Get a workout with latin dancing
Two hobbies have collided into one exercise, taking the style and energy of dancing and placing that into a workout.
Zumba is unlike regular fitness classes in that it’s based off of Latin dancing. According to Amy Nixon, a certified Zumba instructor at the Sports Academy, said “It’s like you’re dancing at a club but getting a work out.”
There are four different steps in Zumba: the merengue, salsa, cumbia, reggaeton.
Nixon said “It really doesn’t matter whether you can dance or not.” She said the basic steps are quite simple. The cumbia is tapping your foot. The meringue is moving your hips form side to side.
“The most complicated step is the salsa, which is basically just stepping out and in,” Nixon said. “It kind of builds you into the hard steps.”
Nixon, who has been an aerobics instructor for more than 13 years, is a dancer, but not a Latin dancer. She said there are different hip movements involved in Latin dancing, which she isn’t as good at.
“I think it’s nice to have an instructor that’s not perfect at it, because then you feel like ‘I don’t have to be perfect at as long as I’m moving,'” Nixon said.
She also said anyone can do Zumba.
“It really doesn’t matter if you can dance or not.” Nixon said. “You can still get a good work out, even if you’re not coordinated.”
Debbie Stauffer, a junior in Health Education and Zumba participant,said, “If you don’t like to go to the gym because you feel inadequate next to other people, it’s something that’s fun.”
Stauffer first started doing Zumba at her local gym in Clearfield.
“I would just go run at the gym, and I would see the class going on and I’d hear the music and everyone was just having fun, and I was like, ‘okay that’s the kind of exercise I wanna do,'” Stauffer said.
Most of the music the class uses is choreographed to is Latin. Amanda Thomas, a junior in the Dietetics program, said she liked this about Zumba.
“I’m Hispanic, so I grew up with it,” Thomas said.
Nixon said that while the music includes real Latina and Latin hip hop, there are also routines to Michael Jackson, and songs like “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz.
Britney Marler, a junior in literature, said she liked Zumba because “it’s kind of a party.”
Nixon said in addition to being a great calorie-burning exercise, it is a good abdominal workout because of the hip movements.
“You really have to engage your core,” Nixon said. “If you don’t like to do sit-ups and don’t like to do crunches, try Zumba instead.”
Zumba was started in the ‘90s by a man in Colombia named Beto, Nixon said. She said he forgot his regular aerobics music one day when teaching a class. He had to improvise with what he had, which was Latin music.
“Everybody in his class that day loved the workout, loved the change, felt like they were in a party,” Nixon said. Since then Zumba has spread across the world. Nixon said that Zumba appeals to all ages, men and women.
“It’s a low-impact exercise,” she said, so older people with joint problems can still participate.
The university is offering two Zumba classes for credit, taught by Nixon and another instructor from the Sports Academy. The university classes are 45 minutes long.
Nixon said that includes a warm-up, a 30-minute cardio workout, and a cool-down. “You stay standing the whole time, burn calories the whole time.”
Zumba classes are also offered through the Fun, Fit, Forever program at the HPER building. With a pass, which is available to students for $35, students can attend Zumba classes Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 10:30 a.m.
“I think it’s fun to learn how to dance while exercising,” Thomas said. “It’s something to try for people who don’t like to exercise.”
– melody.campbell@aggiemail.usu.edu