Get Your Sweat on at Zumba

Zumba, the up-tempo dancing exercise fad, has reached Alfond, and the benefits are worth the effort.

Everyone knows the importance of exercise when trying to maintain good health. Some people choose to run, others swim, ride their bike, or maybe go to the gym to lift weights. However, if you’re like me and can’t stand going to the gym or doing any sort of normal, monotonous exercise, it can be a challenge to find something that is both fun and a good exercise. That was the reason I first decided to try Zumba. Offered multiple times a week, the free Zumba classes held in the Alfond Sports Center are open to both men and women, and are a great way to get some quick, effective cardio in without having to run on a treadmill staring at the wall for an hour. And with fun, fast-paced music, who wouldn’t want to go to a Zumba class?

Amanda Castoire, a student here at Rollins and an instructor of Zumba classes, brings an exciting yet exhausting workout to her peers. Castoire has been going to Zumba classes herself since she was 15 and has been a licensed instructor of Zumba since March 2012. Using a mix of salsa, merengue, cumbia, samba, bachata, and reggaeton music, Castoire’s classes are anything but easy. Although they only last an hour, her classes are packed full of dance moves that incorporate stretching, squats, lunges, and nonstop moving for a full-body workout.

For those who are already skilled at dancing, the classes are just a fun way to shake it. Personally, I’m not so great; my favorite dance moves are the robot and the sprinkler, and anything I may try to do beyond that looks a bit more like flailing around than dancing. At Zumba class, however, even the worst dancers can still have fun. Castoire always encourages her students to keep moving even if they can’t always keep up, telling us “I’ve personally lost 20lbs teaching Zumba alone–no dieting. Zumba is a full-body work out and you can very well burn over 1,000 calories in one class.”

So if you’re ever looking for a fun way to spice up your daily routine, you can catch Castoire teaching one of her Zumba classes at Rollins on Thursday nights at 7PM or at the LA Fitness by Winter Park Village on Saturday mornings at 11AM.