While a mix of Latin rhythms such as Merengue, Samba, Salsa, Cumbia or Reggaeton came out of the sound box, 15 women of all ages were shaking their bodies up and down, moving their hands from one side to the other, nonstop, for approximately 60 minutes.
Luelana Bustamente
– Staff Writer –
While a mix of Latin rhythms such as Merengue, Samba, Salsa, Cumbia or Reggaeton came out of the sound box, 15 women of all ages were shaking their bodies up and down, moving their hands from one side to the other, nonstop, for approximately 60 minutes.
They were not in a party or in a Latin club. These women were in a Zumba class. Zumba is a new trend of workout exercise, which has attracted over seven million fans around the world since 2001, according to an article published in Shape Magazine.
“The music beat of Zumba is energizing. I don’t feel like I’m exercising at all,” said Kathy Cissill, 60, after finishing her 10 a.m. Zumba class at Dynamic Edge Dance Center at Fenton, Mo. on a freezing Saturday.
“Another advantage of Zumba is that this is an excellent, low-impact aerobic workout, depending on the dance option, that works both sides of the brain simultaneously,” said Katherine Hanewinkel, physical education professor at STLCC–Meramec.
“Zumba also helps with coordination, agility, rhythm, balance and some core strength. I think that it would be a popular class if the community college were to offer it,” Hanewinkel said.
A Zumba class is a class where 70 percent of the music is a blend of Latin and international songs, according to a Zumba Fitness Instructor Training Guide.
According to the manual, the workout program was created by Colombian instructor Alberto “Beto” Perez in the ‘90s, when he realized he had left his traditional aerobics music at home and had to improvise using his favorite Latin music tapes in his class.
However, Zumba class has nothing to do with aerobics, said Dee Meadow, Zumba instructor at Dynamic Edge Dance Center.
“At Zumba, you don’t have the aerobic talking. Every song has arms, feet, and waist movement and you just get a full body workout at once instead of focusing on small sections of the body,” Meadow said.
After creating Zumba, Perez became so popular in Cali, Colombia, that music star Shakira hired him as a choreographer for her “Pies Dezcalsos” album.
In 2000, Perez moved to Miami, Fla., and in 2002 his new dance class got the attention of two entrepreneurs, Alberto Perlman and Alberto Aghion. The three men joined together to create the Zumba Fitness LLC company. The company created a Zumba class video and launched it in the U.S. market with an infomercial that created a demand for Zumba instructors.
Since 2003, Perlman’s group has trained 20,000 instructors around the world and sold more than three million DVDs on the Internet and through infomercials, as reported by Judy Fortin, CNN Medical Correspondent.
Meadow is one of the 410 licensed instructors in the area within 50 miles of St. Louis. She decided to be an instructor on August 2009. Now, she teaches four classes and takes two classes per week with another instructor.
“I decided to be an instructor after taking a few classes at my local YMCA and started to lose weight,” Meadow said. “Since December 2009, I lost 65 pounds.”
Meadow said that Zumba is a fast and easy way to lose weight because an average person can lose between 500 and 900 calories per hour in a class. Now, she has approximately 55 students taking her classes.
“Since I started, I can feel my body more toned. I love to come here because Dee’s classes are so intense. She has a dance background and that’s what makes her a good teacher. Besides that, she can move her body,” said Shirley Null, 63, one of Meadow’s students.
