Zumba – Kicks like a workout, feels like a party
The Minneapolis – St. Paul, Minnesota Star Tribune recently published an article about Zumba.
University of Minnesota kinesiology professor, Beth Lewis was quoted as saying: “For someone who’s physically fit, probably going for a run is going to provide a better workout, but for people who work out rarely, this is a fabulous gateway exercise…”
I very much disagree with Ms. Lewis. Zumba is a great interval workout for people of all fitness levels, not only “people who work out rarely.” The Zumba format allows each individual to work as hard as they choose or as hard as they are able. Zumba recruits muscles from the entire body while challenging the cardiovascular system. Choreography may be difficult for some former athletes to pick up and therefore, some “physically fit” participants may need more time and practice to feel comfortable enough to work at a high intensity.
I have been a long-distance runner for over 15 years and I never saw the rapid results that I saw from Zumba from running. Since doing Zumba for the first time in March 2009, I personally have lost over 30 pounds. I consider myself well-conditioned and toned. I ran my best-ever Ragnar Relay race in the summer of 2010 after training by primarily leading Zumba classes.
I love seeing my participants smile and build confidence, spirit, and attitude through Zumba. Viva Zumba!
Filed under Zumba, exercise, group fitness, health | Tags: attitude, beth, beth lewis, confidence, exercise, gateway, lewis, minneapolis, Minnesota, mn, paul, physically fit, Ragnar, Ragnar Relay, run, runner, Running, saint, smile, spirit, st., star, startribune, tribune, university of minnesota, work out, workout, Zumba | Comment (0)My First Boot Camp Workout
Being a group fitness instructor has its perks: One of the fitness centers where I work has given me the opportunity to participate in a weekly boot camp style workout! And the best part: It’s free for me!
Last night was the first night. I was unsure what to expect, other than calisthenics and some good, old-fashioned exercise. We started by running stairs – something I hadn’t done since high school (1997 if you must know). Running stairs transitioned into quickly hopping up stairs, one-by-one…
The rest of the hour-long boot camp workout incorporated chopping and high knees, burpees, and mountain climbers. We used stability balls, hand weights, and mats. It was an awesome total body workout and I’m excited to see what the results will be after this session of boot camp workouts once per week.
The instructor was great very motivating and encouraging, but strict. We shouted out the number of each exercise. If we started to slack or if our form started to get sloppy, we started the exercise set again at ONE.
Many of the participants were also very motivated and encouraged others to perform, but I was a little disappointed with some of the other participants. Do yourself a favor: If you’re not prepared to work hard, don’t register for a boot camp workout. No one can make you do anything you don’t want to do, and you’ll just be holding back other participants.
Filed under exercise, group fitness | Tags: boot, boot camp, bootcamp, burpee, burpee exercises, calisthenics, camp, group fitness, group fitness instructor, mountain climber, out, running stairs, work, work out, workout | Comment (0)