My First Zumba Experience + Winners

by - Wednesday, December 22, 2010

I took dance class from about the time I was four years old until I was a senior in high school. It was a mix of ballet, jazz and hip hop. I can count an eight beat. I can do choreographed steps. And in college I used to bust a move at the bars.

Cue embarrassing college pictures:



But throw me in a room full of women doing Zumba and I develop two left feet and look like the most awkward white girl trying to follow along while the cool kids do their thang.

Zumba was a disaster. So much so, that I bailed half way through the class because I wasn't having fun.

I think part of the problem was the instructor. She didn't wear a mic, so I couldn't hear a word she was saying over the music. She also didn't really teach the steps or explain what was going to come next. She just started her really awesome dancing and we had to follow along.

You could tell the regulars knew what to do, but for those of us newbies in the back of the class, it was terrible. It was hard to see the instructor because the room was packed and so half the time I was three moves behind everyone else and scrambling to try to catch up.

I also didn't like the heavy emphasis the instructor put on the number of calories we were burning. As a former fitness instructor, that's a personal pet peeve of mine. People should come to your class because they want to have fun and leave feeling good. The calorie burn shouldn't be the main focus.

Despite all my fumbling and flailing about, I did manage to work up a good sweat.

I can see why people say Zumba is such a great workout. It's very high energy and you're moving constantly.

After this experience, I haven't totally ruled Zumba out, I just prefer an exercise class that is a little more structured and easy to follow along. Give me a good step or kickboxing class any day of the week. Or I could just stick to running, no weird dance steps required.

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Social Media Makeover Winners

First off, I wanted to thank everyone who entered the contest for a chance to win a social media makeover from me and Katy as part of our Fitbloggin' presentation.

I had fun reading each and every blog and checking out a bunch of new Twitter feeds, but man did you guys make our decision tough! There were so many good entries, we had a hard time choosing. So in addition to the big makeover we're offering our two winners, we want to offer "mini-makeovers" to the rest of the applicants. More details to come on the "mini-makeovers."

And now for our makeover winners:

The Concrete Runner and A Healthy JD

Congrats ladies!

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