Zumba what?

anyone heard of this zumba stuff? probably more accurately, anyone not heard of this zumba stuff? it’s as ubiquitous as yoga these days. i practiced yoga when i was in college, back when it was only known as a weird california hippy thing and i was a weird california hippy wanna be. it was a very different kind of yoga than there is now, more stretching and relaxation than sweaty fitness.

honestly, my knees and hips are too stiff for yoga and i feel like i really don’t fit in with the crowd anyway. especially considering the news that just broke about lululemon yoga pants, the kind that represent 17% of all yoga pants sales.

i’ve been thinking about taking zumba for awhile now, watching the class while i’m working out at the gym. first of all, i couldn’t follow what the instructor was doing and from the looks of it, neither could much of the rest of the class. then too, it looked a lot more like the old jane fonda aerobic moves than dance-like. my sister’s been taking zumba and really enjoying it, so she probably has a better instructor. when i saw that zumba was being offered through our township recreation department, i figured it might be worth a try. then a friend of mine posts that the instructor is the best ever and she really enjoys the class. well, why not.

i have to admit that i was nervous the first day. here’s the scenario in my head: room full of fitness babes rockin’ cool gear, i come in dressed in goofy fitness pants and a giant t-shirt, dirty looks ensue, i can’t follow the moves and/or can’t keep up and eventually i fall down and make a complete fool of myself.

good news is, i didn’t fall down. okay, so i couldn’t exactly follow all of the moves, but i got most of them and when i couldn’t, i took the advice of the instructor who yelled out “don’t worry about it, just keep moving!” sound advice.

i danced quite a bit in college and was even a part of a dance group, so i’m used to counting and moves and sequences, etc. again, that was a looooonnng time ago. and zumba, at least the zumba i’m doing is a lot more made up and on the fly, so the counting thing doesn’t always work, neither does looking for a pattern. okay, so i have some control to give up.

my knees are not the knees of a twenty-something instructor and my bladder has survived three kids, though not without some effects, so i don’t even try for some of the stuff in the class.

but overall, it’s a lot more fun than staring at the screen of an elliptical machine.