My Newest Love

Clearly, I'm in love with love.  I love to love people, places, and things.  I also love for those same people, places, and things to love me back.

A few posts back, I told you a story of the romantic variety.  In this post, I would like to introduce you to my newest love.  He's rythymic, smooth, upbeat, joyous, hard-working, and loves to make me sweat.

Dirty?  No, he's

ZUMBA!!!!

A girlfriend of mine at work told me that she'd started going to the free class at our local YMCA.  She told me that the classes were twice a week and here's the kicker - they fell in the later evening, so I could actually attend!  Yessss!  I was really nervous for some reason, so I did a little research on what Zumba is.

According to Wikipedia.com: 

"Zumba is the name of a dance fitness program created by dancer and choreographer Beto in Colombia during the 1990s. Zumba was marketed by entrepreneur Alberto Perlman, who made the concept popular through dance classes as well as branded merchandise. The program combines Latin and international music with dance in an effort to make exercise fun. Zumba classes are offered through licensed instructors in more than 90,000 fitness center locations in 110 countries with ten million participants. DVDs are also available for learning at home. Classes and instructional DVDs use music based on salsa, merengue, cumbia, reggaeton, samba and other international music styles and forms. The Zumba program is recognized by the America's leading fitness educators, including the Aerobic Fitness Association of America, IDEA Health and Fitness Association, and the American Council on Exercise." Source


Want to see an example of what Zumba instruction looks like?  Click here.

So, I decided to check it out, and I fell head over heels in love!  I found that while it was a challenging workout, it wasn't too hard for me to comprehend the choreography.  Granted, I did feel as though I had a slight advantage since my mother enrolled me in dance classes at the ripe old age of two.  And, being as I stuck with it for 15 years, I was used to living my life in eight-counts.

If you like moderate cardio with the chance to shake your bon-bon, then Zumba might just be the form of exercise for you!  Plus, there are all women in our class so far, and it feels like a girl-time party to me!  The instructor was great, and after every number, the ladies all clapped and laughed. Seriously, this has got to be the only gym class where there were more smiles than smirks present!  I think that's saying something!

If you think you might be interested, I'd say give it a shot and try to find a class near you!  This type of workout has officially been declared

Until next time,