I was going to post this on our Lean But Not Mean site, but thought I would here in case anyone was looking for a fun workout.
I am still enjoying the Zumba classes at the Y and did a little digging on it at Google. I read on the site that the inventor was supposed to be doing regular aerobics at a class one day and had forgotton his music. He ran out to his car and grabbed the only thing he could find, his Latin music tapes and make up something on the fly. It became Zumba! It is really like a big party.. and my body gets to pretend it knows how to do Latin dance... lol
Here is a link to their site and you can get a bit of a feel of the moves. Click here to see the moves and hear the music. They play lots of Ricky Martin and Latin stuff I have never heard plus a song I love... "Let's Get Loud!" :)
No, I don't wear "Zumba Wear" and I am sure my fellow Zumba-ers are eternally grateful..lol... Today I am going to try and get to the Friday class b/c it is the only one in the big gym and we get EVERYONE- lots of elderly and kids.. it is like a party! It is fun, easy (just doing the moves one can) and burn calories. My kind of workout.
People smile when they Zumba. :)
The moves are fun to try, or you can just boogie along and do your own thing....you have to move your hips left while your body goes right... not easy for a suburban girl. lol Really, I love the Latin fire and passion and especially the dance, so close my eyes and pretend I can do it. I just don't watch myself!
If there are no classes nearby, I could see getting some Latin music and just dancing as you clean house!
From a site a found describing Zumba
What is Zumba?
Apparently almost 1 million Americans have taken Zumba classes. Zumba is a style of intense dance-aerobics workout with pulsating latin music.
"It's a party," Jones said in trying to describe Zumba (pronounced ZOOM-buh), which is Colombian slang for "fast." "It emulates being in a nightclub without the drinking, the smoking, the bad pickup lines." (via Yahoo)
To be honest just visiting the Zumba site had me grooving in my office chair.
The 60-minute program incorporates footwork and body movements from flamenco, salsa and other dances. Participants pump their legs, windmill their arms, gyrate their hips, clap their hands, dip, slide and spin — all to a frenzied beat that leaves them with flushed cheeks and dripping in sweat.
Anything that gets you up and moving is a good thing.
Has anyone taken a Zumba class? Looks like a lot of fun!
4 comments:
Any personal favorite music you can recommend?
I could so see us trying this here at home!
Just for fun I checked at the site if there would be any classes near me. I figured of course not, since we are so tiny and, um, backward here. To my amazement, within a 20 minute drive there are about 10 instructors! Wow!
Now, I convinced dh to take up square dancing at one point -- do you think I dare recommend this? ;)
Now, I am not into Latin dance or music ( give me rap,disco, punk, hip hop and old school! lol!) - but I am into people having fun when they workout!! Way to go, Cindy!
Maria-
Oh, I wish I knew the names of the songs. Many are ones that I don't know and in Spanish. I know they use Lets Get Loud by Gloria Estephan a lot and also I hear Ricky Martin. I will look at the website and see what I can find.
I did ask the instructor if they make up their own choreography. She said they are trained and certified and learn the basic moves. But they can put them together however they like.
This is neat as every instructor has a different style. She also told me that she didn't really like they way they trainers did it.. so she changes it.
Marie- you may find different styles by different instrutores.. fyi... let me know if you try it!!!
Leonie-- I know you don't care for Latin music...sometime the music crosses the line to hip hop.. we have one song for squats that has that heavy hip hop bass beat.. not Latin at all, you would probably love it! I do... and I am not usally a hiphop fan!
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