ZUMBA - Is It Possible To Have Fun While Getting In Shape?

I had been meaning to get my act together for a while now when it comes to becoming a more active person. I work an office job that requires me to sit for almost eight hours a day and therefore my body is definitely lacking the physical activity I was once used to. I don't really tend to enjoy going to the gym by myself as I find it is very hard to keep motivated and to push myself. I have always preferred "social" workouts or classes in which people can interact with each other and feed off each other's energy.

I heard about Zumba at the beginning of the year from my cousin who recently moved to Vancouver from Mexico. Zumba is apparently all the rage in the U.S. and Latin America right now as it basically gets you in shape by dancing to merengue, cumbia, salsa, calypso and other high-energy types of music. I had visited the Zumba Vancouver website to learn more about it but until last night I hadn't actually ventured to try it.

According to Wikipedia, Zumba was created by Alberto "Beto" Perez in Colombia during the 1990s. The program combines latin and international music with dance in an effort to make exercise fun. The Zumba workout provides fitness benefits because its routines feature interval training sessions with fast and slow rhythms and resistance training, which are intended to tone and sculpt the body while burning fat.


The class I attended is held every Tuesday at 6:15pm at the False Creek Community Centre in Granville Island and is lead by Zumba instructor Janet McLeish. Janet is a very charismatic woman who will push you to the next level while screaming, dancing, and most of all having fun. The Zumba class goes by really quickly when compared to a traditional workout and half of the time you are going to be laughing and dancing so at the end you will end up craving more. Having been born in Mexico where dancing is a crucial part of our culture, I thoroughly enjoyed this class as I felt like I was transported back to Latin America for 60 minutes. In my opinion, Zumba is the epitome of what a workout should be - fun, high-energy, and social.

I would highly recommend for you to try a Zumba class or to buy some DVDs to do it at home. If you are free on Tuesdays and you live in Vancouver come dance with us - you won't regret it!

To sign up for my class go to: https://pbregister.vancouver.ca/safari_activitybrowse.htm and then click on browse activities and enter the following activity number 41609.202FC

Related articles

• Getting Fit With Zumba
• Dance your way to fitness with Zumba
• Zumba: A fun way to keep fit
• Download Worthy Musical Discoveries