What do you think of when you hear the word “Zumba”? For most people, the first thing that comes to mind is the Zumba social ballroom dance - the person dancing with a partner.
It's interesting that there are a lot of fitness centres providing Zumba classes and yet there are still a lot of people who have doubts and misconception about Zumba. Every time I've tried to ask my friends to join me on a Zumba class in a fitness centre, like last Sunday in the university for example, their reaction is always “NO! I am not good at memorizing steps” or “No! I am not comfortable dancing with a partner with such a intimate touch”. Indeed, these are just some examples of people having misunderstandings regarding Zumba fitness. Thus, in a bid to clarify some of these misconceptions, I will be going on to share my experience of Zumba fitness with you.
Basically, Zumba fitness is a kind of exercise fitness programme which allows you to burn calories with super great music. It is a fun exercise which everyone could follow, even you have no previous dancing experiences! We follow the instructor's movements and the instructor will guide you through the whole process. They try to choreograph the dance with repetitive moves, from slow to quick. The moves are repetitive which could let us follow easily and remember the steps especially when it repeats for a few times in a short period of time (imagine in a 3 minute songs, you repeat the same set of moves for more than 10 times!). The instructor will guide us bit by bit, from simple foot stepping, then add in hands movement. The pace is slow to make sure all of us in the class can flow. The pace and rhythm of the song used in class is from slow to moderate to fast and back to slow at the end. Having songs from slow to fast help us get used to the dance and bouncing beat in the song. Then, it turns back to slow pace to cool down and stretching at the end of the lesson, ensuring our muscles got some stretch and relaxation.
For me, I have been to the Zumba fitness lesson a few times and find that I really enjoy dancing and exercise with a big group of people following the instructor move. Yes, I do sweat a lot in class. Yes, it can be really exhausting, especially when you are the one who seldom exercises. But the atmosphere of the class is enjoyable, the main aim is to do some movements or exercises and have fun. So everyone is absolutely welcome to join and will definitely get into it! If you want some exercise but do not want to do it with bored routines or with heavy machines, not wanting to be alone. Zumba fitness class could be one of the class to start from and go to!
Try to step out from our room and busy academic schedule, build a habit of exercising, embracing our own body, listen to their voices and enjoy it! Be healthy, positive and maintain a work-life balance from now on!
Written by Jessie Chan
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