Dear Zumba,
I know I’m not the first, and certainly won’t be the last to wax poetic about you, but I felt the need to go ahead and proclaim my new-found love and admiration. I’ve had several friends raise their eyebrows and say “that doesn’t seem like something you’d do,” in response to this statement. I admit the attraction took me by surprise as well. I’ve never been interested in dancing at clubs, and usually stick to “my type” of exercise – mostly a routine of running, spinning, and yoga. I seldom stray from this comfort zone. But at the suggestion of a friend and fellow HW member, I took one of your classes, and found myself instantly smitten. There was no self-consciousness – even as we chest pumped, rolled, shimmied hips, and shuffled across the room, yelling out the occasional victory cry: “Zumba!” The enthusiasm of the students, and the teacher, Tavia P., was naturally infectious, and with the fast-paced dance segments, I barely had time to notice that I was getting a heart-pumping workout! All of the pretense and pressure to look cool that prevented me from being interested in dancing at clubs was lifted, and I realized that dancing is actually fun. This will not be a revelation to most, but for me, it was quite a surprise and left me feeling cheerful, invigorated, and oh-so sweaty. I’ve come back again and again for this reason. Zumba, I will never be your most graceful nor coordinated fan, but I promise to love and attend your classes – on good days and bad; when I’m tired, cranky, and lazy – I know you’ll always make me feel better.
Cardiovascular-ly yours,
Jean
Ever since I joined four months ago I have been watching the women in the Zumba class having a great time. I love to dance. In fact, it is the only kind of exercise that I have done voluntarily. However, I didn’t feel that I would be able to keep up, so didn’t join. My commitment to exercise was so tenuous at first, that I didn’t want to jeopardize it by doing anything that would make me feel bad about myself. So, I promised myself that by my birthday I would be ready to take a Zumba class. Today is that day.
A Zumba class in full swing!
I am still a bit nervous and I am certainly not looking forward to watching myself in the mirror. (My workout clothes show every bulge!) I am also a bit afraid about being judged by the other women. I wish I could wear a sign saying “I’ve lost 45 pounds and know I’ve still got a long way to go.” I know this is stupid and most people are not here to judge others, but it still worries me a bit. I am also nervous about not being able to do all the moves. If we have to get on the floor, forget it! Getting my 200+ pounds up and down without hanging on to something is difficult and awkward to say the least.
I am hoping if Zumba works out, I will start taking other classes. I think this will be one of the best ways for me to get my exercise in. My doctor has me working toward a goal of 7 hours of exercise a week. Classes would help a lot. I’ll write later and tell you how I did.
– Cheryl
There is another person I always remember when I walk into the gym to teach a class. Fanie. She was my childhood ballet teacher. Stephanie Valencia Kierlin might be the most graceful, most eccentric person I have ever known. She went by the nickname Fanie (pronounced fah-NEE), always wore bright magenta lipstick, and loved dance more than anything in the world—perhaps aside from teaching children to love dance.
When I was just four years old in my pale pink leotard, I began my ten years of study with her. Still I can picture how, in pre-ballet, we sat in a circle on the studio floor, the smell of rosin tickling our noses while we “made waffles” to stretch. With the soles of our little ballet slippers together, the space between our opened-up knees held giant imaginary batter bowls, into which we poured the sugar and flour we had reached across our nimble bodies to grab from imaginary shelves. Then we stirred with pretend wooden spoons as our bodies flattened out, around, and over our tiny legs in baby-pink tights, to stretch us out for class. I think to myself, if only I can recapture that sense of playfulness in something as simple as a warm-up stretch.
I think of Fanie whenever I ask members in class to challenge their balance, or when I tell them they must point their toes. In Body Jam, when I extend my arm and attempt a graceful pose for half a second before we hit the next shimmy or hip roll, I remember Fanie and how beautifully she moved. How she smiled as she did.
As much as I love dancing, at a certain point when I was a teenager, I had to choose between ballet class and all of the other fun activities I wanted to join after school. Now, at the gym, I realize I haven’t left Fanie or her ballet behind. She sustains me in the strength and poise she taught even before I could appreciate that her lessons might help me teach others.
Movement definitely has an emotional connection, and I wonder, what is that emotion for you? Which movement, anything from a mambo to a bicep curl, makes you smile at yourself in the mirror?
– Sarah
Boston Women's Wellness 