Never thought I'd be Zumba dancing!

The first time I went to a Zumba dance class was when I was practicing karate at the Berkeley YMCA more than 15 years ago.

At that time, I thought martial arts was the only cool sport, and everything else was useless and silly. (and I continued to think that for a very long time!)

But one day, after a karate class, I decided to pop in on a Zumba dance class just to see what they do, you know, them always having their music turned up so loud!

I thought I had pretty good stamina from practicing karate regularly, but lo and behold, I was having a hard time keeping up with the silver-haired ladies in the class, and I was in my 20s!

The latin-infused dance steps were fun, fast, and it was a great time dancing with a roomful of people smiling and dripping with sweat.

Fast forward many many years until 2 months ago when there’s a new community fitness center opening near my house. I signed up on a Zumba class again after years of not dancing.

It was great to just follow the teacher’s steps and not having to worry about whether I’m doing it right or wrong.

There’s something magical about moving your body to the rhythm, and get into postures and positions that you normally would never do, unless you often hop on the train while pumping your chest, or grapevine your way to work. If so, good for you! (and it may take a while before you get to the office 😂)

In weight training, you want to be focused, get into position, maintain muscle tention and conciously lift with appropriate muscle groups.

You want to “do it right.”

But in Zumba dancing, you want to “have some fun”!

You’re doing it right when you’re having a lot of fun, be relaxed, let your emotions come in and let the body do its thing.

And there’s very little risk if you want to push yourself a little bit, take that reggaeton at 2X speed. Go ahead, you probably will not tweak your back or snap your ACL.

Because of its regulatory effects on emotional wellbeing, Zumba dance counts as a functional exercise in my book!

I’ve already been going for a few weeks now on Saturdays. In fact, I usually do Bollywood dance followed by Zumba. Start with weekend off with some Indian and Latin partyin’ woot woot!