I tried out a zumba fitness class today in Springfield, Illinois for the first time with a friend. Zumba fitness is apparently all the rage now and I kept hearing about it, so I wanted to see for myself what it was all about. I attended a one hour zumba class instructed by Jill Kennedy-Broughton. I’m an exercise nerd, so I brought along my heart rate monitor to see just how intense a zumba workout would be. I also brought my camera so I could video just a bit of the action. Zumba is a latin music and dance inspired cardio workout. And I found myself really enjoying the music and dance involved in the exercise. It is a lot of fun. And I’m happy to say that in a one hour class including an 8 minute warm up and 5 minute cool down I burned 600 calories. Jill Kennedy-Broughton was an excellent instructor and showed her expertise and enthusiasm for this type of exercise throughout the entire class. If you’re looking for an interesting new exercise routine to spice things up and get yourself out of a rut and you also like to dance, I’d recommend trying zumba fitness. If you are self-conscious about shaking your groove thing in a room full of people however, this might not be the best choice of exercise for you. I really loved the latin music and found myself concentrating on the dancing so much that I really forgot I was exercising, and this is a very great thing in my opinion! My 12 and 9 year old daughters also attended this zumba class, and my 12 year old really enjoyed it and asked if we could do it again. My 9 year old daughter thought it was fun as well, but she got very tired after about 45 minutes. Here are a couple quick videos showing what to expect in a zumba fitness class.
I attend this class regularly and in my opinion, it is the best possible use of an hour ! You are right that you forget that you are exercising! I always worked up a healthy sweat, but the more you get used to the moves, the more you are able to do, and the more benefit you get from it! I hope that you came back!