Day 185: ZUMBA!

There is a fantastic little store I frequent down in the Virginia Highlands called Atlanta Activewear. The super-sweet sisters who run the store stock some of the cutest athletic gear for all sorts of sweaty enthusiasts and hold run clubs, free yoga classes on the weekends and more. It's just a workout paradise.

When Atlanta Yoga Scene was just an idea, I went to Atlanta Activewear for one of their free yoga classes. There, I talked to Danielle about the whole idea and she basically gave me a "JUST DO IT!" response to the whole thing, and from there we've supported each other's businesses ever since. I try to promote her store as much as possible, and try to make it to her yoga class every couple of weeks.

Only, this week was NOT yoga, this week was ZUMBA. And thank the Lord for Zumba!

Zumba is a follow-the-leader fitness dance craze. I'm not one for fads, but this one is just so much fun. You follow simple, repetitive dance moves to upbeat latin music and shimmy shake, salsa and boogie the calories away. The teacher said that you can burn up to 1000 calories per class, and although I don't believe that it burns that many, I do believe you can undo the effect of a couple of Snicker's bars.

Cheesing up front!

I took my place in the front of the pack (mostly because no one else wanted to move forward, and secondly because 16 years of dance training makes me feel pretty good about that spot), and from the very start, I was smiling so big and dancing so hard that I'm sure I looked like a five year old fan girl who learned all the moves to her favorite B. Spears music video. I think, even though I'm not SYTYCD material, I am definitely a dancer at heart. I just hadn't had that much fun in a long freaking time.

I can't very well describe what happened, except that the teacher was just as upbeat and exciting and fabulous as they come, and she showed us exactly how to rock our little bods *just so* to feel like we were actually sexy little Latin dancers, while burning up the calories. Just trust me that you need to try it. And how. 

My only qualm with Zumba is that it is a fad. Some of the reason that I do yoga is that I'm pretty sure it's not going out of style anytime soon, I mean, it has been around for some 5,000 years already. Zumba probably won't be around for too much longer, which is sad, but understandable. If Zumba were a life-long exercise, constantly evolving with new songs and moves, I'm pretty sure I'd Zumba until I couldn't Zumba anymore.