7 Quick Takes–Zumba?

1.  So I finally went to zumba.  Everyone raves about the newest exercise sensation/fad, zumba.  I have to say I didn’t think I would like it, and I don’t. Here are a few quick takes about my zumba experience.

2.  I felt like a fool doing all those ridiculous dance moves and, in my humble opinion, everyone else looked foolish as well; including those who were doing the moves well.  What zumba lacks, that a good dance class provides, is proper and personal dance instruction and repetitive practice.  There is no mastery of the skills. You are simply thrust into the movement whether you are capable or not.

3.  Don’t accuse me of feeling like a fool just because I am a beginner.  By the end I was following along just fine and sweating like the rest of them.  I learn quickly, but it did not grow on me.

4. Seriously, this is your workout?  I mean, I got my heart rate up and was sweating, but the yoga class I took a few days earlier was more physically challenging than zumba.  And there is the whole looking like a fool problem.  I know I am insulting ALL of my friends right now.  It’s just not my thang.  I have become a huge fan of “step/strength.”  I get my heart rate up, there are lots of physically challenging moves, and there was lots of work on toning muscles. 

5.  There were about five guys in this class of 80 students. I call them “The High Five Crew”  after every song they went around high fiving everyone and chest bumping.  Ah yes, what would zumba be without “The High Five Crew.”  I needed the comic relief.

6. I felt like the moves I could do the best and liked the best were the really dynamic movements.  I also liked doing the bolly movements.  Which brings me back to “step,” which employs lots of dynamic movement.  I really did not like the more dancey movements, again because there was severe lack of instruction, and I did not really feel like I was getting exercise.

7.  All this being said, I may go a couple more times, because the fitness studio classes are closed for a week while they resurface the floor.  Zumba is in the gym because there are about 80 regular attendees.  I really like going to the group fitness classes because it provides me accountability.   When the going gets tough, I don’t stop because I am in front of everyone.  Fitness in the modern age is so ironic.  Our bodies labor so little we seek to labor our bodies in order to keep them in top working order.